In Plato’s imagined city, the most just city is one in which each member of society occupies the social role they are the best equipped for based on their talents. Early political philosophers were concerned with ideas of justice and how best to ensure the most virtuous city.

The city is governed by guardians, who are trained from infancy to protect the needs of the society, with the wisest and most virtuous of these becoming philosopher-kings, the natural rulers. Al-Farabi’s supreme ruler is the founder of the city—not an historical founder, but rather one who possesses both practical and theoretical knowledge and is not bound by any precedent or prior authority.

Political philosophy — the branch of philosophy that investigates concepts of justice and legitimacy as well as the relationships among political systems, governments, and the people. city — governed by guardians, who are trained from infancy to protect the needs of the society, with the wisest and most virtuous of these becoming philosopher-kings, the natura. most just city — one in which each member of society occupies the social role they are the best equipped for based on their talents. Divine rule — a doctrine of political authority in which the legitimacy of the monarch or ruler is derived from the will of the divine.