ideal State. And moreover, this one reality, the ideal State, is the
ground of the existence of all actual States. They owe their existence
to its reality. Their existence can only be explained by it. Now since
the ideal State is not yet reached in fact, but is the perfect State
towards which all actual States tend, it is clear that we have here
{202} a teleological principle. The real explanation of the State is
not to be found in its beginnings in history, in an original contract,
or in biological necessities, but in its end, the final or perfect
State. Or, if we prefer to put it so; the true beginning is the end.
The end must be in the beginning, potentially and ideally, otherwise
it could never begin: It is the same with all other things. Man is
explained by the ideal man, the perfect man; white things by the
perfect whiteness, and so on. Everything is explained by its end, and
not by its beginning. Things are not explained by mechanical causes,
but by reasons.

And the teleology of Plato culminates in the Idea of the Good. That
Idea is the final explanation of all other Ideas, and of the entire
universe. And to place the final ground of all things in perfection
itself means that the universe arises out of that perfect end towards
which all things move.

Another matter which requires elucidation here is the place which the
conception of God holds in Plato's system. He frequently uses the word
God both in the singular and the plural, and seems to slip with
remarkable ease from the monotheistic to the polytheistic manner of
speaking. In addition to the many gods, we have frequent reference to
the one supreme Creator, controller, and ruler of the world, who is
further conceived as a Being providentially watching over the lives of
men. But in what relation does this supreme God stand to the Ideas,
and especially to the Idea of the Good? If God is separate from the
highest Idea, then, as Zeller points out, [Footnote 13] only three
relations are possible, all of which are {203} equally objectionable.
Firstly, God may be the cause or ground of the Idea of the Good. But
this destroys the substantiality of the Idea, and indeed, destroys
Plato's whole system. The very essence of his philosophy is that the
Idea is the ultimate reality, which is self-existent, and owes its
being to nothing else. But this theory makes it a mere creature of
God, dependent on Him for its existence. Secondly, God may owe His
being to the Idea. Th