EARLY GOVERNMENT Platos Republic The Philosophy of Government

EARLY GOVERNMENT Plato’s Republic The Philosophy of Government CIVICS SRMHS Mr. Hensley

The Persian Wars • 499 to 494 BCE: Ionians revolt against Persian control with help from Greek city-states • 490 BCE: Persian invasion of Athens repelled at Marathon • 480 BCE: Xerxes leads second invasion and is turned back at Salamis (sea) and Plataea (land)

Sparta • A small group of elites (the Spartans) controlled a much larger population of slaves (the Helots) • Sparta is an oligarchy • Spartan men who survived the agoge training (from age 7 to 29) became full citizens with voting rights • Good example of conflict perspective

Athens • Athens has a great harbor (Piraeus) so shipping was important • International connections (math, science from Egypt and Babylon) • Athenian men were full citizens but one-third of its population were slaves • Athenian citizens represented themselves in court (Sophists)

Athenian Democracy • Juries and many government positions were done by lot (randomly) • Entire citizen body met two or three times a year to decide on laws • Ostracism allowed troublemakers to be expelled • Even military positions were handled through election

Peloponnesian Wars • War lasts three decades ( from 431 to 404 BCE) • Athenian setbacks include the Periclean Plague (429) and the Sicilian Expedition (415) • Total victory by Sparta (404) • Pro-Sparta government known as “The 30 Tyrants” installed in Athens afterwards • The 30 Tyrants are overthrown (403 BC) – one of the 30 Tyrants is Critias – who was a student of Socrates

Socrates • Born 470 BCE • Opposed/rejected sophists • Socratic method - begin with a hypothesis then ask clarifying questions in an attempt to negate it • Students included Plato, Xenophon and Critias • Death in 399 BCE • “Gnothi seauton” – know yourself!

Plato and Aristotle • Circa 429: born into a wealthy and noble Athenian family • 399: after the death of Socrates, exile • Circa 390: return to Athens, founding of the Academy – Dialogs are written • Circa 365: Aristotle arrives at the Academy • Dies in his sleep: 348 BCE

Why Study Philosophy? • Because it provides meaning and so much of our lives are essentially meaningless • Science strives for knowledge (analysis) while philosophy’s goal is wisdom (synthesis) • Science tries to resolve the whole into parts while philosophy seeks to describe how the parts relate to the whole

Classic Philosophical Questions • “Can I know anything for certain? ” • “Do human beings have free will? ” • “Are we born basically good or basically evil? ” • “Is there a God? • “What is the best way to live my life? ”

Basic Disciplines • LOGIC - the study of ideal thought • AESTHETICS - the study of ideal form (or beauty) • ETHICS - the study of ideal conduct • POLITICS - the study of ideal society or social organization • METAPHYSICS - the study of the ultimate reality or final nature of all things and includes • EPISTEMOLOGY, the study of how we can know what we know (a theory of knowledge).

Debate Over Government • Men are naturally equal and only laws and institutions make them unequal. Law is an invention of the strong to chain the weak. Pure democracy is the best form of government • Men are naturally unequal Morality (and laws) are inventions of the weak to chain the strong. Aristocracy is the natural form of government

Plato’s Dialogs • Recreations of discussions between Socrates and other Athenians regarding deep issues • What is love? What is justice? Do we have an immortal soul? • “The Republic” deals with the ideal type of government

The Republic Begins…. The Republic begins with a discussion: What is “justice”? • Someone offers the definition: justice is power (“might is right”). Governments make laws to advance their own best interests(and the best interests of those who run the governments). Anyone who gets in the way of that is branded a criminal. Morality is an invention of the weak to bind the strong. • Socrates (Plato) then offers a solution: figure out what justice looks like at the state level, at the collective level - and we can then use that to figure out what justice looks like at the individual level.

Politics versus Statesmanship • Socrates makes a distinction between politics (the art and science of getting and maintaining power) and statesmanship ( the coordination of social forces and the adjustment of policy to growth) • He then points out that types of government fail when their defining principle is taken to extremes (democracy can turn into mob rule, aristocracy fails when the circle of power becomes too small, etc. ) • But… why don’t we ever have a government run by experts in government? By professional statesmen? By philosophers who are also kings ?

What Does This Look Like? • Communal child-raising and nothing but athletic activity until the twenties • By 30, select the best and the brightest and let these work out in the world (business and military) • By 50, select the best and brightest remaining and let them run the state - they will live communally, without property and without wives - these are our Philosopher-Kings

What is a Just Society? • A just society is one in which every person fulfills his function, according to their unique talents and abilities • A just state is one in which the rules of state encourage and allow each person to fulfill their destiny and in which the rules of state prevent one sector from dominating the others to the detriment of all

Modern Day Wrap-Up • “Human Capitalization” is a term used by sociologists to refer to how well people find the job or role for which they are best suited • From Gladwell: “the rate at which a given community capitalizes on the human potential… what percentage of those who are capable of achieving something actually achieve it. ”