Athenian democracy

aspects of today’s Western civilization. In philosophy, they embraced critical thinking and self-examination to answer age-old questions about human existence. The first school for higher education was founded by Plato in Athens. Politically, democracy became a new form of government that placed governmental power in the hands of common citizens. In literature, they wrote poems, plays, historical, and educational documents. They introduced dramatic performances as a form of entertainment.…

Plato’s critique of democracy is thought provoking. Plato claims that democracy is a stage of political being, he believes that from oligarchy comes democracy, and from democracy comes tyranny . Many of Plato’s critiques critiques of democracy are logical, for example, Socrates (??? Aristotle or Plato???)says “For surely in a city under a democracy you would hear that this [freedom] is the finest thing it has, and that for this reason it is the only regime worth living for anyone who is by…

Plato was born around 428-7 BC, for most of his life he lived in Athens and had a lot to say about Athenian democracy. John Stuart Mill was born in London in 1806, despite the very large gap in time, many of the same issues and concerns over political philosophy arise in both their work- although with very different views. Despite this, both Plato and Mill agree that the ‘tyranny of the majority’ is to be feared. Plato was a philosopher in classical Greece, and the founder of the Academy in…

Socrates’ Rejection of Machiavellian Political Immorality The people and principles around which a state should be formed has concerned political philosophers for centuries. Leaders must possess certain qualities and skills to create a solidified political entity. Certain principles provide a standard from which a state exercises its authority. For Machiavelli, the ideal leader possesses virtù and is not bound by traditional morality. Socrates, in contrast, values a leader who is just, honest,…

I will explain how the monarchy, the aristocracy and the democracy existed in the antique Greece. It will also include how the military was managed according to the leading system they had. Throughout my research I used Miklos Szaray`s Tortenelem 1, Nemzeti Tankonykiado, 2003 book as a primary source because this specific use of English that our textbook has, confused me. For the start, the democratic system has been used by the Athenians during the antique age. Athens’s society could have…

goal is to provide direction and regulation for its inhabitants. Democracy and Communism are two forms of government that can be placed on the opposite sides of this scale. When referencing to these types of government, an English writer named Alan Moore once said, “People shouldn 't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people” (Goodreads). Does this idea clearly state the differences between Democracy and Communism? The truth is that similarities and differences…

constructed a hierarchical society in which a minority of privileged citizens had access to resources and public roles that was beneficial to them. Although Athens’ interest and preference in philosophy, art, cultural activities, and a form of direct democracy had a significant impact on the variety and flexibility of citizen-roles, and later, the Western governments. This is in contrast to Sparta’s militarized society which its sole purpose were to make strong and battle-ready soldiers and…

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 Precedent of Mandatory Voting “Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.” In his autobiography, Abraham Lincoln said this when discussing the voter turnout among the general population (Cite1). The idea of mandatory voting is not a new one, dating back to the city of Athens in ancient Greece (Cite). Since then, the idea of forcing a nation’s citizens to vote…

which include political, artistic and religious interactions. Firstly, the polis itself is the centre where political power is exercised, originally through the household of a king, or later on, through the assemblies for either oligarchies or democracies. This constitutes one of the beginnings of an open process of decision making in the state, even when the decision making group is at first small. Usually the polis has one shared area for political assemblies, and all citizens are expected to…