This page intentionally left blank ANCIENT GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT IN PRACTICE (original) (raw)
A Study on the Origin and Impact of Select Greek Political Philosophy and its Current Relevance
Abstract Discourses since the time of Socrates (470 B.C.) the Greek Philosopher to the political speech of US President Barrack Hussein Obama’s inaugural address in 2009 have certain qualities in common. But the most important of it all; it changed the course of history with respect to creating an huge impact to not only the minds of an individual but to the common mass in general. It changed the perception of how people looked at things differently edging beyond as to what appears to be a normal occurrence in men and women’s daily lives. Often, political speeches provide a ray of hope by connecting to the many who are in constant need of a direction towards which one can either travel or alter its course depending on the circumstances, which warrant in the first place. Political stalwarts accompanied by their strategists often carefully construct their speeches over a period of time. The choice of words to be used in speeches often evokes the emotional consciousness of the common mass. Which in turn creates ripples cutting across boundaries from wherein the original speech was originally to be delivered. Access to political speeches has become an easy access for both political aficionados and the common mass with the dawn of Information and Space Age. This paper attempts to trace the evolution of political oration, parleys on the lives and the influence of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, intends to study on the principles of local analogy discovered in them and fundamentally tries to resolve as to how they are influential in either ensuring the wellbeing of an individual or be ravaged by it. Keywords: Greek, Political Philosophy, Socrates, Plato, Aristotl
Greek Political Thought in Ancient History
Polis, 2016
Greek historians of the fifth and fourth centuries bce also intended their works to be political commentaries. This paper concentrates on the work of Thucydides, and his interest in fifth-century ideas of constitutionalism. Honing in on the political ‘opposites’, democracy and oligarchy, this paper argues that Thucydides collapses these categories, to show not only that they are unstable, but that, built upon the same political vocabulary, they naturally lead towards his new idea of the measured blending of the few and the many in a mixed constitution, which creates political stability and a positive political experience for the community. In this sense, Thucydides’ text, which uses historical narrative as a vehicle for political commentary, needs to be understood within the framework of historical contextualism, but also as a ‘possession for all time’.
Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice
2009
Ancient Greece was a place of tremendous political experiment and innovation, and it was here too that the first serious political thinkers emerged. Using carefully selected case-studies, in this book Professor Cartledge investigates the dynamic interaction between ancient Greek political thought and practice from early historic times to the early Roman Empire. Of concern throughout are three major issues: first, the relationship of political thought and practice; second, the relevance of class and status to explaining political behaviour and thinking; third, democracy - its invention, development and expansion, and extinction, prior to its recent resuscitation and even apotheosis. In addition, monarchy in various forms and at different periods and the peculiar political structures of Sparta are treated in detail over a chronological range extending from Homer to Plutarch. The book provides an introduction to the topic for all students and non-specialists who appreciate the continue...
2018
Paper presented to the SAGP at its 2005 meeting with the Central Division o f the APA Socrates and Plato do not speak or write in one voice about wisdom, yet their altogether unique theorizing about it represents the focal point of the West's first philosophy, philosophia as the "love of wisdom." Significantly, then, Plato's differing notions and wordings for wisdom throughout his dialogues must be continually revisited and reexamined. Tentatively, I adopt Gilbert Owen's wording and senses of "univocal" and "equivocal," which he used in relation to Aristotle's philosophy, only as a heuristic guide, to inquire into Plato's own 'equivocal' senses of wisdom.1 Because Plato has no 'univocal' or single-minded sense of wisdom, it is critical to revisit certain claims and assumptions about his contrasting and complementary usage of terms, their meanings, and importance for his overall theory of wisdom. By so doing, his philosophy emerges in clearer sight. By this analysis, some of these claims are re-evaluated and overturned. Of particular interest are those views that have been formerly accepted as developing or changing from Plato's Republic to the Laws regarding the kind of wisdom, hence also the philosophy necessary to guide the State. My interpretation diverges at key junctures from some of the standard interpretations of the meaning and significance of these changes. First, we can agree that clear differences are to be found between Plato's depiction of philosophical wisdom and the philosopher rulers in the Republic and in the Laws. By way of preliminary background for these changes, Plato's depiction of the kind of philosophic wisdom necessary for political leadership, at the same time, also reflects the underlying nature, constitution, and values of their different forms of political society and government. As a result of these Platonic interconnections, Plato's description of the nature of political society, and his characterization of philosophers as political leaders contain further reason and evidence for his making novel developments in the theory of wisdom between the Republic and the Laws. Instead of dividing and breaking away from theories in earlier dialogues, Plato's final views actually serve to advance, broaden, and perhaps unify his overall conception of wisdom and philosophy.
A Little Move toward Greek Philosophy: Reassessing the STATESMAN Myth
The Statesman has a special professorial quality. In the trilogy Theaetetus-Sophist-Statesman philosophy looks like a discipline and something that can be taught; and the figure of the philosopher becomes something correspondingly new. That must be why, although Socrates leads the conversation of the Theaetetus and establishes the agenda for the Sophist and Statesman, he mostly stands by to observe the philosophizing practiced in the latter two works. A Stranger has come to town -still Greek, but from Elea in Magna Graeciaand he represents a new philosophical type: teacher, member of a tradition, and adept at a method that he imparts systematically.
Lived Excellence in Aristotle’s Constitution of Athens: Why the Encomium of Theramenes Matters
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought, 2009
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought offers a guide to understanding the central texts and problems in ancient Greek political thought, from Homer through the Stoics and Epicureans. Composed of essays specially commissioned for this volume and written by leading scholars of classics, political science, and philosophy, the Companion brings these texts to life by analyzing what they have to tell us about the problems of political life. Focusing on texts by Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and Aristotle, among others, it examines perennial issues, including rights and virtues, democracy and the rule of law, community formation and maintenance, and the ways in which theorizing of several genres can and cannot assist political practice. Stephen Salkever is Katharine Woodworth Professor of Political Science at Bryn Mawr College. His is the author of Finding the Mean: Theory and Practice in Aristotelian Political Philosophy (1990), as well as numerous articles and chapters on ancient and modern political philosophy. His research has been supported by fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Humanities Center, and he has received teaching awards from Bryn Mawr and from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
ARISTOPOLITICS: The Quest for Political Excellence, Classic Ideals & Systemic Ideas
A perennial question in political theory is how to improve political practice. This fundamental question is philosophically translated into a quest for what constitutes political excellence. Ever since Ancient Greece, this problem of public ethics and politics has bothered both thinkers and actors and has not abated to this day. As all philosophical issues, the quest for political excellence is so intransigent because it concerns complex functional relations among multiple physiological, psychological and sociological variables. In order to make such large inquiry more manageable here, we have to concentrate on a highly abstract level involving the basic relation between possibility and desirability. Since excellence is a mental ideal, whereas politics is a behavioral activity, these two human values are reflected in the famous mind-body duality. Furthermore, grasping the content of this duality in the context of its environment, requires consideration of the wider natural-cultural interface. In this way, we maintain the proper perspective between mental and physical, ideal and real, Finally, in order to anchor this highly abstract discussion in an actual historical example, we consider the case of ancient Greece, where and when it all started. By such exemplification, we hope to show the everlasting significance of classical wisdom, and its utility in contemporary discussions. The methodology follows a logical path starting with the definition of terms, i.e. politics and excellence; continuing with the general principles of the combined relationship, i.e. political excellence; and ending with the particular ideals of classical civilization, i.e. Ancient Greece. Published in SKEPSIS, XV/iii, 657-670, 2004