The Broadview Anthology of Social and Political Thought, Essay Example

The socio-political organization of the Greek polis in antiquity certainly varied from polis to polis, a pattern that evinces significant ramifications for the development and spread of philosophy: in Athens, in particular, famous for its meritocracy and democracy, philosophy thrived (Bailey et al., 2008, p. 4). Here there is a signal irony in the fact that such luminaries as Thucydides, Plato and Aristotle held rather critical and even cynical views of democracy; nonetheless, the point is that in a political society wherein merit, not inherited noble status, was the main criterion for influence and advancement, and where political power required persuasive skills, philosophy could and did thrive (p. 4). In Hellenic Athens and certain other poleis of the period, the body public consisted of free citizens, not subjects of a king: as such, citizens were free to pursue ideas, formulate philosophies, and attempt to convince their fellow citizens of them as well (pp. 4-5).

Early Greek philosophers, such as the Sophists, pursued questions pertinent to all domains of knowledge: from the natural world to the structure of the polis to ethics, practically every aspect of reality on their mental horizons drew their scrutiny to a greater or lesser degree (Bailey et al., 2008, p. 3). Socrates, Plato and Aristotle assayed far more thorough and rigorous explorations of these very same topics. Indeed, Plato was deeply interested in the structure of reality, and his famous theory of Platonic Forms was an attempt to understand the ideal versus the real in the form of a theory of mind (p. 13). The significance of Plato’s work to Western philosophy can scarcely be overstated, inasmuch as he and his mentor Socrates provided the template for much of what followed, and contributed to many diverse domains of knowledge (p. 13). Similarly, Aristotle exerted a towering impact on practically every area of knowledge, from zoology to political theory—indeed, he is credited with inventing political science—and ethics, justice, and the good life (p. 127).

References

Bailey, A., et al. (2008). The Broadview anthology of social and political thought: vol. 1, from Plato to Nietzsche. 2 vols. Buffalo, NY: Broadview Press.