Notes on "A History of Political Theory" -- Episode 8

Continuing recording here notes made in grad school on A History of Political Theory by George Holland Sabine.  

For episode 7 see here to begin from the start see here

The Theory of the Universal Community

VIII. The Law of Nature

 A. The passing of Aristotle, and the city-states, is the only sharp break in the

      history of Western Political Thought

       1. Continuity since then

       2. Theory of natural law goes from Stoics down to the revolutionary

           doctrine of the Rights of Man

 B. Man cut off from the life of the polis and left to live in a new, enlarged

      and impersonal social union

 C. After Aristotle, philosophies tended to become vehicles for ethical

      instruction and consolation

       1. Took on characteristics of religion

       2. Religious feeling grew

       3. Result of new impersonal world

 D. Distinctions between citizen and other lost usage 

"Political thought had, therefore, two ideas to make clear and to interweave into a common scheme of values: the idea of the individual, a distinct item of

humanity with his purely personal and private life, and the idea of universality, a  world-wide humanity in which all are endowed with a common human nature. (143)

 E. Greek notions (Aristotle) of two essentials of citizenship, relations

      between equals and voluntary loyalty to lawful government, were

      reworked to become part of Western consciousness 

 F. Chrysippus the Stoa gave Stoicism form last quarter of Third Century BC

       1. Idea of concord between Greeks and from the east

       2. Theory of Kingship

       3. Result of Alexander's Empire and its breakup

       4. Divinity of king seen as the best way of achieving unity and

           homogeneity of the state and legitimize his rule

       5. Gave positive moral meaning to idea of a world state and universal law

       6. Made achieving self-sufficiency and individual well-being an ethical

           imperative

       7. Taught self-sufficiency by rigorous training of the will

       8. Virtues were resolution, fortitude, devotion to duty and 

           indifference to solicitations of pleasure

       9. Sense of duty re-enforced by religious training -- the duty of every

           man to play well the part assigned by Divine Providence

          i. Man and nature seen as one

          ii. Man shared in the rationality of God, who animates nature

          iii. Right reason is the law of nature

          iv. All men are equal under God (reason), but most are fools not wise

       10. Saw law of the city as customary law and inferior to the law of the world-

           city which is the law of reason

          i. Customary law of several cities combined under a king became the

           common law

          ii. Law of reason is higher that customary law and a separate standard

             of justice

          iii. Law of reason provided an appeal to equity in the

             elaboration of common law

       11. Resulting in part from criticism by the Skeptic Carneades, Stoicism

          underwent reform at the end of the 2nd Century BC

          i. Went back to Plato and Aristotle

          ii. Became less logical but more urbane in appeal and more attractive to

              Roman aristocrats

          iii. Became a philosophy of self-control and public devotion which

               appealed to the Romans

          iv. Ideal of a world-city was of use to idealize Roman conquest

          v. Reason became law for all men, not only the wise

          vi. Contact between Polybius and Panaetius with the Roman Scipionic

               Circle

 G. Scipionic Circle

       1. Brought Stoic thought to bear on earliest studies in Roman jurisprudence.

       2. Roman Law enlightened by inclusion of ius gentium (common law) that

            grew alongside civil (or ceremonial) law based on good business practice

       3. ius gentium coalesced with ius naturale of the Greek Stoics as translated

            into Latin

Next week: Cicero and the Roman Lawyers

  

Notes on "A History of Political Theory" by George Holland Sabine -- Episode 2

For episode 1 see here.

 Theory of the City-State

II. Political Thought Before Plato (5th century BC)
 A. Political discussion was very widespread and popular
       1. Already three-fold classification of forms of government existed:
           monarchy, aristocracy, democracy. 
       2. Two centuries prior saw active party (class) struggle and rapid 
           constitutional change.
       3. Awareness of economic nature of conflict between democrats (favoring
           overseas commerce) vs landed aristocrats 
 B. Assumptions of pre-philosophy period affected later political thought
       1. Basic ideas of harmony and proportion applied both to physical ethical
           matters
       2. Sophists and Socrates reflected movement from concern with physical
           world to humanism.  [Note: Bruno Snell's The Discovery of the Mind: The
           Greek Origins of European Thought traced the emergence of reason and
           philosophy from the Homeric epics through the pre-classic lyric poets 
           (Sappho) and the tragedians (Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides).] 
       3. Protagoras:  "Man is the measure of all things, of what is that is and of 
           what is not that is not."
       4. Search for essential physical substance that underlies appearance
           became search for "law of nature" -- permanence amid change, unity 
           amid the manifold
       5. Issues became about defining 'the natural' and 'nature versus convention'
           (God vs man) 
       6. Sophist Antiphon saw law (justice) as convention and contrary to
           nature which was egoism 
       7. Contrary view saw justice and right inherent in human beings
 C. Socrates moved suggestive ideas into explicit philosophy
       1. Believed that virtue (arete) equaled knowledge
       2. Pursued precise definition
       3. His vision of rational science of politics picked up by Plato

Next week:  Plato: The Republic

Notes on "A History of Political Theory" by George Holland Sabine

For the next few months, I will be recording here notes made in grad school on A History of Political Theory by George Holland Sabine. 

Theory of the City-State

I. City State - Greek political theory
  A. Small territory dominated by single city (the polis) of up to 300 thousand
  B. Three politically & legally distinct classes
       1. Not great amount of leisure due to narrow economic margin
       2. Lower standard of consumption
       3. At the bottom, slaves
       4. Next resident foreigner (metic) and freemen, but neither citizens
       5. Citizens were members of the polis and entitled to take part in its political life
 C. Citizenship
       1. Membership -- some minimum share of participation in public business
       2. Extent of membership shared based on the degree of democracy that prevailed
 D. Political Problem "to discover what place each kind or class of men merited in a
      wholesome society so constituted that all the significant sorts of social work could go
      on."
 E. Political Institutions of Athens
       1. Assembly (Ecclesia) -- male citizens of 20 years, meeting 10+ times a year
       2. Magistrates -- boards of ten from ten tribes, not re-electable
       3. Body of citizens of cross-section from whole could act for all for short periods
       4. Courts of large popular juries
       5. Council of Fine Hundred -- executive/steering committee of the Assembly
       6. Demes (wards) -- units of local government, hereditary membership.  Presented
           candidates to fill bodies of the central government
       7. Filling of office from panel (by lot) elected by the demes in rough proportion to
           their size. (Important democratic feature as seen by Greeks as lot equalized chances
           to hold office.)
       8. Ten generals (strategoi) chosen by direct election, re-electable. (Also served as
           military governor when needed.)
 F. Assembly
       1. Council of 500 acted as executive
       2. The 500 divided into ten groups of 50 (based on tribe plus one each from the nine
           other tribes) which rotated actual business for 1/10 of term
       3. President (epistates) chosen by lot from the 50 for only one day (and only once in
           lifetime)
 G. Courts (the Heliaia)
       1. Judicial power in civil or criminal cases
       2. Chosen by lot from 6000 elected each year from demes
       3. Range in size from 201-501
       4. Not appealable since courts acted in name of the whole people
       5. Had authority over magistrates (chosen by lot) who performed administrative
           duties and were examined before taking office, subject to review and audited at
           end of term for use of public funds by the courts
       6. Court could judge a law & quash it as it was equal to the Assembly in both being
           identical to the people
 H. Political ideas/ideals (Athenian
       1. Polis was the highest interest to which men could devote themselves.
       2. Constitution was "mode of life" not a legal structure.
       3. All should, & most desired, to participate.
       4. All citizens should have equal opportunity to hold office.
       5. All should blend to achieve a harmonious common life, the highest goal & chief
           joy of every citizen.
       6. Rights belonged to his station, not attributes of the individual person.
       7. Obligations not forced by state but flow from need to realize his own potentialities.
       8. Freedom & respect for law were basic values.
       9. Belief in discussion as the best way to come to public decision.
       10. "The processes of government are the processes of impartial law which is binding
           because it is right."

Next week:  Political Thought before Plato