Our concept of Modern Political Thought is mainly a derivative of the 17th and 18th century, whereas Classical Political Thought had its birth before the modern era. As a result, even somewhat politically-adept modern citizens seldom draw upon ‘modern’ philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke. Plato and Aristotle, who predate both Hobbes and Locke by over a thousand years, are even further from these citizens’ minds. As is stands, many individuals have difficulty finding pertinence in the ‘classics’. However, just because the applicability of Classical Political Thought is not always glaringly obvious, this does not result in an absence of all relevance. In fact, the thoughts of ‘classical’ philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and Augustine
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For instance, in Politics, Aristotle seems to echo the Founders’ attitude regarding limited federal government when he says that, “Law is a kind of organization, and good government must of necessity be good organization. But an excessively large number of things cannot share in organization” (Book VII, Ch. 4). Just like Aristotle thought the best city-states were smaller and, in turn, more closely aligned with the common interest, most of the Founders favored strong state governments; which they believed represented citizens more accurately than centralized government. Aristotle’s theories, although prominent among, are not strictly limited to those politicians who lived over two hundred years …show more content…
However important Augustine may be, this modern relevance is not necessarily a positive thing – especially for secularists. While Augustine ostensibly promotes liberal values such as justice and equality, his exclusivity in regards to who exemplifies these values is actually rather illiberal. In other words, Augustine unambiguously reserves the “Good Life” for those of faith, while secularists remain caught in the
For instance, in Politics, Aristotle seems to echo the Founders’ attitude regarding limited federal government when he says that, “Law is a kind of organization, and good government must of necessity be good organization. But an excessively large number of things cannot share in organization” (Book VII, Ch. 4). Just like Aristotle thought the best city-states were smaller and, in turn, more closely aligned with the common interest, most of the Founders favored strong state governments; which they believed represented citizens more accurately than centralized government. Aristotle’s theories, although prominent among, are not strictly limited to those politicians who lived over two hundred years …show more content…
However important Augustine may be, this modern relevance is not necessarily a positive thing – especially for secularists. While Augustine ostensibly promotes liberal values such as justice and equality, his exclusivity in regards to who exemplifies these values is actually rather illiberal. In other words, Augustine unambiguously reserves the “Good Life” for those of faith, while secularists remain caught in the