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Naraole Raj College Dept Naraole Raj College Dept. of Political Science 5TH Sem, Political Science, C 11T Classical Political Philosophy Antiquity Plato Philosophy and Politics , Theory of Forms, Justice , Philosopher King / Queen, Communism Presentation Themes : Critique of Democracy ; Women and Guardianship, Censorship Rajasree Debnath, Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Narajole Raj College Antiquity Antiquity means the ancient past, especially the period of classical and other human civilizations before the middle ages. Long before, in 6th century B.C. , systematic study and discussion on politics was begun in Greece. Most modern political ideals like, justice, liberty, constitutional government, respect for law or for at least definitions of them begun with the reflection of Greek thinkers upon the institutions of the city-states. But in the long history of political thought the meaning of such terms has been variously modified and always that meaning has to be understood in the light of the institutions by which the ideals were to be realized and the society in which those institutions did their work. The Greek philosophers were thinking of political practices far different from any that have prevailed commonly in the modern world and the whole climate of opinion in which their work was done different. Their problems were never identical with modern problems, and the ethical apparatus by which political life was evaluated and criticized varied from any that now prevails. Some of the unique features of Classical Political thought: •According to Earnest Barker, Greek political thought is considered as one of the oldest in the world. About two millennia ago, Greek philosophers discussed, analyzed and theorized the ideals which are dealt today. Though contents of these concepts have undergone sea-changes during this long period, these are still studied because they invoke our interests. •Greek philosophers in their search for knowledge in general and political philosophy in particular pointed out some basic concepts such as nature of State, its origin, administration, relation between state and individual etc. •Greek political thought was free from religion and religion had no impact on lives of individual. •According to the Greek philosophers, State was a means to an end and it was a natural institution that came into existence for the moral and personal development of individual. •The Greeks allied great faith in reason. They believed that life and the world were rational and that the laws that governed them might be apprehended by man. •The Greeks were the first to call the universe a “cosmos” , an “order”, and so ruled by law. •They had a great instinct for criticism. They used to accept anything only after examination. According to Socrates, “ The unexamined life is unbelievable for a real human being”. •The Greeks were great humanists . Man is in the centre of their thoughts. Sophocles wrote, “ A wondrous thing is man- none more wondrous. Other nations made gods, kings, sprits; the Greeks alone made men”. •They were great individualists and also had great concern for the society. In fact, unlike other ,they had keen regard for the individual as well as deep concern for the State. Above all, for eager curiosity, passionate belief in reason, scientific spirit, fresh critical outlook and humanism - made the Greek political thought not only unique but a source of inspiration for generations after generations. The etymological origins of the two key words - political and philosophy, in ancient Greece political originally pertaining to the polis or city-state, and philosophy being the practice of a particular kind of enquiry conceived literally as the ‘love of wisdom’ (philosophia). Plato: Theory of Forms The English word “form” may be used to translate two distinct concepts that concerned Plato – the outward “form” or appearance of something and “form” the shape of something / somebody; a person or a thing of which only the shape can only be seen. According to Plato (Dialogues), every object or qualityy in reality has a form : dogs, human beings, mountains, colors, courage, love and goodness. Form answers the question “what is that?”Plato supposed that the object was essentially or “really” the Form and that the phenomenon were mere shadows mimicking the Form; that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances. Forms may be described as the essences of various objects and without it a thing would not be the kind of thing it is. We can take an example to explain it, there are countless of tables in the world but the Form of tableness is at the core ; it is the essence of all of them. Ref. Plato.stanford.edu Plato formulated a very specific description of that world which did not match his metaphysical principles. Corresponding to the world of Forms is our world, that of the shadows, an imitation of the real one. Just as shadows exist only because of the light of a fire, our world exists as “ the offspring of the good.” Our world is modeled after the patterns of the Forms. So human being must act as to imitate the ideal world as much as possible and more specifically imitate the good, i.e. acting morally. The following is the image of Allegory of the Cave Points to be noted: •The idea of the Forms is illustrated in Allegory of the Cave. •Plato believed true reality existed beyond normal perceptions of the world or the real world is outside the one we live in. •What we perceive around us is a shadow of this truth or better to say the world we live in is a poor imitation of the real world. •Our world is constantly changing and we rely on our senses to understand what is going on. •Each and every object whether human being or thing is not the same as he/she/it was 1/2/3/or any specific unit of time, year/month/day/minutes ago, cells are forever changing and ideas also change quickly(flit) through our minds. •The real world is eternal (continuing forever/never change). It is the world of ideas not senses, where there are perfect forms of the things we know on earth. Plato : Theory of Justice According to Plato, justice is the quality of individual, the individual mind. It can be understood by studying the mind of man, it’s functions, qualities or virtues. Mind is not homogeneous but heterogeneous. It has three elements : i) appetite, ii) spirit(courage) and iii) reason and works accordingly. Plato described ‘society’ as one of the finest products of mind. He also proceeds from the microcosm to macrocosm; from parts to the whole. To him, both mind and society are heterogeneous and neither of them can be thrown in one direction in a concentrated form. Society, like mind, has certain necessary elements. First of all, society needs foods and clothes and that can be met through production of food and other basic needs of life – artisans and producers do this job. Secondly, society needs protection against onslaughts and this leads to the class of fighters/soldiers/warriors. Thirdly, society needs to be governed by the rulers and this leads to the class of rulers/guardians/kings. According to Plato, the producers would correspond to appetite, the fighter/warriors to spirit/courage and the rulers to reason/wisdom. Plato suggested/advised that the producers/artisans must act temperately, the warriors must operate courageously and the rulers/guardians must govern wisely. Thus, the virtue of the producers/artisans is temperance, the virtue of the warriors is courage and virtue of the rulers/guardians is wisdom and the virtue of society as a whole is justice. Some basic tenets of Justice may be mentioned from the explanation of Plato. Like, 1. Justice is an idea, an attribute of the mind. 2. Justice is a relation between individuals depending on social and political organization, 3.Justice is a process and not an object, 4.Justice is a part of structure of the community rather than a quality of individual conduct, 5.It can be perceived by senses and as well as reasons, Justice is knowledge that can be acquired by exploring one’s own talents and through education as well. Plato mentioned three qualities or springs of human behavior : 1. DESIRE - that includes appetite, impulse and instinct, 2. EMOTION – that covers spirit, ambition and courage, 3. KNOWLEDGE – that implies thought, intellect and reason. The important issue is that - all qualities do not exist in equal degree in all. So those who have strong desire they can produce, manage commerce, industry and other jobs, those who have strong emotions they may celebrate the battlefield and those who possess knowledge will govern the society/ state. So in a perfect/ideal society, the artisans will produce goods, the warriors protect the society and the philosophers/wise men govern the society/state. This kind of ideal society/state would be free from all illness and would continue rather never ruins. Plato’s Idea of Philosopher King/Queen In the ‘Republic’ Plato advices that Kings should become philosophers or that philosophers should become kings as they possess a special level of knowledge which is required to rule the Republic successfully. In fact, Plato’s concept of philosopher king is related with his theory of Justice. As Plato describes the ‘Kallipolis’ the beautiful city which was just /perfect/ideal city where political rule depended upon knowledge which philosopher king possessed and Not power. In his theory of Justice, Plato describes an ideal/ just State/ Society where each member has a specific craft for which he has a natural aptitude. Like other profession ruling is also a skill that required special training available to few and only the philosophers possess knowledge.
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