Reading from an essay on Plato's theory of the decline of states and men in the Republic Bk VIII

Here is the best summary of Plato's theory of the the deterioration of men and of states, his theory of the decline from aristocracy to timocracy to oligarchy/plutocracy to tyranny and the corresponding decline of the quality of men characteristic of each type of society, the aristocratic man, the timocratic man, the oligarch/plutocrat and tyranny. The tape recording was made in 1993 or '94 from a book I now longer possess, the title and author of which I do not real. I recommend listening -- or at least reading the wikipedia account of Plato's five regimes -- covering the same material but not nearly so. Of help for listening to this recording is the wiki account of Timocracy:

"aristocracy degenerates into timocracy when, due to miscalculation on the part of its governing class, the next generation of guardians and auxiliaries includes persons of an inferior nature (the persons with souls made of iron or bronze, as opposed to the ideal guardians and auxiliaries, who have souls made of gold and silver). Since in the government there will be present people of an inferior nature, inclined not just to cultivating virtues but also producing wealth, a change in the constitution of the aristocratic city is eventually worked, and its educational system, which used to introduce the high classes into a purely rational, selfless political theory, is altered so that it becomes permissible for current state leaders to pursue their individual interests. The timocracy, however, does not completely break from all the characteristics of aristocracy, and for Plato this regime is a combination of good and bad features.: [close quote]

https://vimeo.com/147756100