Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis explores Plato's Republic through the lens of the

sociological theory structural-functionalism. My interpretation

will reflect the premises of this theory. I show how the system

of social stratification allows for the most important features of

eight seemingly oppositional social institutions or social

structures to exist harmoniously in the society. These

oppositional structures are the sacred/profane dichotomy,

class and caste systems, endogamy and exogamy, and the

nuclear and extended family. I show how the Guardians and

the Auxiliaries represent the sacred, whereas the Workers

represent the profane; how the Guardians and the Auxiliaries

exhibit the features of a class society, while the Workers exhibit

the features of a caste society; how the Guardians, Auxiliaries,

and Workers practice endogamy, and yet appropriation and

discarding mechanisms exist that function as exogamy; and

how the Guardians and the Auxiliaries exhibit the extended

family form, and the Workers exhibit the nuclear family.