upon the rest of the specific work. These works are of course Thucydides’, The History of the Peloponnesian War and Plato’s Symposium, and the man discussed is the Athenian giant, Alcibiades of the Alcmaeonidae. The authors, of course, have their own aims and reasons for writing their works, Plato, writing an allegory on love likely to defend his teacher Socrates, and Thucydides, to inform on what he believes to be the most significant war in history. The genres of the works being philosophy and history
In this paper, I will argue that Thucydides believed that due to the flawed nature of humans, democracy, along with other forms of popular government, was also flawed and only successful under the guidance of a strong, monarch-like figure. By analyzing Thucydides’ personal remarks, political speeches, and the structure throughout History of the Peloponnesian War, this essay will accomplish three objectives. First, it will show how Thucydides’ statements show his belief that human nature was flawed
"political maxims adopted must not be influenced by the prospect of any benefit or happiness which might accrue to the state if it followed them" rather "they should be influenced only by the pure concept of rightful duty" . Therefore, by Kant's own argument, no law can exist whose only purpose is to further the state's goals, but rather must exist through a lens that considers the moral imperatives that deontology so passionately clings to. Even Kant, however, is not blind to the difficulty in this
they have to accept." The Melians believed that they would have the gods by their side because their position is morally just, whereas the Athenians opposed with the view that it is the natural order of life for the strong to dominate the weak. For Thucydides, international relations allow the rich and powerful to do as they please and force the weak to suffer as they must (Hellenic Resources Network). One of the first classical realists in this newly established province was Morgenthau, who would have
Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44
According to Thucydides, during the civil war at Corcyra a re-evaluation of values took place in the populace (3.82). Explain the nature of these re-evaluations, and the reason(s) they took place. Thucydides recounts the events that took place during the civil war in Corcyra. In the year 427 tensions between the Democrats and Oligarchs exploded into civil war, both sides hailing allies from all over the world for aid. At first the Oligarchs received aid from large a Peloponnesian naval fleet, which
orators who possessed backgrounds (and concerns) that were similar to the Founder’s themselves, in developing the structure of American Democracy. The Founders’ literature also abounded with references to Homer, Sophocles, Plato, Euripides, Herodotus, Thucydides, Cleisthenes, Xenophon, Aristotle, Strabo, Lucian, Dio, Polybius, Plutarch, and Epictetus from Greece. The democracy of Athens influenced the founding of the U.S. political system. Ancient Athens is considered
The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation
Old wars are the armed conflicts between states for lands, resources, national glory and so on due to the fact that military strength has been what state must possess to be present in the international community and to practice power upon other actors (Heywood, 2014, pp.: 239). These inter-state wars thus can be seen as “an act of force to compel our enemy to do our will” (Clausewitz, 2008, pp.: 75), which reached the pinnacle in the mid-twentieth century. Theoretically, these wars were highly organised
Just-War theory is a very contentious subject. There are many different versions of what is a “Just” war. Can war really be justified? The concept of morality comes into play now. It definitely has an influential factor found in almost every war that has occurred. Morality or the lack there of, does influence the willing to rage war.It can be used as an excuse, or just be completely