SECTION I THE GREEKS i Political philosophy 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 seience owes a considerable debt to Babylonia: ‘@ much more understanding view has been recently taken fon 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 polities, taking the words from everyday usage and applied thought to political action. Poll- tics Was inseparable from life in the polis, a city possessing common habits, military strength, a myth of its origin, its own god and religion, and citizens. Itis this last characteristic that differentiates the polis and future political organizations from ‘associations 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2» “Twe Gneat Pourmical Taonses were no auch magnificent road or drainage systems a, were ouble ia Persia ‘or Kome. Public affair were regarded as ‘ore nportant and significant than private mattere—the Frnt of poles is totes (those who are uninterested. fo i ala). Pe peiure, “that most exquisite of delights,” love of conversa- tion, admiration of physieal beauty of both men and women, sit 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 era: 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. teurism ‘and Wiletantism are obvious, as ean be seen in-the remark of Aristotle that a gentleman 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 fesied 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 familia with the rationalism of the Greeks, thee 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 guilt and the words pce 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- ‘muunity 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 nomas— 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2s Vee crcetaemieent Se ice rs aegaleesintny alee et achat ‘They taught sophia, the wisdom, knowledge and skill that was En al deen fe en i te ae tagoras, “man is the measure of all things,” for Gorgias, the s ‘of mankind was man. ae ee ae a nea ieee cate yore te “eae ia etal ee oped een eerie eens ete 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 politi 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, 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 clasiication of constitt- tions, the need for trained rulers, the meaning of knowledge ‘The Republic is a book on politics, bu it 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 rocedure._ 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 fune- 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, renouncing 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 derivation of goverament from of inevitable, proses oo) uml the final frm of tyranny, carting pot fra) an whi al ud sai ease aa eer gpd ofthe whole, anda hie funtion and worked for dat for hs fonction and whic edcaton rare arti ot ig con, for chien Bu I asap of erate and, ta sau govt postion, ie taple of erapng the sete $0 ot eegpe ncesary for lg. ay of Knowle ea a which the work i ful, are ar feet he imsersite shepherd ook CL a ind eile comand and bed ‘ean of auc ihe ruertizen relationship $e Tames ef ne, ant “mate the cy te eae the peer Mi Ne cana But saecoa ons acts Freer 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 bn school, the Lyceum, in Athens. He taught there until 322 when he was accused of impiety and fed. Aristotle was fa- Millar with life at 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 graduate 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 tothe fact that it is more a series of lecture notes and a number of indepen dent esays 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, ‘and he thus created political seience. His classification of politcal regimes has been either repeated or has been the Harting 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 atill 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 4s a citizen, The state was a natural phenomenon, since it was the-means by which man could reach his end. It was natural beeause 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 or 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 sill 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 man. 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 immensely 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 ‘Tie Gear POLITICAL THEORIES oes that monarchy was the bet form of government, he was Lines ed advocate of unrestricted, hereditary, monarchy polis. Above all, Aristotle is Solty of politcal science, : Fos ek and of the actives of men Making Up those sates SOPHOCLES Antigone The Need for Obedience and the Case for Disobedience Cxson Nf Tends, th very gds who shook the state ttn mighty surge have set staight agai. SS now font for you, chosen fom al fiat tat 1 Knew you conatant in respect to Lalu royal power; and aga then Ocdip ia set the stat to rghit, Und when he perished, you were faithful tit inmind tothe descendants ofthe dead. When they to perished by a double fat, bnone day strc and striking and defiled tachby his own hand, now comes that fold al the power and the royal throne through close connection with the perished men. You cannot ern of sry man the sl, and the ftent until he shows his practise ofthe government and lw. For believe that who controls the state dost hd tothe bs paso 7 oes his tog up through some Kind of fear, hate ts worst Of all who are or were ‘And he mo counts another greater fiend than his own fatherland, pat him nowhere. Sol—may Zeus allaccing sways know it could not keep silent as diester crept, Spon the town, destroying hope of safety. Nor could I count the enemy ofthe land friend to myselt not who know so well that she i is who saves Using straight, and only so can we have feted tal. ‘Tue Greeks 31 Inthe mater of the son of Oecipus, citizens, know Etsocles who died, defending this our town with charapion spear, {sto be covered the grave and granted Allholy 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, Who tried to gorge en Blood he shared, and ead the rest of ws slaves it's announced that o 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 who is 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 of all unholines. Every least hireling who helped in ‘brought about then the sentence he shall have.2 ‘Tie Great POLITICAL THEORIES But further still 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 to 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 it? AxmigoNe. Tsay 1 did it and I don't deny it Cxeow ‘Youll me not at length but in a word. ‘You knew the order not to do this thing? ANTIOONE Tknew, of course I knew. The word was plain. CrEON And still you dared to overstep these laws? Anmicone 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 mortal man, could over-run the gods’ unwritten and unfailing laws. ‘Not now, nor yesterday’, they always live, land no one knows theie origin in time. So not through fear of any man's proud spirit would Ie likely 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 mothers 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 ist to fall ‘The strongest iron, hardened in the fire, 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 his 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 put in 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 cities, this tears down our homes, this breaks the battlefront in panic-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 eee é oc eens 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 iol erm ome way of He wuld think 2 godsend if someone pointed out that the same. inscription ePiviten up escwhers on a bigeer 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 t0 look for its counterpart on a smaller scale in the indi 2 ‘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, ssid 1. Now let us build up our imaginary state from the beginning. Apparently, it will owe its existence 10 ‘ur 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 as clohin 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 to 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, 30 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 so, said I; for, as you spoke, i ‘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