The famous Greek philosopher Plato stated: “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” Over the years, Plato has indeed been regarded as a very wise man. In fact, he made a statement about the evolutionary cycle of governments, predicting a specific pattern of progression. In a span of 40 years, from 1774 to 1814, the government of the European nation of France followed Plato’s prediction almost exactly. Over the course of the 40 year period, France experienced five changes of leadership. Each of these governments had different attributes. First of all, in 1774, a new king was crowned and his name was Louis XVI. He inherited the throne in a traditional way from the previous monarchy. The next government was …show more content…
Shortly thereafter, the government changed again to the National Convention, which executed both the king and his queen, beheading them with a guillotine. The National Convention declared France to be a republic. The National Convention was replaced by The Directory in 1795, lasting until 1799. Finally, the general of the French army, Napoleon Bonaparte, instigated a takeover and declared himself the Emperor of France in 1804 – the fifth government in forty years. Although the five governments fell into the traditional categories of monarchy, constitutional monarchy, republic and empire, each of the governments aligned with Plato’s very specific categories. For example, Louis XVI’s monarchy depicts a form of government that Plato referred to as “Aristocracy”. Louis XVI understood the ideals of “The Enlightenment” and attempted to implement them. He eliminated the serf system. He supported the freedom efforts of the colonists in the American Revolution, eventually hosting the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Louis’ efforts
Pre-Revolution France Up until 1789, France was an absolute monarchy ruled by a King who claimed his total power to govern to be God-given. In 1775, that divine King became 19-year-old Louis XVI of the House of Bourbon. The new French King was initially happily welcomed to the throne by his subjects, as he “wanted to do well by his people, including the poor, if only he could determine what it meant”; but he was not able to do so due to circumstances that “made him more of a prisoner than a prince, and far removed from his subjects.” Indeed, Louis XVI inherited one of the world’s most powerful and wealthy dynasties, but he also governed a nation that was choked by mounting debt, rampant fiscal mismanagement, and a highly inequitable system
Would you have wanted to be told what to do by a king or queen, or never be able to have have a say in anything? Well I believe a country should have freedom and the power should be in the people's hands not the government. The leader of the French monarchy was Louis XVI. The french revolution began in 1789 shortly after the american revolution. The three words that became the french battle cry was Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity.
During the Enlightenment period, Monarchy was one of the most common forms of government. In a Monarchy, the king or queen had complete control of their entire kingdom and its people. Many people including philosophers
One of the ways that the Enlightenment put an end to oppression was through government reformation and the elimination of absolute monarchy. The idea of discarding absolute monarchs was associated with many of the philosophes of the time, including John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu. Locke said “Society can never lose the native and original right it has to preserve itself, which can only be done by a settled legislative, and a fair and impartial execution of the laws made by it” (Document A). This shows how important it is for the government to be more complex and dependable to ensure equality and success. Rejection of the common form of authority was one of the
First few years of their marriage was distant, his fearful thought of Maria manipulation made King Louis unleveled to her in public. Louis most likely had been affected by a mental breakdown that took time to get over. 5/10/1774, King Louis Auguste after his grandfather died, began to be known as Louis XVI. Louis was only 20 years at the time; he was immature and had less self-confidence. Louis had a desire for trying to act like a great king but Louis failure to successfully acknowledge very important fiscal problems would bother him for majority of his rule. Louis had less foundation in strong bass of personality and understanding to dual the influence of court factions or offer support to reformers by their efforts to advance France’s
In the era of the contemporary United States, a country that has had the longest standing democracy, we are used to thinking very highly of its system. However, throughout our history, there have been a couple of critics to the system of democracy. It comes as no surprise that democracy does have its issues. One of the first pieces of literature where democracy was mentioned and analyzed at a deeper level was The Republic by Plato. This ancient Greek philosopher did not completely agree with democracy, regardless of the fact that ancient Athens was the first civilization that gave rise to it. In fact, in a numerical list that he composes on which are the best ways of ruling, Plato puts democracy at one of the lowest levels. In order, Plato’s list of types of government from most desirable to least desirable looks like this: 1.) Republic (The ideal city) 2.) Timocracy 3.) Oligarchy 4.) Democracy 5.) Tyranny. Additionally, In The Republic, Plato tells us his beliefs and values on certain aspects of life through the eyes of Socrates. So, even though Plato himself does not appear in The Republic and instead Socrates does, nonetheless, Plato and Socrates shared the same ideology when it came to democracy. As we know, Plato did not agree with democracy. As a result, in this paper, I will explore the greatest intellectual strengths and weaknesses of Plato’s view on democracy.
In the texts The Sun Also Rises and The Stranger, women and their femininity play a large role in the story, and share many similarities, but also many differences. In The Sun Also Rises, women are portrayed mainly as strong and powerful, having control over their male counterparts. The Stranger on the other hand has less representation of female characters, and the main female who is portrayed differs in many ways than those in The Sun Also Rises, but there are some similarities. The main female character in The Stranger, Marie Cardona, demonstrates control over Meursault at times, but there are a number of other instances when Meursault has power over her emotional and mental wellbeing. On the contrary, in Hemingway’s novel, female characters
After the Revolution in France, the old absolutist monarchy was replaced by the Constitution of 1791, and King Louis XVI was forced to share power with an elected legislative body in the new constitutional monarchy. In a rather
In The Republic of Plato, Plato, in addition to sharing his views on justice, shares his views on democracy using a fictionalized Socrates to outline the most pressing issues. Plato’s views on democracy are negative; he believes democracy to be bred from a response to inequality of wealth and to heighten all of humanities worst traits. Plato believes democracy leads to unequipped leaders who hold offices and power without the necessary traits and preparation.
In The Republic by Plato, Plato constructed an ideal city where Philosophers would rule. Governed by an aristocratic form of government, it took away some of the most basic rights a normal citizen should deserve, freedom of choice, worship, and assembly were distressed. Though the idea of philosopher kings is good on paper, fundamental flaws of the human kind even described by Plato himself prevent it from being truly successful. The idea of an ideal democratic government like what our founding fathers had envisioned is the most successful and best political form which will ensure individual freedom and keep power struggle to a minimum.
believes that the son will realize to be just is only worth it if you can get a
According to (Wood, et al. 2014) “The word cognition refers to how we process and understand the world.” Cognitive skills are based on brain structures that helps us learn, remember, concentrate and solve problems. Cognitive skills are the reasons for almost all of our actions. Because of the plastic properties of cognitive skills, one is able to train and develop these abilities.
The French Revolution was a period of social and political turmoil in France from 1789 to 1799 that greatly affected modern and French history. It marked the decline of powerful monarchies and the rise of democracy, individual rights and nationalism. This revolution came with many consequences because of the strive for power and wealth, but also had many influential leaders attempting to initiate change in the French government and the economy. In 1789 the people of France dismissed King Louis XVI of his title, took apart his monarchy and executed him, his wife Marie Antoinette and thousands of nobles. The French set up a new system of government with specific revolutionary ideals, including liberty, equality and fraternity. This was a
After being ruled by a prime minister for so long, France needed some changes. That is exactly what Louis the XIV would bring to France. In an age of separation, Louis wanted to start a unification process. He started this by giving himself sole power and also only having one religion for the country. The king is always the center of attention good or bad. Louis was prepared to take the good with the bad, and handled it well. He emphasized the king as the center of attention. While some see him as egotistical and greedy, Louis was one king who knew how to make improvements.
Democracy is often referred to as the rule of the many, but Aristotle called this definition incomplete. In his book “Politics”, he explained that in a city if the majorities are aristocrats and if they have political authority, then it is an aristocracy not a democracy. He therefore defined democracy as when “free people have authority and Oligarchy as when the wealthy have it” (1290b). Plato viewed Democracy as a flawed system with too much inefficiency that would make any implementation of a true democracy not worth it. While Aristotle viewed democracy as a system that could work if it is limited to certain restrictions and if it is the regime that best fits the culture of the people to be governed. In this essay it will be argued that Plato’s view on democracy as a flawed system is more prevalent or more compelling if the current political arena around the world is observed.