The accumulation of gold in the treasury of private individuals is the ruin of timocracy they invent illegal modes of expenditure for what do they or their wives care about the law?. The best, in his view, is timocracy, a military state, like Sparta, based on honor. Plato looked at four existing forms of government and found them unstable. It touches on many subjects, including law and tyranny. The Republic examines the meaning of justice, looks at different types of government, and outlines the ideal state. (The real Socrates never wrote down his ideas.) The main character is Socrates, who voiced Plato’s ideas. Written as a dialogue among characters and set in a private home, the book describes a small group of Athenians discussing political philosophy. Plato’s most important work on politics is his Republic, published around 380 B.C. Returning in 387 B.C., he established a school of higher learning called the Academy. When Socrates died, Plato concluded that democracy was a corrupt and unjust form of government. Socrates denied the accusations, but he was found guilty and sentenced to death.
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An increasing number of Athenians viewed Socrates as a threat to their city-state.Ī few years after losing the war with Sparta, Athens put the 70-year-old Socrates on trial for not accepting the gods of Athens and for corrupting the young. Socrates’ questioning often led to criticism of Athenian democracy and its politicians. Today, this is known as the Socratic method, used by many professors in law schools. Socrates taught by asking questions about a subject and getting his students to think critically about it. The city remained, however, a cultural center. Athens regained its democracy, but shortly after Plato’s death, the city-state fell under the control of Macedon, a kingdom north of Greece. Its decline began with a long war with Sparta, a rival city-state. Citizens drew lots to see who would staff the remaining posts.Īthens had reached its height in political power before Plato was born. Yearly elections decided who would fill important government positions. In Athenian democracy, all male citizens directly participated in making laws and deciding jury trials. The rule of law can serve as a safeguard against tyranny, because just laws ensure that rulers do not become corrupt.īoth Plato and Aristotle lived in the democratic Greek city-state of Athens. The rule of law is the principle that no one is exempt from the law, even those who are in a position of power. In a tyrannical government, the ruler becomes corrupt and uses his power to further his own interests instead of working for the common good. Tyranny occurs when absolute power is granted to a ruler. Two of the many political subjects that these men wrote about were tyranny and the rule of law.
Plato and Aristotle both developed important ideas about government and politics. And they were grappling with many of the same political questions. Still, many of the framers at Philadelphia had studied and understood Plato’s and Aristotle’s political philosophies. The new American nation was quite different from the ancient Greek city-states.
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The framers wanted to create a national government free of tyranny, governed by the rule of law. Americans had overthrown what they considered a tyrannous British government. George Washington, James Madison, and the other framers of the Constitution were dedicated to constructing a just government. In Philadelphia some 2,000 years after Plato and Aristotle’s time, a group of men was trying to write a constitution. Aristotle concluded that “it is evident that the form of government is best in which every man, whoever he is, can act best and live happily.” Nearly 2,400 years ago, the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle explored political philosophy. Plato and Aristotle on Tyranny and the Rule of Law The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom | Plato and Aristotle on Tyranny and the Rule of Law | Nigeria
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