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Plato's philosophy on democracy
Plato's philosophy on democracy
Plato's philosophy on democracy
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In today’s society government has a large impact on the day to day life of Americans. From laws, to military, to social security, government is clearly very important. Our government has been influenced by different countries and people throughout time, then improvised and made more efficient. The ancient greeks had a lot of influence on the way the government works today.
There are many pros and cons about democracy according to Euripides. Some of the pros are the democracy is made to protect the people. Also everyone has an opportunity to contribute ideas about how to make their society better. There are also some cons of democracy. The Theban messenger thinks that people are too gullible and are poor judges of things. Also that people don’t have the time or talent for politics and that wiser people would be against democracy. Euripides defines justice in that when the laws rule all rich and poor, powerful and weak are equal. Basically saying that the poor and the strong are equal. “There the poor are able to speak the same language as the strong.”(Theseus Pg. 17) The rules of law are important to him because this makes everyone more equal no matter what your economic status is. “What greater equality can exist in a city? Where all citizens rule, they take pride in their young people.” (Theseus Pg. 17)
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This type of government had absence of individual protection. Which basically means that it did not consist of a bill of rights. “In a pure democracy, whatever the majority said prevailed, even if it meant fining, exiling, or even executing an innocent man.”(Plato Pg.3) Socrates was always questioning and criticizing democracy. This made very many people angry including Meletus, an Athenian leader. Meletus accused Socrates of corrupting young men in the city. Socrates was trying to persuade young men of Athens not to follow their elders who used democracy just for themselves and their own
On which they would scratch the name of the person that represented a threat.”(Doc E)This demonstrates why Athens was a democratic society since not only did civilians get to decide on who is in office and who is not. Furthermore, because democracy means rule by the people, and male citizens of ancient Athens voted laws and officials into place.(doc c) This exemplifies how salient the majority's opinion was instead of opinions of just a few rich men .In addition, Athens “....constitution favors many instead of few.”(doc a) Also Athenians had the freedom to do whatever they desire a long as they did not disrupt any other citizen or violate a law. “The freedom which we enjoy in our governments also to our ordinary life…...we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes. But all this ease in our private life does not make us lawless as citizens.”(doc A) Therefore, this exhibits that this is a democratic government because this is a characteristic that can be seen in democratic governments today. To summarize why Athens was a democracy.Citizens were free to do what makes them jubilant as long as it did not interfere with the laws or fellow citizens. Male citizens could vote and elect the rulers and vote laws into place. These aspects all demonstrate why Athens
Many aspects of our government has ties to that of Ancient Rome’s government in one way or another and in even some ways you may never have thought of. First off, Ancient Rome’s government is split into three different branches each with their own powers in the government. They have a senate, an assembly, and a consul with power divided between the three using a system of checks and balances. We currently have a government split into three branches too, with a system of checks and balances to disperse the power between the three. Our system is set up with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. Ou...
Socrates and I grew up alongside the Athenian democracy, and experienced her vicissitudes in the past seventy years. We have both heard and experienced cycle of five types of governments that Socrates had mentioned. (Plato, Republic 8.547e) Our democracy was established hundreds years ago under Cleisthenes and turned to tyranny under Isagoras. In our childhood, Athens was a timarchy, and then Pericles ruled Athens with the
The U.S. Constitution is a wonderful document that our forefathers put great thought, and effort into creating. It guides our government in the daily activities of running the United States. The United States has fought many wars to protect the inalienable rights we enjoy thanks to our forefathers writing this document. In this paper I will show the good and the bad of the Constitution. I will show how it is effective in today’s society, and what really needs to be amended to adapt to our ever changing society. Within the next few pages I will show the advantages, disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses of the U.S. Constitution. I will give an overview of the U.S. Constitution, and what is written with strength, and what is written without actual strength. I will review all the sections of the U.S. to include Federalism, what are its advantages and disadvantages, and how we can possibly improve them. The strengths and weaknesses of the three different branches of government, and how they can be improved. I will review how Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Elections work, and what their positive and negative impacts on our lives are.
Federalism was majorly influenced by Alexander Hamilton, who was the dominant author of the Federalist Papers. Hamilton did not want to repeat the mistake that Great Britain made and believed that spreading the power to multiple sources of government, along with checks and balances would abolish tyranny. Furthermore, it would aid the people to be heard and their concerns to be resolved faster and with attention from their government. Federalism is when a nation has two sources of government instead of one, the two levels are national and state/local. Similar to many American qualities, having a federal government has its advantages and disadvantages. Three positive factors of federalism are that there is a more orderly system to dispute and
We often wonder about the importance of government. Is it necessary? Does it really benefit society? The answer is yes. Many countries have diverse forms of government such as totalitarian, monarchy, theocracy, and much more. The United States of America specifically runs a democratic type of government. A democratic government gives power to the people. Citizens over the age of eighteen are allowed to elect leaders based on their individual opinions through voting rights. The main purpose of the American government is, to protect people’s inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness as our Founding Fathers intended.
Sovereignty means that the state has control over it is itself (“Sovereign”). America became sovereign whenever it broke free from British control during the late 18th century. This is because their laws were no longer determined by the British empire but instead themselves. The purpose of government depends on those implementing the system. In dictatorial regimes, the purpose of government is vastly different than that of a republic. In the United States, according to the Constitution, the purpose of government is defined to be “Establish Justice, Insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty” (U.S. Const. preamble). All the powers outlined in the Constitution are
If Socrates was such a constant critic of the government, then why did he never question the Athenian government what his rights as a citizen were? Socrates’ claimed he was “gadfly” who “was attached to this city by the god” (30e) but he never critiqued what the implications of the relationship between the government and citizens were. In Socrates’ perspective, if one chooses to live in Athens, then one is implicitly agreeing and abiding the Laws of Athens (52b.) Although Hobbes’ may agree with this point to some extent, the sole intent of a covenant in which “every man should say to every man ‘I authorize and give up my right of governing myself to this man’” (109) was to protect oneself from harm/death. For Hobbes, the relationship between government and citizens was mutual; the government would acquire power and authority only if citizens were guaranteed protection and defense. For Socrates, the relationship between government and citizens was one-sided; the government should have complete dominance and citizens should blindly obey the government’s commands if one is unable to persuade the government on how to rule. For this reason, Socrates’ had no care for his self-preservation as he was only concerned with the government’s best
During the age of Pericles, the ideal form of government was believed to be a government formed by all of the citizens regardless of wealth or social standing. This was known as democracy, literally meaning “ government of the people” [Document 3.] This government favored the many instead of the few. Athens was a direct democracy, meaning every citizen participated in debates. Western civilization used this philosophy of government by many, and created an indirect democracy where citizens elect officials to make and enforce laws.
The Romans called their political system not democracy but republic. Republic is something that belongs to the people. In Rome the right to take part in the governing belonged only to the men and those who had the statute of being citizens. The differences of republic and democracy are because of the origin of the two terms Greek and Latin language. The ancient Greeks discarded the tyranny as well as the disorder. Plato as well as Aristotle stabilized the complete democracy which was not based on the laws, with the power of the crowd and considered it as a form of ruling based on the jealousy and sweet talk of demagogues. Both of them considered the democracy to be wrong kind of state governing. Plato considers the democracy as nice and various public orders but without the necessary governing. The main good of democracy is freedom.
Government effects my life everyday in a vast variety of ways. From the quality of the milk that I drink in the morning, to the license and Insurance I need to drive my vehicle to school and work. Government also effects the taxes that are deducted from my salary. The government uses this money to protect consumers and provide services for the public amongst many other things.
The Athenian government was a democratic government, which means it was ruled by the people to vote and have a voice in society. The democracy was slowly formed by leaders Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon took over when Athens was in political turmoil. He introduced new reforms to forgive debts, outlaw new loans, free people that
Plato views the democratic state as a city “full of freedom and freedom of speech[,]” where its citizens “have the license to do [whatever they] want” and the right to self-determine. Plato however, sees this insatiable desire for freedom at the expense of neglecting everything else as the downfall of democracy. To clarify, a society that is staunchly protective of its equality and freedom will be particularly sensitive towards any oppositions that seem to limit them, to the point where it actively attempts to “avoid [obeying the law and] having any master at all.” Thus, “unless the rulers are very pliable and provide plenty of that freedom, they are punished by the city and accused of being oligarchs.” Since those in power fear the accusations of those being ruled, they become docile and submissive. On the other hand, those who are ruled are encouraged by their rulers’ meekness and, convinced of their inherent right to freedom, begin to behave as their own rulers. Thus, this blind chase for unconditional freedom will propagate disorder across the society, and eventually cause the people to see “anarchy [as] freedom, extravagance [as] magnificence, and shamelessness [as]
Plato defines Athens as a democratic society that “treats all men as equal, whether they are equal or not.” Therefore, believes that there are those that are born to rule and others that are born to be ruled. Plato presents the argument that democracy does not achieve the greatest good, giving four main objections to democracy. Firstly, he identifies that most of us are ruled by passions, pleasure, sentiment and impulse. Hence, th...
Democracy was a revolutionary development for the Ancient Greek society it was an innovative idea which gave the citizens of Ancient Greeks the freedom to participate in the governmental system and contribute in the processes and decisions, this in turn helped Ancient Greece succeed politically and economically. This democratic society not only helped Greece succeed in the Mediterranean region but also influenced modern day society. The Ancient Greeks succeeded significantly and were highly advanced for this period, the progressive thoughts and ideas demonstrated by individuals in this society contributed to the development of democracy in Athens which has become one of the most beneficial forms of government created.