The Philosophy of Government
Hammurabi, Confucius, and Socrates have produced some of the most well known thoughts and ideas on government; in doing so, they influenced countries, governments, and
gradually lives.
1. Hammurabi
2. Confucius
3. Socrates
Sierra Jackson
Mrs. Darden /Period 3
Mr. Kuhns /Period 8
May 8 , 2012
Government subsists as one of the oldest institutions created by man, and the brilliant minds of every era and time period heavily influence it. Various brilliant minds have passed through the histories of various countries, and due to these encounters, every country possesses its own ideas about government and its inter-working. Numerous historians refer to three specific men, from ancient times, as the forerunners in the race for spreading knowledge. Hammurabi, a
Babylonian king, established rules on how to treat others. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher, established expectations for government officials. Socrates, a Greek philosopher, spread knowledge about government, including his own. Hammurabi, Confucius, and Socrates have produced some of the most well-known thoughts and ideas on government; in doing so, they influenced countries, governments, and gradually lives.
Hammurabi created the Code, a set of ancient laws similar to the U.S Constitution in reference to context. Hammurabi, a ruler of Babylon in the area of modern day Iraq, came into the world in 1795 B.C.E. The Amorite Dynasty ruled for more than one hundred years without internal strife when Hammurabi took the throne after the death of his father, Sin-muballit.
Hammurabi’s rule in the first dynasty, as the sixth king, extended from 1792 to 1750 B.C.E.
(Ellis “Hammurabi” 750).
The Code, which Hammurabi created through his rise to power, shares similarities with various U.S. laws. Hammurabi united Babylon and left this set of laws engraved on twelve stone tablets so that his people could govern themselves even after his death. In the winter of 1901 to
1902, French excavators discovered a black diorite sculpture depicting a Mesopotamian receiving “insignia of his office from a god”. Akkadian cuneiform below this depiction celebrated the Babylonian king, Hammurabi. Historians and scholars refer to the Code of
Hammurabi as the first set of laws to predate the Bible and the best-preserved and most extensive set of laws found from the ancient Middle East. The set of laws originated with older Sumerian and Akkadian laws that Hammurabi expanded and paraphrased (Ellis 750). The Code of
Hammurabi continued to govern the people through the Persian, Greek, and Parthinian conquests, well into the Syro-Roman era and the Mahommedan law of Mesopotamia (Walter-
Johns).
The content of The Code changed as it increased in size. The Code of Hammurabi covers matters such as false accusations, witchcraft, and military service, regulations of land/sea, domestic laws, and public finances. It lacks a majority of primitive features and tribal customs, but the few that remain include family solidarity, district responsibility, ordeals, and lex talionis.
Many of the laws included in The Code follow the classic Mosaic law of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, otherwise known as lex talionis. A farmer digging an irrigation tunnel and water flooding his neighbor's crops out, then that farmer compensating his neighbor for every crop, depicts the Mosaic Law scenario (Walter-Johns).
The Code of Hammurabi shares multiple similarities with the U.S. government and society. The societies of The Code and the U.S. both possess categories, which divide them into three classes, and both society classifications depend on social and financial standing in the community. The Code of Hammurabi divided the population into three classes of the amelu, the muskinu, and the ardu. These class divisions compare to the U.S. society classes of poor, middle- class, and rich/wealthy. The amelu shares similarities with the rich/wealthy and middle classes of the U.S. Like the amelu, various people included in these classes hold high power in government and business. The Code describes the amelu as the patrician or man of the family, all of whose personal information the government recorded above all other members in the family. The amelu often had aristocratic privileges, responsibilities, and heavier chastisements. Kings and their courts, higher officials, professionals, and artisans belonged to this class. The middle class shares the similarity of containing artisans, professionals, and entrepreneurs with the amelu. In ancient
Babylon, the term muskinu came to mean “beggar” although not all muskinu begged on the streets. This class of people often paid less fees, fines, and sacrifices to their gods because of their financial standing but historians inferred these free men and women as homeless.
Homelessness in ancient times meant that a particular person owned no land or dwelling of their own, which resulted in muskinu renting or living off others. Historians describe the ardu as being slaves that possessed the possibilities of owning their own property and slaves and buying their freedom (Walter-Johns). People who “stole” or harbored runway slaves received the same chastisement as those who stole property. The Code often refers to slaves as property, similar to the slaves in America, which masters sold, bought and traded without thought.
The Code of Hammurabi, like countless other collections of laws, provided punishments for wrong doers, ranking from mild to rash. The most reoccurring punishment for a crime, no matter the size, derived from death. The Code punished both wrong doers and their accomplices, equivalent to that of the U.S. Court system. If a man stole and received the death penalty, then the person who received the stolen goods received the same charge. Many fines in the Code depended on a particular person class, which meant the higher the class of the person, the more expensive the fines they received. If law officials failed to capture a thief, the community held the obligation to compensate the robbed person for all the possessions stolen from him.
Communities possessed the obligation to compensate because the robbery occurred on the community’s domain, not the government’s domain, making it their responsibility (King). This portrays how the Code, like the U.S. law system, used the terms of possession to determine responsibilities. The terms of possession explain that the possessor of a substance, material, object, etc., may not always own the substance in question. In law, possessing a substance depends on how close in proximity the person’s position is to the substance; the closer the position, the more the chance the court considers the person as a possessor (The Free
Dictionary). The Code also punishes thieves if any variety, whoever they stole from, with severe chastisements, including death. Hammurabi thought crime as unacceptable, and he showed it through his set of laws.
As in the fourth amendment of the Constitution, the Code of Hammurabi also required that for someone to face legal action for a crime, the court required evidence to prove his or her guiltiness. “9. If anyone lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say "A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses," and if the owner of the thing say, "I will bring witnesses who know my property," then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify his property. The judge shall examine their testimony--both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath” (King).
The Code of Hammurabi also features a series of checks and balances for government officials who held large quantities of power. "The king is a benevolent autocrat, easily accessible to all his subjects, both able and willing to protect the weak against the highest-placed oppressor.
The royal power, however, can only pardon when private resentment is appeased. The judges are strictly supervised and appeal is allowed” (Walter-Johns).The kind and the majority of the members of his court possessed the power to judge wrong doers despite their status in the community. However, they could judge and prove a suspected wrong doer innocent only after they settled their own internal strife. If the court powers refused to reach a compromise about their decisions and opinions, then they lacked the potential to deliver their judgment soundly, resulting in their judgment possessing no respect. This part of the Code of Hammurabi shares similarities with the Constitution's Checks and Balances between the branches of government and their powers, insuring that no branch overpowers the other. As in the Constitution, The Code of Hammurabi penalizes judges. If a judge presented his judgment in writing and later found errors in it, by his own fault, the judge would have to pay a sufficient fine, and his position would then face permanent revocation (King). People with high power faced consequences under the Code, just as commoners.
Although the U.S. Constitution and the Code of Hammurabi creations occurred during different periods, they share various laws and consequences. The creators of both these documents created them solely for the purpose to govern their people once they died. Each document addresses the common needs of the people as a primary focal point. Unlike the
Constitution, the Code of Hammurabi is not a living document. This makes the Constitution several times better than the ancient set of laws with its numerous strict rules and laws.
As Hammurabi represented the brilliant mind of Babylon, Confucius represented the brilliant mind of China; he encouraged generation after generation of Chinese citizens and youth.
His brilliance started to take root at a significantly young age, and continued to increase greatly as he matured. His family, the impoverished noble K’ung family, resided in the state of Lu; and his family situation fueled his determination and motivation. During his childhood, he enjoyed participating in and reenacting ceremonials, and at the age of fifteen, his dedication to learning commenced.
From his later life until his death, Confucius continued his thoughtful wondering about his government. Later in life, Confucius reflected on his own spiritual and intellectual progress (Mei 540). “At 15, I set my heart on learning. At 30, I was firmly established. At 40, I had no more doubts. At 50, I knew the will of Heaven. At 60, I was ready to listen to it. At 70, I could follow my heart’s desire without transgressing what was right” (Confucius). Confucius possessed a wide variety of suggestions that he believed possessd the potential to make his province an ideal place to live. Earlier on in his life, he received the opportunity to travel to the imperial city where he immersed himself completely in the world of politics. When he established himself highly in politics, he created a political platform for his ideas. Confucius’ goals for his political reform included topics such as avoiding needless wars, tax evasion, and the outlawing of severe punishment. He eventually received the appointment of high minister in the state of Lu (Mei
540-542).
Confucius left behind the teachings, Confucianism, for his people to remember after his death. Confucianism represents Confucius’ legacy and the mission of his life. Confucius only taught men because in his culture denied women the privilege to learn, but he still believed that women possessed the potential to be junzi-or superior people (Cline).
Confucianism refers largely to government and ways to improve it for the people.
Confucianism upheld the expectations that Confucius set for government officials and people of high power. The Chinese philosopher once commenced a conversation with a high minister relating to the position of members of the government (Mei 542). “To govern (cheng) is to set things right (cheng). If you begin by setting yourself right, who will dare to deviate from the right?” (Confucius). He thought of the self-rectification of the ruler himself as the key to a successful government (Mei 542). Confucius possessed high expectations for the rulers because he believed that the governed followed the ruler’s example. He also believed that performing traditional rituals would restore the social order he believed his homeland lacked. His belief in “government by virtue” led him to thin that ministers should be selected based talent and virtue.
Confucius once held a conversation with a prince similar to that of the conversation with the
Prime Minister. Through the answers that Confucius supplied when the prince asked questions, it was clear that Confucius believed people in high positions should fulfill their obligated duties to the people. He disagreed with the suggestion that people under people in power should do their responsibilities for them. Throughout his political career, Confucius stressed the importance of the individual in government and society (Mei 542-543).
This ancient Chinese philosopher continues to maintain nobility for the legacy he left behind. Historians once thought of Confucius’ ideals, referred to as Confucianism, as a religion in China. Confucianism remained the representation of an official set of laws in China for more than two thousand years. Few of Confucius text survived after their creation. When Shih Huang
Ti of the Ch'in dynasty (270-221 B.C.E.) was ruler, he ordered soldiers to destroy Confucian texts, as well as various other philosophical writing, as revenge towards the scholars who opposed him during his reign. The discovery of Confucius' surviving books occurred in his house during the Western Han dynasty (202 B.C. - 9 A.D.) and the house later received the name Lu-pi,
“meaning the wall of Lu”. Confucius taught 3,000 students, 72 of whom mastered the six arts: rituals, music, archery, charioteering, literature, and mathematics, who established themselves as teachers of his word after his death. In 479 B.C.E., he died at 72, leaving a massive impact on the inter-working of China and its government (Mei 542-543). In 124 B.C.E, the government of the
Unified Chinese Empire founded the Imperial University to continuing educating governmental officials in the ways of Confucius (Cline).
Confucianism, divided into two eras, continued long after Confucius’ death. Interest in
Confucianism declined drastically between 200 and 600 A.D. as many Chinese people turned to Buddhism and Taoism. Although its popularity continued to decrease, Confucianism retained useful in training government members and candidates. In 700 A.D., the Chinese government required candidates for government positions to take civil service examinations centered on the teachings and ideas of Confucius (Cline). Through his teachings, Confucius touched the lives of his people as he changed his government into an organization that could better govern the people.
Just like Confucius, Socrates challenged the functioning of his government in the hope of finding a better way. Socrates, a Greek philosopher born around 470 B.C.E, originated in Athens where he died in 399 B.C.E. (Huffman). He lived in poor living conditions because he refused to receive payment from his students for teaching them. His political background conveys the extent of his experience he possessed with dealing with the government. Most historians recall the event in which Socrates showed the strength of his character during the reign of the Thirty
Tyrants, a group that contained several of his students. A member of the Thirty Tyrants requested that Socrates bring a citizen to them for execution but he refused because his ideals testified against the idea of an innocent person receiving death for the mere sake of war. IN 406
B.C.E., he served as the president of the Boule, a group of citizens that met daily to discuss city affairs, and who chose its male members with extreme cautiousness, measuring potential candidates based on their social and financial status (Cooper 166).
As Socrates aged and his notability spread, the attention of the government turned completely to the ruining of his career. Socrates faced extensive opposition because of his teachings and his overt opposition to democracy; he believed only one wise in knowledge possessed the potential to govern a country. His notability as the most established philosopher in
Athens at the time caused Socrates to face significant opposition from the traditionalist who disliked philosophical education, because countless people believed philosophical study went against the Greek beliefs (Cooper 166). This opposition resulted in the Athenian government charging Socrates, making him the first Athenian legally charged of teaching ideas
(Encyclopedia Britannica). At seventy years of age, Socrates receives the charges of : not believing with the Greek gods, creating his own religion, and corrupting the young (Huffman).
The Athenian court attempts to use Socrates’ constant reference to a “divine voice” against him, but he responds to their attempt by explaining that this divine voice merely represents the voice of God reminding him of his duties and forewarning him of danger. He also claims that his divine voice shares similarities with the “utterance” and “prophecies” that men not charged of crimes claim to hear. Hermogenes, the son of a close friend of Socrates, once asked him why he refused to defend himself, but Socrates claimed that he possessed no guilt and therefore, no reason to defend himself. “Socrates, ought you not to be giving some thought to what defense you are going to make?” That Socrates had at first replied, “Why, do I not seem to you to have spent my whole life in preparing to defend myself?” Then when he asked, “How so?” he had said, “Because all my life I have been guiltless of wrong-doing; and that I consider the finest preparation for a defense” (Heinemann). At his trial, Socrates continued to argue that he committed no crime by spreading his teachings, but eventually he gave in (Cooper 166).
Various suspicions about Socrates’ charges, and whether or not they were really a cover up for sinister intention, subsisted amongst the Athenian citizens and scholars. Due in part to the fact that an insignificant amount of evidence subsisted to back up this charge, and that the
Athenian court could not act on political offenses from times of war, several scholars believed that this charge acted as a substitute for a political indictment that the court desired to charge Socrates of
(Cooper 166). Socrates accused Athens and its government of allowing men of high power, who disliked questioning, to possess the ability to take action on those who provoked them
(Encyclopedia Britannica).
Socrates left no writings of his own, so most of what historians known about him originates from secondary sources, such as the Socratic writings of Xenophon. He established a system in conversations that aided him in helping others find the truth within themselves."...Socrates hoped that by methodically and repeatedly examining someone's ideas he might ultimately lead him to the discovery and establishment of the truth." The philosophies of
Socrates live on long after his death. After Socrates received his condemnation to death, he refused to escape from jail, even though he possessed the means to do so. He died after the
Athenian court compelled him to consume poison as a chastisement for his “crimes” against society in the presence of his of some of his closest associates (Cooper 166). Socrates faced much opposition because he intimidated an abundance of men with the vast amount of wisdom he held in his hands, but he outdistanced his struggles.
Through their relentless struggles to better their own governments and countries,
Hammurabi, Confucius, and Socrates cleared the way for new governments that depended on the knowledge they shared with the world. The legacies that these men left behind will forever mark them as legends in the books of history and in the sands of time. These scholars will live eternally because they spread knowledge to the public, a collection of people that continued and will continue to spread this knowledge for as long as the Earth shall turn. With each whisper about these men, their memories, spirits, and missions resurface into the world of the living.
Memories, no matter how old, never vanish or die.
Works Cited
1. Cline, Erin M. “Confucianism.” World Book Student. World Book, 2012. Web. 11 Jan. 2012. 2. Cooper, John M. “Socrates.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2000 ed. Vol. 25. Danbury: Grolier, 2000. 165-168. Print. 3. Ellis, Richard S. “Code of Hammurabi.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2000 ed. Vol. 13. Danbury: Grolier, 2000. 750-752. Print. 4. Ellis, Richard S. “Hammurabi.” Encyclopedia Americana. 2000 ed. Vol. 13. Danbury: Grolier, 2000. Print. 5. Encyclopedia Britannica. “Shihuangdi.” Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica , n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2012.