Editing Division of labour (section)

=== Plato ===
In [[Plato]]'s ''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'', the [[Origins of the State|origin of the state]] lies in the natural [[Social inequality|inequality]] of humanity, which is embodied in the division of labour:

{{blockquote|Well then, how will our state supply these needs? It will need a farmer, a builder, and a weaver, and also, I think, a shoemaker and one or two others to provide for our bodily needs. So that the minimum state would consist of four or five men....|title=''[[Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'' ([[Penguin Classics]] ed.)|source=p. 103}}

Silvermintz (2010) noted that "Historians of economic thought credit Plato, primarily on account of arguments advanced in his Republic, as an early proponent of the division of labour."<ref name=":0" /> Notwithstanding this, Silvermintz argues that "While Plato recognises both the economic and political benefits of the division of labour, he ultimately critiques this form of economic arrangement insofar as it hinders the individual from ordering his own soul by cultivating acquisitive motives over prudence and reason."<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Silvermintz|first=Daniel|title=Plato's Supposed Defense of the Division of Labor: A Reexamination of the Role of Job Specialisation in the Republic|journal=History of Political Economy|year=2010|volume=42|issue=4|pages=747–72|doi=10.1215/00182702-2010-036}}</ref>