Political Theory Has Changed Over The History Of The World

Plato was a student of the great philosopher of Socrates and went on to become a very influential figure in classical Greek philosophy. Plato went on to write the Republic where he sets out to answer many question such as; what is justice, why does man follow the law, and how do implications of society affect our behavior. The most interesting topic from the Republic is from Book VII, the allegory of the cave. With the allegory of the cave Plato gives us the power to break the chains that bind us down and leads us to see the light.

In Plato’s The Republic, Plato illustrates what his ideal city would look like. He describes the educational systems, ideal legislators and the purposes of democracy. The republic influenced many people to understand the purpose for democracy, and it led to new philosophical schools of thought. Although this work was written hundreds of years ago, it still affects our modern world today.

Niccolo Machiavelli, a Renaissance philosopher and historian, is regarded as one of the founders of classical political philosophy and political science. To this day, scholars continue to debate whether the Florencian writer is more sympathetic to the few or the many. With some of his texts containing views contradicting the others, it is difficult to contend whether or not the philosopher is a true democrat. Despite many of Machiavelli’s seemingly democratic views and ideas, his personal ideology appears to be more of a Republican nature. His republicanism is most informed by his remarks on the people, nobles, and ideal state structure. Through analysis of his writings in ‘The Prince’ and ‘The Discourses’, and his ‘Letter to Francesco Vettori,

Plato had some views that seemed realistic to society while others to me seemed to be unjust for the people. According to Plato everyone by nature has their own function and in order to make an ideal state they each need to serve that role and only that. They are not permitted to do more than one thing or venture off of what they are suited best to do. These roles are people that are motivated by three

Plato was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and theologian who lived from 424 BC to 348 BC in Athens, Greece. Plato was born into a high class family in Greece and therefore was very active in the Athenian community since he was from a high status family. He was the founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. He is known to be one of the best writers in the Western literary tradition and one of the most influential authors in the development of Western philosophy even today. Plato worked alongside his teacher, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, laying the groundwork for Western philosophy and science through their collective work. Plato has also been considered one of the founders of western religion, especially Christianity, which Friedrich Nietzsche called “Platonism for the people” (Nietzsche, 2013). A lot of Plato’s philosophy focused on Christian ideals and aspects that are still used today in the Christian churches around the world. Plato was very involved in Athenian politics during his time and this was reflected in much of his philosophy, as he writes about different political questions from a philosophical perspective in dialogues such as The Republic.

One of the longest standing arguments in history is focused along the lines of the role of power in government. Who should be granted this power, and how should one elect a leader to be given such an immense responsibility. Often times, another conflict emerges attempting to distinguish the exact role a government must serve, however this argument is placed between the crossfire of human’s need for individual freedoms and liberties yet their desire for structure and some form of order. Two powerful voices in this debate are those of Niccolo Machiavelli and Plato, separated by hundreds of years in history the two men had differing views on the role of the government’s influence on its people. Machiavelli expresses his idea of the correct form of government in both “The Prince” and “The Discourses” in which he preaches that a government must stand strong in order for the people below it to flourish. Meanwhile Plato’s notorious “The Republic” takes a different stance and pushes the idea that the government can give an illusion of freedom by maintaining a specific structure. Obviously one cannot manage a republic without some form of class structure and both men are given the opportunity to portray their thoughts on the role of what one might call the lower class. Although Machiavelli and Plato disagree on complex roles surrounding the exact duties of the lower classes, one thing is certain, through textual evidence they both seem to believe that it is crucial that the most

Political theorists, Niccolo Machiavelli and Socrates, formulated their thoughts in heightened political climates in their respective countries leading to their definitive and explicit opinions surrounding how a governmental system should be run. The government systems proposed by both theorists are vastly different due to what each individual prioritizes in terms of political necessities. Machiavelli’s concept is to describe the means in obtaining power in order to define a political structure that maintains strength in a society. He maintains this power through any means necessary including violence and presumably deceitful acts while instilling fear among his inferiors. On the contrast, through The Apology and Crito, a reader can infer

As a writer, he explored as well as wrote about many subjects for instance justice, equality, beauty etc. Known for being one of the most well known philosophers in the world, he founded his own Academy in Athens. Plato was born in Ancient Greece and lived there from 427-347 B.C.E.

I have always found great interest in the infamous Niccolo Machiavelli and his ways of thinking; my eye was drawn to him long before I knew I would be studying at Colorado State and even before I had any interest in politics. It was from young man know as Tupac Shakur, and let me tell you it is great to finally understand who Machiavelli is and the things he has done for the outlook on politics after hearing about how much respect and praise he got from the iconic rapper of the 1990s. In this paper I will be analyzing and contrasting Thomas More’s “Utopia” and Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and their ideas on subjects that include good governance and social orders, key reforms, and who should be held responsible for providing good governance and an orderly society.

Machiavelli suggests that the study of politics should be based on reality. Plato’s political view is that the study of politics should be in the realm of scientific knowledge. Aristotle identifies with the golden mean as the middle ground for extremities in making political decisions. He believes that the study of politics should be based on the pragmatic realm of knowledge (Tyrus, 8). In my opinion, the study of politics should be based on radical measure of absolutism because humans are far from perfect. Machiavelli’s endorsement is admissible because it depicts reality. Also, laws alone cannot be used to enhance human affairs until a considerable amount of force is exerted to cause the obedience (Tyrus 8). That is

The Renaissance era of Europe produced a great multitude of political thinkers. Among this plethora is perhaps the most controversial philosopher of his age, Niccolò Machiavelli. The Florentine politician, known most famously for his work, The Prince, discusses, among other things, the relationship between morality and political action. However, unlike the vast majority of his European predecessors, who often argued that political power should be in the hands of the morally virtuous ruler, Machiavelli produces a contrary argument, in which morality plays no role in judging the difference between legitimate and illegitimate uses of power. To this end, he argues that a ruler’s only concerns are the acquisition and maintenance of political power. This reputation, whether wholly deserved or not, results in Machiavelli being seen as Renaissance Italy’s strongest proponent of Realism and the true state of humanity and the world.

Plato was a philosopher and educator in ancient Greece. He was one of the most important thinkers and writers in the history of Western culture. Plato was born in Athens into a family that was one of the oldest and most distinguished in the city. His father Ariston died when Plato was only a child. The name Plato was a nickname meaning broad shoulders. Plato's real name was Aristocles. Plato had aspirations of becoming a politician, however these hopes were destroyed when his friend Socrates was sentenced to death in 299 B.C. Extremely hurt Plato left Athens and traveled for several years. In 387 B.C., Plato returned to Athens and founded a school of philosophy and science that became known as the Academy. Topics such as astronomy,

Political theory is the study of concepts that allows for the analytical study of relationships between political institutions. Over the centuries, political theorists have established renditions of what political theory is. This essay will focus on Plato, Nietzsche, and Aristotle, and their works, which respectively define the concepts of the common good and the significance of philosophers to the welfare of the state, self-deceiving intellect and the power of authority over our intellectual lives, and the concepts of interdependency and the importance of virtue and happiness for a successful political framework.

Plato is regarded by many experts as the first writer of political philosophy. He fashioned a distinctive view of human nature, a view that has had a crucial formative influence on all subsequent theories of human nature. Plato pointed out the distinction between a perfect ideal and its imperfect replicas, and gave the name

Despite differing dates found in research, it seems that Plato was born around 428 BCE. His parents were of good social standing as he had an Ariston father (who had familial connections to royalty in both Athens and Messenia) and his mother had familial connections to Solon, an influential, Greek statesman. As he was a member of the Ancient Greek upper-middle class, Plato was taught by educated tutors, and so was enabled to explore a wide range of topics which focused mainly on ethics. (Allen and Wilbur 1986: 99-101)