political power. Political systems derived from religious organizations could and will not work in the real world. Theological arguments should not be brought into politics‚ however‚ the absolute leader can determine the “proper forms of religious worship”; his religious duty can never interfere with their political duties‚ because politics always comes first over religion. The turmoil in Hobbes’ life led to a negative view on human nature. The unbalance of power in his life‚ from the Civil Wars to
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one associate these adjectives with a political system. The lack of connection between the two words did not stop a great philosopher‚ Plato‚ to describe democracy exactly with one of these terms: “Democracy … is a charming form of government‚ full of variety and disorder; and dispersing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike” (Plato 214). The underlining message of the quoted sentence leads one to believe Plato employed the adjective – charming – with a great degree of sarcasm. The philosopher
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On hearing the word politics‚ what usually springs to mind are images of government‚ politicians and their policies or more negatively the idea of corruption and dirty tricks. The actual definition seems to have been obscured and almost lost by such representations and clichés that tend not to pinpoint the true essence‚ which defines this thing‚ called politics. In order to make an attempt at a definition of politics a systematic approach is required. To begin with‚ a brief historical
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Aristotle Aristotle was born in 384 b.c. in the small town of Stagira on the northeast coast of Thrace. His father was the physician to the king of Macedonia. It could be that Aristotle’s great interest in biology and sci ence in general was nurtured in his early childhood as it was the custom‚ according to Galen‚ for families in the guild of the Asclepiadae to train their sons in the art of dissection. When he was seventeen years old‚ Aristotle went to Athens to enroll in Plato’s Academy‚ where
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Aristotle (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης‚ Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC)[1] was a Greekphilosopher and polymath‚ a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects‚ including physics‚ metaphysics‚ poetry‚ theater‚ music‚logic‚ rhetoric‚ linguistics‚ politics‚ government‚ ethics‚ biology‚ and zoology. Together withPlato and Socrates (Plato’s teacher)‚ Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle’s writings were the first
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to this question. "As his position takes form in the Republic‚ Plato claims that only a very few individuals are capable of understanding how human life is to be lived. If it could be done‚ the rest of us would be best off it we were to let out lives be controlled by such individuals". This position held by Plato has been one of much discussion and disagreement over the years. In this paper I will attempt to give my own insight and stand on Plato ’s position and will evaluate his position as it emerges
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controversies over the function of poetry are shown in The Republic by Plato and in The Defense of Poesy by Sir Philip Sidney. These two pieces describe the critics’ opinion over what poetry should be. Even though Plato and Sidney had different‚ as well as some similar‚ views concerning the purpose and use of poetry‚ these views were all based on the culture and society in which they were surrounded‚ as well as the time period in which they lived. Plato and Sidney were two very distinct men who each lived
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Philosophers of the Enlightenment had numerous and often discordant ideas about government‚ the most notable being the contrasting social contract theories of John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. Locke believed that humans‚ in the state of nature‚ were a blank slate‚ enjoying complete equality‚ freedom‚ and independence. By surrendering some of these natural rights through a social contract‚ governments were created which would act for the benefit of the people and be controlled by the people. However‚
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the concepts of Communism and Socialism are used interchangeably to refer to the essentially the same economic and political philosophy. In reality these are two different philosophies that while having some similarities also have some very evident differences. Appreciation the similarities and the differences can be useful in terms of appreciation the distinction of Communism vs. Socialism in discussions or publications. Communism and Socialism both appear in the situation of the Industrial Revolution
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“The Good” Plato Midterm Paper Plato was one of the most prominent Greek philosophers‚ influencing the very core of philosophy for years to come. His early analysis of society and its values began the quest for answers to questions of existence and awareness. In “The Republic‚” Plato explains the concept of Forms and Ideas while also inquiring on both justice within a person and what exactly makes a person ‘just.’ Plato argued that the human soul innately searched for the Form of Good which could
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