PLS 371 Classical Political Philosophy PDF

PLS 371 1/14 **Classical Political Philosophy** - First stage in the history of Western political philosophy - Classical---Ancient Greece and Rome prior to encounter with Bible - Medieval---Encounter between classical political philosophy and Abrahamic, monotheisti...

PLS 371 1/14 **Classical Political Philosophy** - First stage in the history of Western political philosophy - Classical---Ancient Greece and Rome prior to encounter with Bible - Medieval---Encounter between classical political philosophy and Abrahamic, monotheistic religion, e.g. Judaism, Christianity - Modern political philosophy---Machiavelli (1500s) to present - Classical was developed by Socrates' students Plato and Xenophon, and later by Aristotle and Cicero **The Regime** - Manner in which a political community is ruled - Who rules? (one, few, or many) - Character of ruler(s) - Source of power - For what purpose do they rule? What is their goal? - Their own good, good of the ruled, good of community as whole? Common good? - How do they conceive of the good for which they rule - Determines the way of life of the political community **What makes a good regime good?** - Protecting individual rights, stability, etc.? - The question of the best regime is equivalent to the question of the most just regime (regime is good if it's just and bad if it's unjust) - What does a just rule entail? - Rule for the good of the ruled or the community as a whole - Just rule as act of service to others, potentially self-sacrificial - Ruling offices distributed to those who deserve them on account of their virtue - Ruling office as an honor or privilege and thus good for the ruler - Does a just ruler gain or lose more for themselves by being a just ruler? **Justice** - Promotion of the good of others or the common good even or especially at the expense of one's own private good - Treatment of people as they deserve to be treated - Reward, e.g., honor/privilege of ruling office - Punishment: is just punishment meant to harm the punished (retributive) or benefit them by improving them in a way that's good for them as well as others (rehabilitative)? **Possibilities and Limits of Politics** - How and to what extent might the best, or most just regime be established in practice? - Radical, revolutionary change of the status quo would be required Finish **Philosophy and Politics** - Other major theme of classical political philosophy: The relation between philosophy and politics, the philosopher and the political community - Exemplified by the fate of the founder of political philosophy, Socrates - Socrates was put to death by Athens for impiety and corruption of the youth - Why is there tension between philosophers and their political communities? - Political communities require their members to adhere/conform to certain opinions, laws, conventions - Philosophers question these things Modern position - Tension between philosophy and politics isn't inevitable and should be resolved - Good for both philosophy and politics - Philosophers should write books to solve/resolve this tension Classical position - Tension between philosophy and politics is inevitable - Attempting to resolve it would be bad for both philosophy and politics - Philosophers should write books that defend philosophy against political communities that will always be at least somewhat hostile to politics **What is the best way of life? How should people live?** - Two main alternatives: - Philosophic life, exemplified by Xenophon by Socrates - Political life, exemplified for Xenophon by Cyrus - Classical political philosophers defend philosophy to the political community by celebrating the philosophic life as the best way of life, better even than the political life, according to the moral standards of the political community 1/16 Reading notes: **Xenophon** - 430-355/4 BC - Born in Athens - Student of Socrates **Xenophon's Manner of Writing** - Communicates his deepest, most philosophical thoughts indirectly - Why might a philosopher do this?: - To protect himself from persecution and his works from censorship by the political community - To protect the political community from subversive truths - To educate his readers **The Problem of Political Rule** - What does Xenophon observe at the beginning of the book? - The instability of political rule/regime - Why might political rule/regimes be unstable? - Political rule is often exploitative of the ruled in the way that the rule of masters over servants is - It is always or necessarily exploitative? - Contrast between the rule of human beings and the rule of herd animals---the latter are ruled willingly - Why don't herd animals resist human rule? - Ignorance - Inability to disobey successfully - Forcible conditioning, i.e., taming/domestication - Benefits of subservience, e.g., protection, shelter, etc. **Framing of the Book** - Problem: apparent difficulty or impossibility of human beings' lastingly ruling other human beings given the resistance of human beings to be ruled by other human beings - Solution: the example of Cyrus shows that this isn't impossible or even difficult if it's done with **knowledge** - Who is this a problem for? - Is it good for human beings to rule other human beings? Who is it good for? - What does this knowledge consist in? - Does it enable the ruler to rule in a way that is good for the ruled? - Does it enable the ruler to get the ruled to obey even though this is bad for the ruled? **How Cyrus Succeeded** - Some obeyed him willingly, others had to be subdued - Used fear and intimidation - What causes his subjects to desire to gratify him? Was it merely fear? - In what sense did his subjects think it proper that they be governed by his judgement? - Was his rule analogous to the rule by human beings over herd animals? - Would this not make his rule degrading and dehumanizing for his subjects? - Is Cyrus' rule akin to divine rule? **Cyrus** Xenophon will examine three things about Cyrus that contributed to his success as a ruler: 1. Who he was by birth 2. What his nature was 3. What education he was brought up with **Who he was by birth** - Father: Cambyses, the Persian king, a descendant of the hero\ Perseus and the god Zeus - Mother: Mandane, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes - Legitimate claim to rule on the basis of descent - Descent from a god - Mixed ancestry, not simply Persian **Cyrus' Nature** - "Most beautiful in form and most benevolent in soul, most eager to learn, and most ambitious, with the result that he endured every labor and faced every risk for the sake of being praised" - Three objects of love: 1. Human beings 2. Learning 3. Honor - Which does he love the most? - Honor - Is he benevolent and does he love learning only as means to honor? **Is Cyrus a Philosopher?** - Xenophon's identification of knowledge as the key to ruling human beings calls to mind Plato's idea of a philosophic kingship - Is Cyrus a philosopher-king? - No, he loves learning but not more than honor and perhaps also other human beings - Unlike a philosopher, he wants to rule - More akin to actual statesmen than Plato's philosophical-kings - His rule is less utopian than Plato's philosophical-kingship