It often seems that philosophical discussions on politics are nevertheless in the end distinctly pragmatic. Although modem democracy is by no means unbelievable as a form of political organisation and there are few major misgivings about it, there are nevertheless some reservations about those forms of life which are rooted purely, or primarily, in modem democracy. In Plato freedom and equality are the two fundamental pillars of democracy. Freedom is understood as the freedom of the individual to seek his own salvation and the state basically does not have the right to influence the individual's own shaping of his life. Each individual is therefore equal in freedom and their equality lies in the fact that each way of life has the same weight: democracy is pluralism by principal. This leads to arbitrariness in creating life. For Aristotle, too, democracy has its foundations in freedom, and freedom means for him too that each man may do what he wishes. The decisions of the majority need not be unwise; but on the other hand that is no guarantee that they are wise. Democratic or democratically motivated explanations of democracy cannot, at least not consistently, call on Plato and Aristotle. This conclusion would however be premature. Democracy prefers the question of what political organisation is correct. In democracy it is quite possible to set out to discover the correct organisation, because democracy permits political suggestions of every type. Democracy provides political philosophy with a free space in which to develop unrestricted. In democracy, those who have insight, philosophers, have the same rights as those who do not. Plato's and Aristotle's arguments as to the advantages of democracy do not weaken critical arguments against it. This gives rise to a paradoxical situation. Even if it is true that democracy offers a free space for the philosophical search for the correct political organisation, it is no less true that this search must lead to a critique of democracy, because democracy - according to Plato and Aristotle - is not a true political form. In Plato and Aristotle it is possible to draw learn that if we wish to experience the reality of freedom and equality, it is not possible to relinquish fictions of universal freedom and universal equality. Universal freedom and universal equality are blatant fictions, without which it would not be possible to live politically. Democracy has proved to be the most successful form of state. The proof that its principles are fictitious cannot detract from its success.
