Midterm Paper Prompt and Style Guide about Political Theory

1. PLATO’S THE REPUBLIC

The Republic is a book with a deep Socratic Dialogue (literary prose of ancient Greece) written

by Plato. The Republic was written around 380 BC in the wake of the Peloponnesian War. For

this reason, the dialogue majorly concerns itself with the issue of justice, the character and order

of justice and the aspirations of a just man. This is Plato’s most famous work and has over the

centuries proved to be one of the most influential political and philosophical theory works, both

historically and intellectually.

Plato’s The Republic is based on one simple question: is it better off to be just than to be unjust?

There are few puzzles in Book 1 dedicated to preparing readers for this question. Adeimantus

and Glaucon make this topic to be explicit at the start of Book 2. To answer this critical question,

Socrates begins by taking an effort to sketch what a perfect city entails. He argues that an ideal

city can only qualify to be just if the residents of that particular city start defining justice as an

essential virtue of life. Socrates gets close to finalize the answer about the definition of justice as

an inherent personal virtue of a Human being at the juncture of Book 4, but he is challenged to

defend his list of controversial defining features of a good city (Coumoundouros, 2015). In

Books 5 through 7, he addresses the challenge, arguing that the just human being and the just

city as sketched out are in fact desirable and good and are possible in principle. After the long

digression, Socrates proceeds in Books 8 and Book 9 eventually delivering three “proofs” on

why it is better off to be a just person than unjust. Because Socrates wanted to point out that it is

always good to be just and convince Adeimantus and Glaucon on this point, and because the

teaching of these poets opposes his proofs, he bolsters his whole case in Book 10 by indicting the

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claims of the poets that they are representing the truth. Therefore, he ends up giving a new myth

that is in line with his proofs (Bartley, 2010).

Who ought to participate in political life? Plato argues that leaders should be plucked from the

philosophical fabric of the society. He begins by analyzing the existing regimes (of that time)

and using them to propose hypothetical counterparts in comparison (Sue Asscher, 2008). As a

result, Plato talks of a hypothetical city-state called Kallispolis that is governed by a King who

doubles as a philosopher (Coumoundouros, 2015). In Plato's view, the reason why philosophers

should participate in political life and rule is that they possess sufficient level of intelligence,

they value knowledge, and they are reliable and are willing to live simple lives despite the power

entrusted on them. Such was the king of his utopian city-state of Kallipolis. For such community

to come into realization, philosophers must either become kings, or the existing kings must

genuinely philosophize.

The role of property as it relates to politics is explained in Book 8 in which Socrates asserts

that government starts with his imagined Aristocracy (a government made by a philosopher

king). Since the philosopher is filled with wisdom and devoid of greed to acquire wealth, the

city-state proliferates under him, and everyone leads a good life (Coumoundouros, 2015). When

it breaks down, it is replaced with a Timocracy led by warriors and generals (take ancient Sparta

for example) who are also property owners. But since wealth tends to compromise the honor, it

soon collapses and gets replaced with an Oligarchy. The Oligarchy is a worse form of

government dominated by rich ruling class who are always yearning to multiply their wealth at

the expense of the citizens. Life becomes hard for the commons leading to revolts which

culminate into a democracy. He asserts that although a democracy emphasizes freedom,

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distribution of power and is dominated by less greedy individuals who can be replaced quite

quickly, it is undisciplined and unrestrained.

The main argument in Book 8 is that for a state to exercise good governance there should be no

private property. His hypothetical city-state led by a philosopher king doesn't have much

property in private hands but since the intelligent philosopher king has no interest in the

accumulation of wealth, the property belonging to the state is in safe hands, so everyone leads a

good life.

In matters of labor and its relation to politics, Plato advocates for the division of labor in Book

II in which he breaks labor into three groups of people: farmers, the military/warrior types and

the guardians (Bartley, 2010). Although he based his reflections on the economic realities of his

time, he failed to adequately talk about the major concern and fundamental issues that influences

modern society: the true nature of economic interdependence in a state and its political

association, the relationship between justice and economic behavior (Coumoundouros, 2015).

Despite recognizing these fundamental forces behind the economic behavior of man, Plato sticks

to his ideal state concept in which these forces are not given any consideration, for he leaves

nothing for technological advancement and economic competitiveness; two factors that

determine labor in the modern states (Sue Asscher, 2008).

2. THE PRINCE BY NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI

Machiavelli lived in one of the most turbulent moments of Italy. During the end of the medieval

age and start of Renaissance, Italy was at the mercy of its powerful neighbors. France and Spain

took turns to run over Rome and leaving it in ruin. Around the same, Alexander Borgia had won

a papal election through corrupt means and allocated church wealth to his family. In Florence,

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the once influential Medici family that used to finance art and many civic projects was on a

serious decline (Black, 2014). Italy divided itself into tiny autonomous republics with some city

republics such as Genoa falling into the hands of dictators. There was no unified government or

monarchy that could create a centralized leadership. Soon, the mafia roamed freely, oligarch

families ruthlessly eliminated competitors, and the whole country descended into chaos.

Machiavelli saw the need to write The Prince to address the issue of what is to be an ideal state.

Being a diplomat himself and a political theorist, he glamorized the idea of having princesses

participate in politics, more so, ruling over the subjects in an organized hereditary arrangement

(McCormick, 2014). He stresses the need to form princedoms with each princedom being under

a locally recognized prince. In his view, a prince makes a better leader because he is already

exposed to the power through his long bloodlines of powerful relatives. He uses Cyrus The Great

as his novel and exemplary prince who turned out to be a great leader compared to many kings of

that time – both those who inherited thrones and those who acquired them using their efforts.

The prince is selected by the greats who wish to control and command the people.

Machiavelli addresses the role of property in politics in Chapter 16 and Chapter 19. He

observes that it easier to create a content princedom if men aren’t deprived of their properties and

women (Victoria, 2014). For this reason, he cautions the prince not to interfere with his subjects’

property without proper justifications. Machiavelli goes further to discourage the notion of

generosity among the nobles. He asserts that the Prince shouldn’t be too generous to his subjects

because he could end up less appreciated or can lead to unnecessary greed among the subjects.

Furthermore, he considers generosity to be uneconomical because it ends up depleting the

resources of the Princedom in the long run. This can lead to high taxes and an equal share of

grief to the prince. Worse yet, the prince will be labeled a miser if he limits or terminates his

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generosity. For this reason, Machiavelli says that it is better off for the prince to be a known

miser than being hated while trying to be generous (Black, 2014) (Victoria, 2014). He used

Cyrus the Great, Alexander The Great and Julius Caesar in chapter 16 as great leaders who gave

their subjects what was not theirs but from the very subjects being awarded. He stresses that

spending what belongs to another person adds reputation to you rather than taking it away; it

only hurts if you spend yours.

The Prince paints a rather stark image when it comes to labor and its relation to politics. This

book emphasizes the need for leaders to utilize the determination and will to reap their labor’s

fruits. According to Machiavelli, all you need is to manipulate others for power and trashing

morality while aiming to achieve your goals (Victoria, 2014).

In the role of the executive in maintaining law and order, Machiavelli asserts that the prince

must know how to use the man and the beast. He is certain that all men are subject to be partly

bad and can be both ungrateful and fickle. He ponders over the issue of whether it is good to be

feared or loved while trying to govern the subjects. In chapter 17, he says that one can be both

loved and feared at the same time, but it is hard to combine both of them at once, so he concludes

that it is better to be feared than to try to win hearts (McCormick, 2014). He ascertains that

commitments made using peaceful methods are hardly adhered to, but those made in fear tends

to last. In his conviction, fear and cruelty are the best techniques of keeping a princedom and its

army together.

3. THE SECOND TREATISE BY JOHN LOCKE

This renowned philosophical publication of John Locke was anonymously published because of

the events taking place around the time of its writing. Apparently, King James III had been

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overthrown in England and an unpredictable King William was set to take the helm. Locke's

ideas in this publication could have been treasonous and earned him a date at the gallows (Greif,

2010) (Bennett, 2017). So he decided to publish it anonymously in 1690. His ideas seem to

glorify the fall of King James III and endorse King William.

On the issue of who ought to participate in the politics of a state, Locke begins his Second

Treatise by clearly outlining that all men are created equal according to the God’s nature. For

this reason, he proceeds, the divinely sanctioned patriarchs and the divine right of the kings is

null, void and illegal. He, therefore, asserts that a legitimate government must only exist with

people’s consent (Bennett, 2017). A government forcing itself on unwilling people is illegal and

lacks the consent of the majority, so it needs to be overthrown. Therefore, only the free public

has the power to change the destiny of the society and participate in politics to exercise the

control.

On property, Locke starts on this topic by defining property as “life, estate and liberty” thus the

civil society is made to protect it. But the individuals must own property outside the society

because the state can't be the origin of everything and can't decide who is to own what when and

where (Bennett, 2017). If the government must protect private property (as expected), then it

must be separated from the latter because if the property and government were to be merged,

there could be nothing like “private property” which can breed injustice. He breaks down this

concept by saying that each man at least "owns" himself by being free. Therefore, a person must

put his labor to use lest it is be put to use by someone else. This culminates into slavery. Locke

says an apple is of no use if it can’t be plucked from the tree and eaten. Who owns the orchard

doesn’t matter, the real owner of the apple is the one plucking and putting it in his mouth.

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On the relationship between labor and politics, Locke seems to endorse the concept of

conquest and slavery although Chapter 4 (“Of Slavery”) contradicts Chapter 16 (“Of Conquest”)

on the same issue. The former justifies slavery while the latter advocates the rights of

conquerors. He, however, affirms that those who submit or don't submit to it can readily attempt

to escape because slavery can’t be considered as a contract. But to be a slave is to be under the

absolute power of another individual (Greif, 2010). He singles out groups such as individuals

facing the death penalty, i.e., those who've violated the laws of nature to be given priority for

enslavement.

On the role of the executive, he begins by putting forward the State of Nature. In the state

nature, nobody is obliged to obey another person but rather each person is his judge according to

what the law of nature demands (Bennett, 2017). This way, everyone has a right to administer

punishment if he thinks the natural law has been breached. The set state of nature possesses law

of nature which governs the society and to which everyone is obliged.

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Works Cited

Bartley. (2010). Plato's View on Labour. Retrieved from Bartley:

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Platos-View-of-Division-of-Labor-in-P3C3QP5ZVC

Bennett, J. (2017). Second Treatise of Government. Retrieved from

http://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/locke1689a.pdf

Black, R. (2014). Machiavelli's The Prince. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-

abstract/120/4/1424/1755443

Coumoundouros, A. (2015, 11 3). Plato: The Republic. Retrieved from Encyclopedia of

Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/republic/

Greif, C. (2010). SECOND TREATISE OF GOVERNMENT by JOHN LOCKE. Retrieved from

The Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7370/7370-h/7370-h.htm

McCormick, J. P. (2014). The Prionce, Taking Machiavelli Outside Realist. Retrieved from

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-international-studies/article/gramsci-and-

the-prince-taking-machiavelli-outside-the-realist-

courtyard/B79D489E0FD7B41BF3F94AFA10B16B68

Sue Asscher, D. W. (2008). The Republic by Plato. Retrieved from Gutenberg Organization:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1497/1497-h/1497-h.htm

Victoria. (2014). The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli. Retrieved from

https://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/about/staff/publications/paul-nation/Prince-Adapted2.pdf

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