The Grandfather of Patterns

Discussions of Christopher Alexander and design patterns have been ubiquitous in software development for quite some time. The other day I was reading an Atlantic article titled Tales of a Tyrant. This piece was written by Mark Bowden, and it covers the life of Saddam Hussein, his roots, his rise to power and his behavior thereafter. What struck me was how closely it all followed Plato's "Tyrannical Character" from The Republic, right down to the means by which Hussein seized absolute power.

In design pattern parlance, Hussein was an instance of Plato's Tyrant Pattern, I thought. Then it struck me, if you think in terms of patterns, old Plato really was the pattern master. Usually Plato's word for pattern is translated as "form," but I think "pattern" is apropos. He really was describing his perspectives on patterns of individuals and societies in Boox IX of the Republic.

Given this perspective on patterns, I think many people interested in design patterns might enjoy Plato's Republic. Not only are a lot of patterns presented, Plato managed to touch most of the classic philosophical questions, which is another reason the book has such an influential history.