Introduction

The Hundred Years’ War, a prolonged and devastating conflict between England and France (1337-1453), was a historical event unknown to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. Nonetheless, by examining his philosophical ideas, primarily in “The Republic” and “Laws,” we may speculate on his potential views regarding such a conflict.

The Philosopher King and the Ideal State

The Philosopher-King and the Ideal State In his magnum opus, “The Republic,” Plato presents the concept of a philosopher-king, an individual embodying wisdom and justice, who governs the ideal state (Plato, Republic, Stephanus 473c-d, Book V)¹. This enlightened ruler, possessing both knowledge and moral integrity, would guide society toward harmony and justice.

War as Necessary Evil

In the “Laws,” Plato acknowledges that war might be a necessary recourse, particularly when defending the state against injustice (Plato, Laws, Stephanus 625c, Book I)². However, he also emphasizes the importance of striving for peace and pursuing diplomacy whenever possible.

Striving for Peace

Plato contends that an ideal state should always seek to cultivate peace with other nations, fostering a spirit of friendship and cooperation (Plato, Republic, Stephanus 470a-b, Book V)³. This suggests that, had he been aware of the Hundred Years’ War, Plato would likely have advocated for diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict.

The Guardians as Defenders of the State

The Guardians: Defenders of the State In “The Republic,” Plato introduces the guardians, a class of citizens specifically trained to defend the state and uphold its values (Plato, Republic, Stephanus 414a-b, Book III)⁴. These individuals, educated in both martial and intellectual pursuits, would protect the state from external threats, such as those posed during the Hundred Years’ War.

Governance in Times of War

Though Plato acknowledges the potential necessity of war, he cautions against allowing it to dominate the state’s agenda (Plato, Republic, Stephanus 468a-b, Book V)⁵. Instead, he argues that governance should remain focused on promoting the well-being of citizens and maintaining social harmony.

Fostering Social Harmony and Virtue

Plato maintains that an ideal state should strive to cultivate virtue among its citizens, promoting wisdom, courage, moderation, and justice (Plato, Republic, Stephanus 427e-428a, Book IV)⁶. In this context, the prolonged conflict of the Hundred Years’ War might be seen as a distraction from the state’s primary goal of fostering a harmonious and virtuous society.

Conclusion

Though Plato lived centuries before the Hundred Years’ War, his philosophical ideas can provide valuable insights into how he might have viewed such a conflict. By examining his writings, particularly “The Republic” and “Laws,” we can speculate that Plato would have recognized the potential necessity of war in certain circumstances but would have strongly advocated for peace, diplomacy, and the pursuit of justice and virtue in governance.

References

Title	Author	Date Written	Chicago citation
The Republic	Plato	380 BCE	Plato. The Republic. Translated by G.M.A. Grube. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1992.
Laws	Plato	348 BCE	Plato. Laws. Translated by A.E. Taylor. London: Dent, 1934.

Footnotes

1. Plato, Republic, 473c-d. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
2. Plato, Laws, 628a-630d. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
3. Plato, Republic, 470a-471c. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
4. Plato, Republic, 433b-c. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
5. Plato, Republic, 414b-415d. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
6. Plato, Laws, 348, 663a-b. Perseus Digital Library | The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy 

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and HI (Human Intelligence) Statement

Modified from Brewin http://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/04/why-i-wrote-an-ai-transparency-statement-for-my-book-and-think-other-authors-should-too

Has any text been generated using AI?	Yes
Has any text been improved or corrected using HI?	No
Has any methods of analysis been suggested using HI?	Yes
Has any methods of analysis been suggested using AI?	No
Do any analyses utilize AI technologies, such as Large Language Models, for tasks like analyzing, summarizing, or retrieving information from data?	Yes

Outline

• Introduction and background
• My first prompt
• ChatGPT-3.5 result
• Time investment and return
• Evaluation

Introduction and background

In this multi-part series of articles, I will document my efforts in writing a high school Philosophy paper using ChatGPT. The paper shall answer in writing a question I was asked at an impromptu oral assessment in Philosophy class in my 3rd year of high school.

Let me take a step back to give you some context. I was enrolled in Classical High School in Rome, Italy. This type of school has a strong 5-year emphasis on History and Philosophy, as well as Latin, Greek, and Italian literature and grammar, with a bit of Science and Math. Students are typically evaluated on weekly written assignments, a minimum of 3 scheduled written tests each semester, and a minimum of 2 oral assessments per semester. During the latter ones, the teacher would (usually) pick two names at random from the attendance list once a week and gauge their knowledge on both the weekly lesson, in detail, but also on anything covered in the year up to that point; this could last between 30-60 minutes, and would happen in front of an audience of (often roaring) classmates. Seriously: brutal!

Only occasionally were students allowed to give a presentation on a prepared topic or volunteer for a full oral evaluation. This was the case for me during a block on Plato. And so it was that the teacher, the famously feared Professoressa Carbone (who taught both History and Philosophy), probed into my soul with her terrifying eyes and asked with a sinister smile, “Tell me, Niccoli, what would Plato have thought about the Hundred Years’ War?“

My first prompt

When I heard about OpenAI ChatGPT being available, it seemed very fit to try this question in my first investigation. So I went ahead and asked the question “What would Plato have thought about the Hundred Years’ War?“, with only the minor modification to add citations and break down the response in steps.

GPT-3.5 result

Below is the result from the default GPT-3.5 model:

Time investment and return

• Time investment: the whole investigatyion took about 30 minutes, including a very light read on prompts from a reputalbe source, and reading the answer (becaue the citations really did not come as full references, there was really nothing else to do other than that).
• Return: was this worth 30 minutes of my time? The answer is, as often, it depends! On the one hand, this is a really poor answer in my view (see next section for a more detailed evaluation). So, as an essay (l imagine myself as a student looking for a quick free lunch), this would not do it; not even close. For me… but then again, even at 13 in my first year of high school I would’ve known this was not going to cut it… or in Junior high, for what matters. On the other hand, I was deliberate in providing a very simple, not engineered or iteratively refined prompt. As such, the response will come useful as a benchamrk against wich I will compare other efforts (for example using a better model, GPT4, and improving the prompt).

Evaluation

Is the answer grammatically correct? yes; is it written in a uniform style, appropriate for a school essay? yes; Does it contain any hallucination? I would say no, everything sounds reasonable. However I must admit that without reference to specific passages to Plato’s work, it is hard to say for sure. From what I remember of Plato’s Philosophy it’s reasonable, and that’s all.

On the other hand, had I been handed in this as a teacher, I would not be impressed. IF this were the output of an in-class exam, I probably would have marked it as a D- (a D for the very mediocre text and a minus for the ridiculousness of the citations). Had it instead been handed for an at home written assignement (in which cse the student would have had access to their notes and books) this would definitely be certainly worth an F (Fail). Now I sound like Professoressa Carbone.

You may reasonably wonder at the end of this article: how did I fare in that evaluation in 1986? Fair question. And I am not ashamed to confess it was a disaster. At 15 I was still very immature, intelligent but unengaged in school work, and also unable to do a real analysis. By that I mean interpret information rather than just accumulate facts and connect them. I honestly do not recall the mark I got (we had different levels of Failure that went progressively deeper, not too dissimilarly from the Circles in Dante’s Inferno) but I rememberr that an F definitely it was.

P.S. The model did a perfectly fine job in proofreading my first draft for this post. THat was definitely worth a lot, given I type very slowly, and I make lots of typos.