History of a politcal thought
Lecture 2 (6-11-2024): Plato.................................................................................. 2
Lecture 3 (12-11-2024): Aristotle...........................................................................6
Lecture 4 (13-11-2024): Master Kong, Master Mo, and Master Meng.....................9
Lecture 5 (19-11-2024): Christine de Pizan..........................................................14
Lecture 6 (20-11-2024) Nicollò Machiavelli..........................................................16
Lecture 7 (26-11-2024) Indigenous Philosophies.................................................18
Lecture 8 (27-11-2024) Thomas Hobbes..............................................................19
Lecture 9 (03-12-2024): John Locke.....................................................................22
Lecture 10 (04-12-2024) Charles Mills & Carole Pateman....................................24
Lecture 11 (10-12-2024) John Stuart Mill & Harriet Taylor-Mill.............................26
Lecture 12 (11-12-2024): Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels........................................28
Lecture 13 (17-12-2024) Hannah Arendt.............................................................29
Lecture 14 (18-12-2024) Michel Foucault.............................................................31
Lecture 15 (18-12-2024) wrap up........................................................................33
........................................................................................................................... 33
........................................................................................................................... 33
1 | Page
,Lecture 2 (6-11-2024): Plato
Lecture 2
Plato lived from 427/347 BCE. He was born in an aristocrat family and was a pupil
of Socrates. Plato had a few core concepts
- Soul
- Virtue
- Temperance
- Desires
- Justice
- Freedom
- Morality
- Politeia
One of the main theories of Plato was about justice.
- What is justice?
o Socrates’ story
o Honesty and give everyone their due
Does not tell us what is due
o Being good to allies, bad to enemies
Makes people worse off
o Interest of the strongest/majority
Incoherent
o Acting unjust is superior / more powerful than acting just
o If you benefit from unjust acts, you cannot be happy
o The City & The Soul
o Rulers
Philosopher-kings
o Auxiliaries (military)
Strict lives: no family, no private property
Can become philosopher-king
o Producers
o Slaves not counted as people
o Virtues
2 | Page
, Temperance
Everyone
Know your place
Justice
Everyone
Wisdom
Kings
Courage
Auxiliaries
o Injustice
In the soul
Division: no harmony or balance
Lack of self-control: acting according to passion
In the city
Chaos: no harmony
Ruling according to passion
- The good life only takes place in a (political) community
o Instead of free from government interference
- Context
- Rule of 30 tyrants, restoration of democracy, execution of Socrates,
founding of the academy
- Socrates
- Continued questioning
- Why this? Why that?
- Metaphysics
- Two-world ontology
o World of Matter
o As we sense/perceive it
o But: everything is a projection
o Reality approximates but is never truly representative
No such thing as a perfect horse
o Malleable, always in flux
3 | Page
, o World of Forms
o Everlasting, true, unchangeable
o The sum: the good in its upper form
Leads to happiness
o Only reason can transcend sensory perception
- Allegory of the cave
- How to rule the city
- Constrain the thymos
o No private property or family life
o Reproduction through ‘lottery’
o Really selected by king
- The noble lie
o Children of the earth
o Myth of metals
- Censorship
o Of deceitful art
o Art is a projection, not true
o Bad propaganda
- Freedom
o Positive
o Freedom from desire
o To become as good as one can be
o Negative
o People are unrestricted
- Types
o Aristocracy
o Just
o Timocracy
o When the auxiliary takes over
o Giving in to desire: breaking temperance
o Property -> wealth -> oligarchy
4 | Page
Lecture 2 (6-11-2024): Plato.................................................................................. 2
Lecture 3 (12-11-2024): Aristotle...........................................................................6
Lecture 4 (13-11-2024): Master Kong, Master Mo, and Master Meng.....................9
Lecture 5 (19-11-2024): Christine de Pizan..........................................................14
Lecture 6 (20-11-2024) Nicollò Machiavelli..........................................................16
Lecture 7 (26-11-2024) Indigenous Philosophies.................................................18
Lecture 8 (27-11-2024) Thomas Hobbes..............................................................19
Lecture 9 (03-12-2024): John Locke.....................................................................22
Lecture 10 (04-12-2024) Charles Mills & Carole Pateman....................................24
Lecture 11 (10-12-2024) John Stuart Mill & Harriet Taylor-Mill.............................26
Lecture 12 (11-12-2024): Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels........................................28
Lecture 13 (17-12-2024) Hannah Arendt.............................................................29
Lecture 14 (18-12-2024) Michel Foucault.............................................................31
Lecture 15 (18-12-2024) wrap up........................................................................33
........................................................................................................................... 33
........................................................................................................................... 33
1 | Page
,Lecture 2 (6-11-2024): Plato
Lecture 2
Plato lived from 427/347 BCE. He was born in an aristocrat family and was a pupil
of Socrates. Plato had a few core concepts
- Soul
- Virtue
- Temperance
- Desires
- Justice
- Freedom
- Morality
- Politeia
One of the main theories of Plato was about justice.
- What is justice?
o Socrates’ story
o Honesty and give everyone their due
Does not tell us what is due
o Being good to allies, bad to enemies
Makes people worse off
o Interest of the strongest/majority
Incoherent
o Acting unjust is superior / more powerful than acting just
o If you benefit from unjust acts, you cannot be happy
o The City & The Soul
o Rulers
Philosopher-kings
o Auxiliaries (military)
Strict lives: no family, no private property
Can become philosopher-king
o Producers
o Slaves not counted as people
o Virtues
2 | Page
, Temperance
Everyone
Know your place
Justice
Everyone
Wisdom
Kings
Courage
Auxiliaries
o Injustice
In the soul
Division: no harmony or balance
Lack of self-control: acting according to passion
In the city
Chaos: no harmony
Ruling according to passion
- The good life only takes place in a (political) community
o Instead of free from government interference
- Context
- Rule of 30 tyrants, restoration of democracy, execution of Socrates,
founding of the academy
- Socrates
- Continued questioning
- Why this? Why that?
- Metaphysics
- Two-world ontology
o World of Matter
o As we sense/perceive it
o But: everything is a projection
o Reality approximates but is never truly representative
No such thing as a perfect horse
o Malleable, always in flux
3 | Page
, o World of Forms
o Everlasting, true, unchangeable
o The sum: the good in its upper form
Leads to happiness
o Only reason can transcend sensory perception
- Allegory of the cave
- How to rule the city
- Constrain the thymos
o No private property or family life
o Reproduction through ‘lottery’
o Really selected by king
- The noble lie
o Children of the earth
o Myth of metals
- Censorship
o Of deceitful art
o Art is a projection, not true
o Bad propaganda
- Freedom
o Positive
o Freedom from desire
o To become as good as one can be
o Negative
o People are unrestricted
- Types
o Aristocracy
o Just
o Timocracy
o When the auxiliary takes over
o Giving in to desire: breaking temperance
o Property -> wealth -> oligarchy
4 | Page
