Politics was a very significant part of Greek culture and participation in politics was one of the main duties of citizens in Ancient Athens; however, the political regime of Ancient Athens was flawed, this presented an opportunity for political thinkers to criticize it and develop their own ideas; Plato and Aristotle were among the political thinkers, they contributed to the politics of their time in significant ways. Plato’s views were shaped by his teacher Socrates, the political state of Athens, and the Peloponnesian War; the Republic is one of his most famous works, it was written as narrative, and his thoughts were communicated through the voice of the character Socrates. The central ideas behind the Republic are government and justice; throughout the book, Plato describes the ideal state in which citizens use their skills and work together to bring harmony and peace to the city-state. He goes into explicit detail about the organization of the state, the different classes, and the characteristics that each class must possess; in his political theory, Plato argues that a few virtuous philosophers should rule the city. Aristotle was a student of Plato, and although they agreed on some aspects of politics, they disagree on more significant concepts; in Politics, Aristotle describes his political theory and covers a wide range of topics; however, unlike the Republic which focuses on justice, Politics focuses on the central idea of the purpose of life, which Aristotle argues is virtue and happiness. The focus of this paper will be Plato and Aristotle’s positions on the issue of who should rule. Plato argues that a few philosophers should rule, and Aristotle argues that the many, or multitude, should rule; their ideas are complex ...
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...g and practical because it can be applied to our contemporary politics and modern society. Through analyzing and comparing Plato and Aristotle’s complex political theories of the correct and incorrect political regimes, the quantity of rulers, and the important characteristics and virtues of the best rulers, this paper aimed to argue that the wisdom of the multitude would result in a better, more just, and harmonious state than the wisdom of the few. However, both of the Republic and Politics are thought-provoking and relevant pieces of literature that have stood against the test of time and still remain popular works that contribute to the world of political science and allow us to reflect on our modern society, as well as introducing various ideas in which our society can be altered and improved to achieve the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.
The Olympian Religion of Ancient Greece was a religion that was based on fear, whereas the many mystery religions of Ancient Greece were based primarily on hope. The Olympian Religion was based on fear due to the instability and unpredictability of the gods and goddesses; it was believed that they could change their minds whenever they pleased. This left mortals scared and willing to do anything to avoid the wrath of the gods and goddesses. However, the mystery religions were based on hope and community
INTRODUCTION In his book, Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework, author David Estlund proposes a method of democratic decision making that he calls “epistemic proceduralism.” In preparing to write this critique, I attempted to gain at least a brief but clear understanding of Estlund’s entire framework. Whilst for time and space reasons, I could not delve into all of the available materials, I did happily find that much of this book, including the chapter I will reference primarily in this
his own, there is little evidence of Socrates life. Everything the world knows about Socrates comes mainly from the works of Plato, Aristotle, Aristophanes, and Xenophon. These works are mostly dialogues, plays, and historians’ notes. It is in the works and dialogues of two main witnesses that the life of Socrates has mostly been constructed. These two witnesses are Plato and Xenophon, both of which were students of Socrates. From these writings, we learn that Socrates’ father, Sophroniscus, was
Socrates was a one of the first philosophers and teachers known to Western philosophy. He lived in Athens Greece from 470 – 399 B.C. and is studied to this day because of his insights and understanding of the way people should live. Towards the end of his life, Socrates was accused of a myriad of crimes including criminal meddling and the corruption of the minds of the young. Eventually, Socrates was found guilty of his crimes and shortly after he was condemned to death. During the time of his incarceration
"How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was – such was the effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth.” – Plato “The Apology” In “The Apology,” Socrates represents himself in his own trial. He boldly questions the morality of the people of court. In this report, I will be analyzing portions of “The Apology” in order to reveal the intellectuality of this text
Greece’s Golden Age can be defined as a time of flourishing. Athens made the important decision of splitting itself from Sparta, who they constantly differed with. “It is from this split that the Athenian Empire was created” (Hunt 80). This split illustrates the certainty that the Athenians possessed in terms of creating a better nation. Athens developed an empire because democracy was expensive. In order for democracy to be created, you need an empire to raise money. Both Sparta and Athens created
the three parts and explanation of their functions, description of the interaction of the parts, and then how the the parts and their interaction motivate action. This essay will investigate each segment, and seek to explain their importance. For Plato, the soul is considered to have three parts: the appetitive or the passions, the spirited part or the will, the reasonable part or the intellect. The appetitive deals with the bodily necessities and desires. The appetite is often considered base or
political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity. Plato defines Athens as a democratic society that “treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not
Athens was located on the Western Europe specifically it’s one of the city on Greece. It was the first birth of democracy and also it was the home of education, that’s included Philosophy, Artists and so many scientists were appeared in Athens. In this city there were so many government came out, but none of them didn’t satisfy what the Athenian people wanted, except one king was called Pericles. He was the first leader who proposed democracy and made Athens glorious by different directions, those
Death and the Maiden and Punishment are literatures that are about woman that have suffered in their life`s, but at the end they make choices that made them happy. These two literatures explain the power women can contribute through control. Paulina and Chandara are from two different countries and backgrounds, but very similar when it comes to completing a goal in their life`s they have to fulfill. Chandara and Paulina are two woman that seem weak at the beginning of the story and play, but as they
The philosophies of Plato and Aristotle and their contributions to the development of western philosophy. Plato was a classical Greek philosopher and one of the top 5 contributors to Western philosophy, educator after his mentor, Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. His sophistication as a writer started while under the tutelage of Socrates, continued through his establishing of his own academy, (The Academy of Athens which has been labeled as the first institution of higher learning in the Western
In Republic, Plato presents his view of justice and why it is better to be just rather than unjust. In doing so, Plato tries to develop a parallel between justice in the city and justice in the individual. Justice in the city can be characterized by every citizen performing one’s own social service in the state in which his nature is best adapted. Justice in the soul is each of the three parts of the soul—rational, spirited and appetitive— performing its proper functions and being in harmony with
unsubstantive communication is corrupt. A society in which information distortion is accommodated, individual thinking is not demanded, and the truth is an inconvenient experience has lead to the corrupting of the youth. Works Cited Apologies by Plato
philosophers; the ones who choose to lurk deeper in the veiled mysteries of metaphysics. According to Plato, his Theory of Forms states perfection only lives in the realm of thought. There only exists one of every ideal and the rest is just a copy. This one creation is called a form, the most flawless representation of an idea. In the physical world everything is a copy of these forms and all copies are imperfect. Plato believed in two worlds; the intelligible world and the illusionistic world. The intelligible
Plato: Republic: By Allan Bloom In the Plato’s Republic mainly discuses the idea of what justice is. The answer to this question has a variety of answers according to the Republic, which makes it very interesting. Throughout this book, you will be driven in many directions of what justice is. Some may the answer is to primarily is doing the right thing. The main issue comes from about is whether to try and be just at the expense of staying poor, or lie, or even use the very unjust means to get what