Notes on "A History of Political Theory" -- Episode 3

For episode 2 see here.

 Theory of the City-State

III.Plato: The Republic
 A. Elaborated from Socrates the belief that there is a discoverable, objective
      good life for the individual and the polis
 B. Political philosophy is the effort to discover this 'good life'
 C. Plato's version primarily found in The Republic, Statesman and Laws (written
      in that order)
 D. The Republic concerns the good man and the good life and the means for
      knowing what these are and how to attain them
       1.Political theory of The Republic an over simplified version of the later
        presentation. Plato's fundamental focus was the soul (psych, the inner polis]
       2. The good is objectively real, will is secondary
       3. Man with knowledge of the good ought to have decisive power in the polis
       4. Association of man with man in society depends on reciprocal needs and
          resulting exchange of goods and services.
       5. Philosopher attends to his share of the work, three classes are all
         necessary
       6. Class-based specialization of function depends on natural aptitude and
         training (whereby the given is made better) 
       7. Two parts of the theory:
           i. government ought to be art (techne) depending on exact knowledge 
           ii. society is mutual satisfaction of needs by persons whose capacities
              supplement each other
 E. The public is the great sophist
       1. Man has a split nature, higher and lower
       2. Politicians, especially in a democracy, are ignorant and  incompetent
       3. The incompetence of popular opinion ought to be countered through
        education -- the coupling of questioning and training
 F. Factional conflict arises from class, property owners vs the poor
 G. The Republic presented the 'ideal city' because it was important for the
      statesman -- the 'physician' of the state  -- to know the healthy city
       1. Plato wanted to establish the art of politics
       2. The ideal city modeled along the lines of geometry and ideal types
 H. Conceived society as a system of services in which every member both gives
      and receives
       1. Men have many wants
       2. No man is self-sufficient
       3. The state seeks to arrange the most adequate satisfaction of needs and
        most harmonious interchange of services
 I. Man receives freedom not for exercise of free will as much as for the practice
    of his calling (given by nature)
       1. Exchange implies division of labor
       2. Man has natural aptitudes which become skills when men apply them-
        selves to what they are given, as they work at it.
       3. Philosopher rules because his knowledge is at once his right and duty to
        do so
       4. Assumes that properly educated, man is not anti- or unsocial and can live
        in harmony.
           i. Man and the state have underlying structure
           ii. These structures are parallel, what is good for one is prevented from
             being different from what is good for the other (the polis is the individual
             "writ large)
 J. The division of labor necessitates division into three classes
       1. Workers and Guardians (divided into soldiers and rulers) 
       2. Rulers were source of sound knowledge of the good leaving the others as
         political onlookers
 K. Justice is the bond holding society together
       1. All should fill the station to which he is entitled
       2. "giving to every man his due"
           i. Man should be due treatment as what he is, in light of his capacity
             and training
           ii. Due from him is an honest performance of tasks which place accorded
             him requires
       3. What is due is based on services performed not power or "rights"
  L. The task becomes reaching perfect balance between human beings and
      possibilities of significant employment that the state affords 
       1. Achieved by removing hindrances to good citizenship; and
       2. Creating positive conditions of good citizenship through education
 M.  Achieved for rulers through 'communism'
       1. Prohibited from holding private property
       2. Abolition of permanent monogamous sexual relations
       3. Controlled breeding
       4. Wealth equalized to remove disturbing influence on government, along
          with abolition of family (affection)
 N. Education is the positive means to direct human nature
       1. Main reliance placed here
       2. State would control compulsory education
       3. Elementary till age 20, gymnastics and "music" as training, direct or
          indirect, for the mind
 O. The Republic has been eternally the voice of the scholar, as such overly
      simplified, leaving out human dignity and the person
 P. Omits law and influence of public opinion 

Next week: Plato: The Statesman and The Laws
   

 
       
      

Human Nature and National Character

How one sees “human nature” probably reveals a lot about one's self. The range of views is broad. Some may deny there is such a thing, seeing human beings at birth as blank slates. Some may see humans as intrinsically good and others as essentially evil and still others everything in between.

However, it must be that human beings are by nature social. Our species had to evolve this way to survive. But beyond being just “social,” human beings all want to love and be loved. Yes, perhaps there are those born with some failed wiring who we call psychopaths. In the normal case, we are born wanting to be immersed in warm relationships with others, quite apart from sex. This suggests that by nature, most of us are born being “good” people, eager to talk and listen, eager to learn and share, eager to exercise our minds and bodies while exploring our world. This is what it means to be homo sapiens.

Nurture takes us from this starting point and either allows us to grow strong and mature as self-confident, wise and kind beings or it tears us down. We either develop as secure and open egos with positive character traits – honesty, compassion, loyalty, inquisitiveness – or we become encased in what Freud called reaction formations, negative character traits formed as defensive mechanisms against the bad things that we suffer as we age. Few of us are saints or outright devils. Most of us come out somewhere in between and some shine even when surrounded with sorrow and want. By nature we are good. Departures from this owe mostly to the inequalities and inadequacies of our social organizations.

National character is analogous to individual character. The humans that make up any language, ethnic or social group start out and grow as we all do. But they are confronted by the “character traits” built up over history and many of these traits are collective reaction formations, expressing those events – real or as imagined – that have defined that history. Nations are departures from a common human inheritance and nature. But they are also real. And it seems that few of us are ready to live without them.