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/ 40
‘Politieat-phitosophy proper began with the Greeks.
It may be true that all succeeding political philosophy is a
footnote to and a commentary on Plato. This does not deny
the importance of other civilizations: the Egyptian, the He-
brew, the Persian, the Hittite. Historical research has shown,
‘that Greek science owes a considerable debt to Babylonia:
‘@ much more understanding view has been recently taken
fn Persian institutions. Yet while in pre-Greck. writings
there are fragments of a political nature’ and discussion of
some political problems —a written code of law, a tribal God,
God as the source of political authority, bureaucracy and,
bove all, the nature of the absolute ruler or despot—there
are no systematic or exhaustive expesitions.
‘In Homer there are four different examples of political
‘organization, but no coherent view of the operation of pol-
5. It is the Greeks of the Sth and 4th centuries .¢. who
‘created the terminology of politics, taking the words from
everyday usage and applied thought t0 political action. Poli-
tics Was inseparable from life in the polis, a city possessing
common habits, military strength, a myth ofits origin, its own
god and religion, and citizens. Itis this last characteristic that
differentiates the polis and future political organizations from
fssociations based on blood and religious ties,
"The city-state of Athens in the Sth and 4th centuries 8.c.,
with its 1,000 square miles of territory, its 40,000 citizens and.
400,000 imixed population, remains one of the pinnacles of
hhuman civilization. Its basis was not so much individual ma-
terial welfare or comfort as communal pride, communal
magnificence and dedication. Indeed, material comforts Were
modest. The Greeks were badly clothed and ill shod; there “4 “Tue Gneat Pourmical Taonses
were no auch magnificent road or drainage systems as, were
ouble ia Persia ‘or Kome. Public ilar were reparded as
‘ore fnportant and significant than private mattere—the
Frnt of poles is totes (thowe who are uninterested. fo
i ala).
Pe Leiure, “that most exquisite of delights,” love of conversa-
tion, admiration of physical beauty of both men and women,
eit inthe tester andthe great trio of dramatist, Aeschy”
tts 'Sophocles and) Eurpsies participation in. communal
Mice Tall these are diferent aspects of a sophisticated cul-
{tre thal has been so prolific in foftuence inthe ars of Iiera-
tnd architecture, philosophy and politcal behavior. Ver~
Saulity was the hallmark ofthe cizen’ Education, as Pericles
hould mold a person “capable of the most vatied forms
and abl to. adapt Met to ferent circum.
teuriam land diletantism are obvious, as ean be seen in-the
remark of Aristotle that a geatleman should play the Mute, but
‘ot too well.
‘Yet if Athens had great art and literature, had its Academy
and Lyceum, put great stress on education and proclaimed the
Yalue of goverament by discussion, its history was marred by
‘examples of military aggression and infolerance, and by its
economic base of slavery. Its heyday was short. In 490 and
4480, the Athenians had beaten the Persians at Marathon and
at Salamis, in 432 they began the disastrous 27-year war with
Sparta which ruined their liberal civilization, and in 332 they
fell o the Macedonians. Athens’ intolerance was shown by
the kiling of Socrates, the banishing of ‘Themistocles and the
imprisonment of Miltiades; Critias, one of the pupils of Socra-
tes, became one of the Thirty Tyrants. The whole economy
resied on slavery, since there was no occupation except that of
politics which was not performed by slaves. Even those. who
argued against Aristotle's view of slavery as natural, did. not
Propose its abolition.
If we are more familiar with the rationalism of the Greeks,
ther pride in human reson and confidence in the coxa,
Permeated by reason, we must also note that Greece produced
the Orphic-Pythagorean myths with their emphasis on the
sinful Body, deaf git and the words place of punish:
The polis contained a community, the sole source of at
thority, dedicated to the purpose of achieving the good life.
This purpose would be accomplished through individual par-
ticipation in communal affairs, a duty the individual volun-
THe Grsexs. 25
tarily accepted and which was desirable both for the com-
‘munity and for his own development. The general object was.
the creation of social balance and harmony, which meant not
totalitarian control, but a reconciliation of individual difter-
fences, based on the premise that the desire for individual
fulfillment need not end in anarchy. State, or social, action
‘was needed, but there was no claim that the state had an
existence of its own, apart from the individuals who made up
its citizen body. The best kind of self-tealization and society
Was the goal; doing well or living well was the aim of inquiry
and action. Politics, therefore, became a proper subject of
inquiry, a process concerned with the meaning of nomos—
Jaw and custom—and with the wisdom of social organization.
Sophocles
Antigone, written in 441 3.c. by Sophocles, is the immortal
drama in which the order of the ruler Creon forbidding the
burial of Polyneices is defied by his niece Antigone, the sister
of the slain man. The play embodies the confict between
‘opposing points of view and principles on a number of basic
issues confronting all political systems.
‘At the core of the conflict is the issue of the nature of law
and justice. Differences exist between the claims of divine lav,
the unwritten laws of God, and natural Iaw on the one hand
and the laws made by the existing rulers. The expression of
individual conscience and will conficts with the demands of
the ruler. The ties of blood relationships are opposed to the
impersonal loyalty to the state. The struggle exists between,
‘men and women, and between young and older people. Anti-
zone is a timeless drama in its discussion of the problem of
disobedience by an individual of the state and its ruler and the
effect of that disobedience on the parties involved.
Sophists
The first important group of political thinkers were the
Sophists, of whom Gorgias, Protagoras, Prodicus, Hippias
and Thrasymachus are the most familiar. They were teachers
who created subjects by inventing definitions and concepts,
and who Were paid for teaching them. Not endowed with
University chairs, not attached to any particular culture ot
polis, they traveled everywhere to deliver their lectures, help-
{ng their students to practical success. Versatile in their inter=
ests and varied in their background, they introduced ideas of
‘cosmopolitanism, skepticism and free thinking, educa
n for eee arcetarneent
Se ie rcs aegdleestminy
scare nas
‘They taught sophia, the wisdom, knowledge and skill that was
Ee ala
deen fe en i et ae
tagoras, “man is the measure of all things,” for Gorgias, the
s ‘of mankind was man.
Se ee ae nee
Sere cote yore te
Seta a ahem latent oon
Se een
ee arate eens
eee
Plato
“The greatness of the teacher is best shown by the caliber of
his students. The most distinguished of the pupils of Socrates
‘Was the aristocratic Athenian, Plato (427-347 8.c.), founder
of the first college, the Academy, in 388, and the first great
systematic poltieal theorist. No. political writer can com-
pletely ignore or neglect the Republic, the book devoted to the
‘meaning and implementation of justice both by the individual
And the state. Its political ideas, as expounded by the spokes-
‘man Socrates, are still attacked and defended with genuine
passion,
Plato concerned himself with fundamental questions: the
meaning of justice, the right kind of life of the
hhuman personality, the purpose of political association, the
best type of politcal structure, the classification of constitu:
tions, the need for trained rulers, the meaning of knowledge
‘The Republic is a book on politics, but it i also on psychol-
gy, morality, education and eugenics.
Plato was critical of the accepted Athenian idea of all citi
zens participating in politics. The exercise of political power
was as skilled a profession as any other, requiring long aP-
Drenticeship and dedication. Ruling was a distinct craft, need
ing a group of trained rulers. This involves drawing
‘Tue Greexs a
tions between human beings on the basis, not of their
Possession of material wealth, but_on what part of the soul
‘was dominant in their character. The three elements of the
soul—appetite, courage and reason—were related to class and
to function in the state. If appetite, or the satisfaction of
physical desires, dominated, the individual would be in the
laboring class, if it was spirit or courage, he would be a
Warrior, if it was reason, or the faculty of possessing true
Knowledge, he would be a ruler. Constitutions were thus re~
lated to the character of the citizen body. The good state, like
the good man, possessed the characteristics of temperance,
‘courage, wisdom and justice
‘Although there was provision for children born in one class
to reach a higher, this was an exceptional rather than a typical
Procedure. Plato's society was not only ordered, but struc
{ured and hierarchical, with everyone in his allotted, proper
Place. Interrelated therefore with the political structure was an.
educational system, which prepared individuals for their func:
tion, and @ science of eugenics which prepared the individu:
Plato was largely interested in the class of rulers or guard:
ans: ow they could be obtained, what education was neces-
for them, how their life was to be organized, the way in
Which they could acquire real knowledge, their methods of
control over the rest of society, the way in which they could
‘Sfeate the necessary feeling of unity and community interest
‘This group of learned ascetics was to be a communal body,
Fenouncing both private property and individual wives, both
‘of which might induce them to act in their individual, rather
than the general, interests
Most important of all, members of this group were not
simply rulers, they were philosophers. They alone could
lunderstand what was of permanent value, had knowledge of
the dialectic and the Forms of goodness and justice. Their
very reluctance to govern was an illustration of their fitness to
do 50. In order to govern, they had to leave the realm of true
knowiedge and philosophical inquiry, as Plato suggested in
the striking allegory of the cave in Book 7, to descend to the
dark realm of ordinary life.
‘The Republic presented an ideal regime, the feasibility or
likelihood of which was not clear. In his other major political
‘work, Laws, Plato seemed to have abandoned the possibility
Of realizing such a regime, for he proposed an impersonal
code of law as a substitute for the reason of the ruler, and
approved the possession of private property by the rulers as
‘well as the ruled. Certainly, Plato was pessimistic in his view » swe Guest Pouca Tunons
inevitable, propenive deterioration of goverament from
of inevitable, proses oo) unl the final form of tyranny,
carting pt fer) ay wh al fu
sai esate aa or gd ot the whole, and in
hie funtion and work for dat for his foncion and
whic edaton rare arti o€ gd con,
for chien But I as of erate and, tia
sau soci postion etapble of erapng the sete
$0 ote spe cesar for lg.
ay of Knowle ea rn which the work i ful, are
are forte he imstersie ahepberd ook
en on eid nelle comand and bed
‘ean of au the ruertizen relaonahip
Tames ef ne, ano! “mate the cy te
CE ee rth peer Mi Ne cana, But
seecoae ons acd
Feectae
Aristotle
Unlike Plato, Aristotle (384-322 .c.) was born not in
‘Athens but at Stagira. After studying under Plato, and tutor-
ing Alexander the Great between 342 and 334, he founded his
bin school, the Lyceum, in Athens. He taught there until 322
when he was accused of impiety and fled. Aristotle was fa-
Tillar with ifeat court. His father was court physician to the
‘of Macedonia (which perhaps explains the large number
Of medical metaphors in his work); he Knew several rulers as
Well as Alexander. He was versed in an extraordinary variety
and number of subjects: biology, physics, psychology, logic,
aesthetics, a8 well as ethics and polities. AS teacher, he was
also director of what must have been the first task force of
fraduate students engaging in the process known as research
“The temper of Aristotle's Poles is different from that of
the Republic. Its cool, quiet, reasonable, not so ambitious,
lacking in strong enthusiasm or advocacy. Much of the dis-
ordered logical presentation of the book is due to the fact that
i's more a series of lecture notes and a number of indepen
dent essays than a polished tre
“Aristotle is the cool, dispa
empirical investigator of political institutions and. beh:
His was the first exhaustive analysis of existing constitutions,
fand he thus created political science. His classifation of
politcal regimes has been either repeated or has been the
Starting point of most succeeding discussion of governmental
systems. His discussion in Book 5 of revolutions and the
‘Tre Gnenxs 29
‘methods of preserving a political system is still a fount from
which contemporaries draw. His definition of citizenship,
not his defense of slavery, ie still a challenging one.
‘Observation was. net to study phenomena and the
‘way they changed, in order to find the real nature of anything.
Plato's conception of change had been of degeneration from
the ideal; Aristotle believed that change was. teleological,
‘movement toward the natural, predetermined end. The end of
‘man's actions was happiness, which is achieved by the correct,
control of his desire by his reason. The end of the state was
self-sufficiency, which was ‘achieved by moderation, in its
‘wealth, its size, its constitution and its ruling group. The best,
‘human being was the one in whom the “nature” of the person
had been most realized. The best form of regime was the one
in which the “nature” of the polis had been realized the most.
‘Man and state were linked together. Man was by nature a
political animal who reached perfection and became civilized
48s a citizen, The state was a natural phenomenon, since it was
the-means by which man could reach his end. It was natural
because it was the end to which associations, the household
and the tribe, moved, and because this end provided the good
‘Aristotle was concerned with the most important topic of
political inquiry, the best form of political association of con-
Stitution. His classification of states was determined partly by
the number of rulers and partly by their aim, whether they
acted for the good of the whole or only for themselves. His
discussion of democracy is still pertinent today. He presented
fairly the advantages—collective judgments are more satisfac-
tory than individual ones, and the many should rule (as
shown in his metaphor that these who wear the shoe know
bbest where it pinches)—and the drawbacks, especially. the
problem of what to do with the outstanding ma.
His argument on the supremacy of law, which provides
both stability and reason freed from all passion, his di
between numerical and proportional equality,
‘corrective justice, his discussion of the mixed regime guided
by moderation as the means of mainta
gument for the limitation of material we
liberal education, the function of leisure, the nature of eitizen~
ship, the happy life, all have been imamensely influential.
‘Aristotle bequeathed a great legacy to political thought, but,
not to any one school, If he stressed the desirability of moder-
ation and of respect for the law, he was not yet the counter-
part of the modern consttutionalist. If he argued for limita-
tion of wealth, he was no socialist. If he tended to suggest at 30 ‘The Gear POLITICAL THEORIES
toes that monarchy was the bet form of government, he was
Lines iad advocate of unrestricted, hereditary, monarchy
polis. Above all, Aristotle is
Solty of a politcal science, :
Fos et and of the activites of men making Up those
sates
SOPHOCLES
Antigone
The Need for Obedience and the Case for Disobedience
Cxson
Nf Tends, the very gs who shook the state
ttn mighty surge have set staight agai.
SS now font for you, chose fom al
fiat tat I Knew you conatant in respect
to Lalu royal power; and sea
when Ocdip iad set the stat to rights,
Und when he perished, you were faithful stil
inmind tothe descendants ofthe dead.
When they to perished by a double fat,
none day strck and striking and defiled
tchby his own hand, now comes that
fold al the power and the royal throne
through close connection with the perished men.
‘You cannot learn of sry man thes,
‘and the ftend until he shows
his practise ofthe government and lw.
For believe that who controls the state
$d dost hl tothe bs paso
7 oes his tongue up through some Kind of fear,
hate ts worst Of all who ar or were
‘And he mo counts another greater fiend
than his own fatherland, pat him nowhere.
Sol—may Zeus allaccing sways know it
ould nat keep silent ay diester crept,
Spon the town, destroying hope of safety.
Nor could Teount the enemy ofthe land
friend to myselt not Tho know so well
that she it is who saves ut, sling straight,
and only so can we have fiends tal,
‘Tue Greeks 31
Inthe mater of the son of Oedipus,
citizens, know Etcocles who died,
Gefending this our town with charapion spear,
{sto be covered in the grave and granted
Alloy sites we give the noble dead
‘But his brother Polyeices whom {name
the exile who came back and sought to burn
his fatherland the gods wo were his kin,
Wo tried to gorge on Bod he shared, and ead
the rest of ws slaves
itis announced that no one inthis town
may give him burial or moven for him,
eave him unburied. leave his corpse disgraced,
2 dinner forthe birds and forthe Sosy
Such is my mind, Never shall. myself
honor the wicked and rejet the jst
‘The man whos wellminded tothe state
sth and life shall have his honor.
from me in
Creox
Stop now, before you fil me up with rags
‘of you'll prove yourself insane as wel as old
‘Unbearable, your saying that the gods
take any Kindly forethought for this corpse.
‘Would i be they had hidden him away,
honoring his good service, his who came
to burn thee pillared temples and their wealth,
even their land, and break apart their laws?
‘Or have you seen them honor wicked men?
Teisn'tso.
No, from the firs there were some men in town
‘who took the edict hard, and growled against me,
‘who hid the fact that they were rearing back,
not rightly in the yoke, no way my friends,
‘These are the people—oh it’s clear to me—
‘who have bribed these men and brought about the deed
No current custom among men as bad
as silver currency. This destroys the state;
this drives men from their homes; this Wicked teacher
drives solid citizens to acts of shame.
It shows men how to practise infamy
and know the deeds ofall unholines.
Every least hireling who helped in
‘brought about then the sentence he shall have, 32 ‘Tne Great POLITICAL THEORIES
But further sil revere great Ze
tunderstand this, Ite you under oath,
if you don’ find the very man whose hands
buried the corpse, bring him for me to see,
rot death alone shall be enough for you
{il living, hanging, you make clear the crime.
For any future grabbings you'll have learned
‘where to get pay, and that it doesn't pay
{o squeeze a profit out of every source.
For you'll have felt that more men come to doom
through dirty profits than are Kept by them.
‘Caton
‘You there, whose head is drooping to the ground,
do you admit this, or deny you did i?
ANTIgoNE.
Tsay I did it and I don't deny it
Cxeow
‘You—tell me not at length but in a word.
‘You knew the order not 10 do this thing?
ANTIOONE
T knew, of course I knew. The word was plain.
CrEoN
And still you dared to overstep these laws?
Axticone
For me it was not Zeus who made that order.
Nor did that Justice who lives with the gods below
mark out such laws to hold among mankind.
‘Nor did I think your orders were so strong.
that you, a moral man, could over-run
the gods’ unwritten and unfailing laws.
‘Not now, nor yesterday's, they always live,
and no one knows theie origin in time.
So not through fear of any man's proud spirit
would Ie likly 1 neglect these laws,
iraw on myself the gods' sure punishment.
knew that I must die; how could I not?
‘even without your warning. IfI die
before my time, Tsay itis a gain.
‘Who lives in sorrows many as are mine
‘THe Greexs 3
‘how shall he not be glad to gnin his death?
‘And s0, for me to meet this fate, no grief
Butif left that corpse, my mother's son,
dead and unburied I'd have cause to grieve
‘as now I grieve not.
‘And if you think my acts are foolishness
the foolishness may be in 4 fools eye
‘Cron
‘These rigid spirits are the fist to fall
‘The strongest iron, hardened in the fice,
most often ends in scraps and shattering.
‘Small curbs bring raging horses back to terms
Slave to his neighbor, who can think of pride?
‘This girl was expert in her insolence
‘when she broke bounds beyond established law.
‘Once she had done it, insolence the second,
to boast her doing, and to laugh init
Tam no man and she the man instead
if she can have this conquest without pain
She is my sisters child, but were she child
ff closer kin than any at my hearth,
She and her sister should not so escape
their death and doom,
If Tallow disorder in my house
Pd surely have to licence it abroad.
‘Arman who deals in fairness With is own,
hhe.can make manifest justice in the state,
But he who crosses law, or forees it
for hopes to bring the rulers under him,
shall never have a word of praise from me.
‘The man the state has putin place must have
‘obedient hearing to his least command,
When itis right, and even when it's not.
He who accepts this teaching U can trust
ruler, or ruled, to function in his place,
{0 stand his ground even in the storm of spears,
mate to trust in battle at one’s side.
‘There is no greater wrong than disobedience.
‘This ruins eties, this tears down our homes,
this breaks the battlefront in panie-rout.
Tf men live decently itis because
discipline saves thei very lives for them.
‘So I must guard the men who yield to order,
‘not let myself be beaten by a woman. 38 “Tie Great POLITICAL THEORIES
ea
Sai
PLATO
The Republic
Bass of Social Organization
eee ‘Socrates is Talking to Adeimantus
Imagine a rather short-sighted person told to read an in-
sean nal erro ome wa of He wuld think
2 godsend if someone pointed out that the same. inscription
EPiviten up ecwhets on a bigee scale, 20 that be sould
first read the larger characters and then make out whether the
smaller ones were the same.
‘We think of justice as a quality that may exist in a whole
community as well as in an individual, and the community is
the bigger of the two. Possibly, then, we may find justice there
in larger proportions, easier to make out. So I suggest that we
should begin by inguiring what justice means in a state. Then
‘we can go on to look for its counterpart on a smaller scale in
the indi z
‘Well then, 1 continued, suppose we imagine a state coming
into being before our eyes. We might then be able to watch
the growth of justice or of injustice within it. When that is
sdone, we may hope it will be easier to find what we are look-
ing for.
‘A state comes into existence because no individual is self-
suficing: we al have many needs.
‘We callin one another's help to satisfy our various require-
‘mens; and when We have collected a nimber of helpers and
associates to live together in one place, we call that settlement
state
If one man gives another what he has to give in exchange
for what he ean get, it is because each finds that 10 do 30 18
for his own advantage
‘Very well, said 1. Now let us build up our imaginary state
from the beginning. Apparently, it will owe its existence 10
‘Our needs, the first and greatest need being the provision of
food to keep us alive. Next we shall want a house; and thirdly,
such things a clthin
How will our state be able to supply all these demands? We
to be a farmer, another a builder,
that do, or shall we add a shoe~
‘THe Greeks. 35
maker and one or wo more to provide for our personal
wants?
‘The minimum state, then, will consist of four or five men.
Now here is a further point. Is each one of them to bring
the product of his work into a common stock? Should our one
srmer, for example, provide food enough for four people and
spend the whole of his working time in producing corn, so as
{0 share with the rest; or should he take no notice of them
land spend only a quarter of his time on growing just enough
‘corn for himself, and divide the other three-quarters between,
building his house, weaving his clothes, and making his shoes,
s0 as f0 save the trouble of sharing with others and attend
himself to all his own concerns?
‘The first plan might be easier, replied Adeimantus.
That may very well be 30, said I; for, as you spoke, it
‘occurred to. me, for one thing, that no two people are born.
‘exactly alike, There are innate differences which fit them for
different occupations.
‘And will a man do better working at many trades, oF keep-
ing t0 one only?
Keeping to one.
‘And there is another point: obviously work may be ruined,
if you let the right time go by. The workman must wait upon
the work; it will not wait upon his leisure and allow itself to
bbe done in a spare moment. So the conclusion is that more
things will be produced: and the work be more easily and
better done, when every man is set free from all other occupa-
tions to do, at the right time, the one thing for which he is
naturally ited.
‘We shall need more than four citizens, then, to supply all
those necessaries We mentioned. You see, Adeimantus, if the
farmer is to have a good plough and spade and other tools, he
will not make them himself. No more will the builder and
‘Weaver and shoemaker make all. the many implements they
need, So quite a number of carpenters and smiths and other
craftsmen must be enlisted. Our miniature state is beginning
to grow.
Sill, it will not be very large, even when we have added
‘cowherds and shepherds to provide the farmers with oxen for
the plough, and the builders as well as the farmers ‘with