... think back on two people that so long ago have reasoned and imagine political theories that are still in use today. Plato and Aristotle are considered to be "Founding Fathers" of modern political theories. I armed myself with Hacker Andrew's Political Theory: Philosophy, Ideology, Science: New York: Macmillan, 1961 and took a stroll down the "philosophical memory lane". In order to compare the ... political theories of two great philosophers of politics we need to examine each theory in depth. Plato is regarded by many experts as the first writer of political ... philosophy, and Aristo...

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... philosophy, you get a strange mixture of theories that work in theory itself but have never been tested in practice. Most philosophers try to talk about the politics, but for me the only ones interesting are those that talked about it a long time ago and who actually thought of the things they talked about, and not only remade someone else's thoughts. I chose Plato ... the political theories of two great philosophers of politics is to first examine each theory in depth. Plato is probably the first writer of political philosophy, and Aristotle is recognized as the first political scientis...

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• Grade Level: High School

... the political theories of two great philosophers of politics is to first examine each theory in depth. Plato is regarded by many experts as the first writer of political philosophy, and Aristotle is recognized as the first political scientist. These two men were great thinkers. They ... each had ideas of how to improve existing societies during their individual lifetimes. It is necessary to look at several areas of each theory to seek the difference in each. The main focus of Plato ... considered to mean equality, in oligarchies, again inequality in the distribution of office is consid...

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... group with the most freedom had to be that group or person with the least responsibilities to themselves and/ or to the city states. From Plato's definition of Freedom Socrates is the freest . Socrates' freedom comes from his attitude. His very philosophical bases at the center of his attention ... of victory, or by anger due to ill temper -pursuing satisfaction of honor, victory, and anger without calculation and intelligence?" (Book IX586c-d). Overall Plato thought freedom was bad and had a negative effect on the person and on the city state. Polis and the ethos , the city and the ... ...

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There are three questions that must be answered when talking about the tyrant that is described in Plato's "Republic-. First you must explain the character present in the tyrant. Second you must describe the kind of life that a tyrant can be expected to live. The third and final ... .""(587a-b) And since the farther away from the philosophical level the part is the more likely it is to compel the other parts. And since Tyranny is the farthest from philosophy, the tyrannical pleasures are the most distant therefore leading the tyrannical life to be the most unpleasant and the philosophical lif...

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Plato's "Crito," begins with dialogue between Socrates and Crito which takes place in Socrate's prison cell, where he awaits execution. Crito had been watching Socrates for a long time and was amazed ... by not obeying the state that he was raised in, is like not obeying his parents that raised him. Socrates was a man who chose his commitment to truth, morality and philosophy over life. He had a great commitment to his state, therefore by disobeying it, he would be committing suicide in a sense. If Socrates had disobeyed his state, he would never be ... ...

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... elegant, and he is a master - again the first, and much imitated - of the dramatic form of the dialog. (Plato, after encountering Socrates, gave up a promising career as a poet in order to devote himself to what he felt to be the higher calling of philosophy). The action of the Republic takes place during an overnight party of a dozen or so Athenian aristocrats, and ... does in fact have something of the dreamlike quality of such gatherings. Plato is deadly serious, in at least two ways: He is the most radical of conservative ... philosophers. Radical means aiming at the root of things...

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The main objective in Plato's philosophy is a creation of a perfect society. He constructs a foundation for a utopian society in his book "The Republic". The purpose of his thought process was to cleanse his society of the woes he felt plagued it and construct a new one. Plato lived during the Peloponnesian War, which consequently lead to the end of the Athenian democracy. He had ... the Athenian democratic government, he disengaged from participating in politics. He strongly felt that neither a moral individual nor a state that is rational could be established in a democratic environment. Pla...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... with the responsibility of ruling and protecting the citizens. This stratification of society, and unequal distribution of power is simply an extension of Plato's system of justice. In the Platonic world there are those who are born to farm and those who are " by nature good ... he does not ultimately establish an exact blueprint for a political state, Aristotle, like Plato, does establish the importance of justice and moderation, over individual freedom, in working toward achieving a happy life. Aristotle's political philosophy asserts that community life is a necessary and natural ele...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... with the responsibility of ruling and protecting the citizens. This stratification of society, and unequal distribution of power is simply an extension of Plato's system of justice. In the Platonic world there are those who are born to farm and those who are " by nature good ... he does not ultimately establish an exact blueprint for a political state, Aristotle, like Plato, does establish the importance of justice and moderation, over individual freedom, in working toward achieving a happy life. Aristotle's political philosophy asserts that community life is a necessary and natural ele...

• Word Count: 1909
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... Machiavelli's ideas were heavily influenced by the early Greek philosophers. Most notable among the Greek philosophers who inspired Machiavelli was Plato. In particular, Machiavelli took interest in Plato's concept of just rulers who ruled by moral virtue. Machiavelli argued against this Platonic philosophy. He believed in "virtu", whatever was best for the State was virtu. This is in stark contrast to the Platonic ... philosophy when man existed to serve the state, the basic idea being that ethics and politics are intertwined, its essential features overlapping ... this system is the u...

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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

From what we learn of him in Plato does Socrates offer a philosophy that is genuinely progressive and radical in its wish to reform the society of the day? Following the Socratic model what role, if any, could philosophy play in addressing political and moral problems of our times? In this essay, I will attempt to ... argue that Socrates does offer the society of his day progressive and radical philosophy. His underlying aim is to reform society as he sees it. Evidence of this is supplied in the very reasoning behind his trial and subsequent ... further argue that some of the Socratic princi...

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... found all of his views, whether I agreed or disagreed, to be very interesting. Aristotle's Politics is one of the most influential and enduring texts of political philosophy. Aristotle looks beyond the mere goal of living to the higher aim of living well. He was born in 384 B.C., a time many of us never ... the study of a whole way of life of people. I must acknowledge agreeing with this view. Aristotle was a promising student of Plato's but disagreed with some of his works on the Republic. Aristotle's criticism of the Republic is not fair because he fails to realize ... Plato's attempt...

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... found interesting in my research is that Rawls doesn't represent a philosophical theory that dates back to hundreds of years ago (eg. Aristotal, Plato or Kant), but rather represents a powerful and influential argument relating to our current times. Rawls's political views and theories focused on the epi- ... "Good". What is A Theory of Justice? Rawls's A Theory of Justice represents more than a decade of work and his deep sense on political philosophy as it relates to preserving the rights of humans through a theory protected by something as powerful as a unified justice. His book was ...

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... autobiography, or a generalized biography of another person they once knew. However, this philosophical novel fits none of the descriptions above. The book is actually an in-depth recording of a philosophy contest between Plato's teacher Socrates and several other great philosophers. What is significant about this contest is that, in it, Socrates describes his personal view of a "perfect world," and why justice is ... ; therefore these people are the ones who have a complete understanding of what justice is. These rulers could also be philosophers with military experience, or military le...

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... as previous philosophers were concerned largely with the theoretical politics of an "idealist" prefect society. Machiavelli presents Medici with a sort of guidebook of successful political practices. Machiavelli goes against Platonic philosophy. Whereas Plato believed that human kind was virtuous by nature, with evil men being but a small fraction of the species, Machiavelli felt that it was virtuous who were a minority in a world ... ...

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... as previous philosophers were concerned largely with the theoretical politics of an "idealist" prefect society. Machiavelli presents Medici with a sort of guidebook of successful political practices. Machiavelli goes against Platonic philosophy. Whereas Plato believed that human kind was virtuous by nature, with evil men being but a small fraction of the species, Machiavelli felt that it was virtuous who were a minority in a world ... ...

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Niccolo Machiavelli is revered as the founder of modern political philosophy. He was considered a "realist" because he concerned himself only with the political situations that actually arose in reality, where as previous philosophers were concerned largely with the theoretical politics of ... , Lorenzo de" Medici, he analyzes the characteristics of numerous past rulers. In doing so, Machiavelli presents Medici with a sort of guidebook of successful political practices. Machiavelli goes against Platonic philosophy. Whereas Plato believed that human kind was virtuous by nature, with evil men b...

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... to accept Niccolo Machiavelli as one of the world's forefathers in modern political theory for many reasons. Machiavelli's makes a clear break from the Western tradition of political philosophy that preceded him. Beginning with Plato and Aristotle, the thinkers of this tradition were concerned with issues of justice and human happiness, and with the constitution of the ideal state. Until its final chapter ... ...

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... being driven by unpredictable human actions, because of this it is hard to formulate and implement laws on it. Political science prior to the 20th century was largely dominated by philosophy, history and law which we now call the traditional approaches to political science. Political scientists would study the works of great political philosophers such as ... Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli and try to make new interpretations. However the answers they came up with were usually oversimplified and relied on a variety of assumptions. But the work of these ... ...

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Socrates Originating from Athens, Socrates was the philosopher that set the standard for Western Philosophy as it is today. Born in 469 BC, he was raised as a child by his parents who were a midwife and sculptor respectively. About midway through his life Socrates married Xanthippe, ... done anything wrong. As Socrates was never a person to write anything down, all accounts of his story and beliefs are written by other bystanders, the main one being Socrates" student Plato. "He has only one thing to consider in performing any action; that is whether he is acting justly or unjustly, like a go...

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NOTES FROM THEORY PACKET KARL MARX • studied law, philosophy, and history • lifelong collaboration w/ Friedrich Engels. • develop a communist ideology. • 1848 produced Communist Manifesto: urging workers to rise and take over the means of production for the exploiting ... form of government is not democracy, but rule by the many in the interest of all. • Anticipates the kind of popular self-rule that came to be called "republican. PLATO • Disciple of Socrates • Founder of philosophic idealism, according to which ideas exist in themselves and by themselves, forming a perfect and...

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