Summary History Political Thought
Understanding the Ancients 2
Lecture 1: Introduction & Plato 2
Plato 3
On Justice 4
Lecture 2: Aristotle 8
Aristotle’s teleology 11
The Polis 12
Governance 13
Slavery, women, and inequality 14
Lecture 3: Master Kong, Master Mo & Master Meng 16
Confucius (Kongzi) 17
Mohism 20
Mengzi 22
Han Feizi 22
Mirrors for Princes(ses) 24
Lecture 4: Christine de Pizan 24
The Body Politic 26
Ethics of Warfare 29
Lecture 5: Niccolò Machiavelli 31
Human Nature and ‘better to be feared’ 32
Virtù and Fortuna 33
Republicanism 34
Corruption 35
Social Contract Theories & State of Nature 37
Lecture 6: Thomas Hobbes 37
State of Nature 37
Laws of Nature: Theorems of Reason 39
The Sovereign 39
International Relations 40
Lecture 7: John Locke 41
State of Nature 42
On Property 44
State consent & limited government 45
Tacit Consent 45
Lecture 8: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 47
State of Nature 48
Inequality 49
Sovereign = the People 50
Critical Analyses of the Social Contract 53
, Lecture 9: Carole Pateman & Charles Mills 53
Mary Astell 53
On Women 54
On Racism 54
Liberal Modernity, Exploitation and Revolution 57
Lecture 10: John Stuart Mill & Harriet Taylor Mill 57
Utalitarianism 57
The Liberty Principle (the harm principle) 58
Freedom of Speech 60
The Subjection of Women 61
Lecture 11: Georg Hegel 62
Positive freedom 62
On Nationalism 63
On Warfare 66
Lecture 12: Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels 68
On human nature 68
On Class 68
Historical materialism 69
Communism 73
Politics, Power and Responsibility in the 20th Century 74
Lecture 13: Hannah Arendt 74
Totalitarianism 74
The Human Condition 76
On Freedom 76
Lecture 14: Michael Foucault 78
Archeological phase 78
Genealogical phase 79
On Power 80
,Understanding the Ancients
Lecture 1: Introduction & Plato
I did not read any literature on Plato.
Political philosophy = the branch of philosophy studying the fundamental questions about
government, justice, liberty, rights, laws, and the organization of society, exploring concepts
like power, authority, equality, and the ideal way that humans should live together. It is
normative and theoretical, asking ‘what ought to be’ rather than just ‘what is’, analyzing the
ethical basis for political systems and proposing principles for better governance.
Political philosophy is usually about a selection of important works/books, but this comes
with risks in terms of defining political theory in terms of these books.
- How is the selection made? And who decides what the canon becomes?
- The selection is always arbitrary.. Up to a point, the canon changes – it is not
definitive
- It is not like anything goes → you cannot flex the canon however you want to,
because the authors respond to each other and build upon each other. You can
therefore not take some out of the story.
- But also irrelevance → we want to apply these thinkers to current day issues.
Most fundamental question in political philosophy = what is the essence of good or bad
government? What is the best regime.
Political Theory = the study of the essence, causes and effects of good and bad governance.
3 core ideas:
1) good and bad governance has a tremendous impact on the quality of life
2) our type of government is not set in stone → different choices that we make
3) we can and should distinguish between good and bad rule → there is political
theoretical knowledge
, Plato
Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) lived in Athens during political chaos;
- Athens experimented with direct democracy, lost the Peloponnesian War with Sparta.
It experienced violent regime changes. The most important event = 399 BCE, with the
execution of Socrates.
This shaped Plato deeply → he became skeptical of ordinary political power and popular
rule.
Historical context:
507: Emergence of democracy
480: Greeks defeat Persians
469: Pericles to power
431: Peloponnesian war start
427: Plato born
404: Rule of the Thirty Tyrants
403: Democracy restored
399: Execution of Socrates by democratic regime
387: Plato founds the Academy
Socrates was Plato’s teacher and central inspiration. Socrates wrote nothing; we know him
mainly through Plato’s dialogues. His methods was to ask questions like what is justice?
What is beauty? What is knowledge? And then he exposed contradictions in people’s answers
(= the Socratic Method)
- “Knowing that you do not know is the beginning of philosophy”
Socrates believed that thinking that you know everything is ignorance, and that philosophy
begins with questioning common sense. This questioning made him unpopular.
Socrates was executed by a democratic Athenian court. His official charges were that he was
corrupting the youth, and that he had impiety (not respecting the Gods).
- Plato’s interpretation: democracy is dangerous because the masses fear critical
thinking
- Philosophers threaten people who believe that their opinions are knowledge
Understanding the Ancients 2
Lecture 1: Introduction & Plato 2
Plato 3
On Justice 4
Lecture 2: Aristotle 8
Aristotle’s teleology 11
The Polis 12
Governance 13
Slavery, women, and inequality 14
Lecture 3: Master Kong, Master Mo & Master Meng 16
Confucius (Kongzi) 17
Mohism 20
Mengzi 22
Han Feizi 22
Mirrors for Princes(ses) 24
Lecture 4: Christine de Pizan 24
The Body Politic 26
Ethics of Warfare 29
Lecture 5: Niccolò Machiavelli 31
Human Nature and ‘better to be feared’ 32
Virtù and Fortuna 33
Republicanism 34
Corruption 35
Social Contract Theories & State of Nature 37
Lecture 6: Thomas Hobbes 37
State of Nature 37
Laws of Nature: Theorems of Reason 39
The Sovereign 39
International Relations 40
Lecture 7: John Locke 41
State of Nature 42
On Property 44
State consent & limited government 45
Tacit Consent 45
Lecture 8: Jean-Jacques Rousseau 47
State of Nature 48
Inequality 49
Sovereign = the People 50
Critical Analyses of the Social Contract 53
, Lecture 9: Carole Pateman & Charles Mills 53
Mary Astell 53
On Women 54
On Racism 54
Liberal Modernity, Exploitation and Revolution 57
Lecture 10: John Stuart Mill & Harriet Taylor Mill 57
Utalitarianism 57
The Liberty Principle (the harm principle) 58
Freedom of Speech 60
The Subjection of Women 61
Lecture 11: Georg Hegel 62
Positive freedom 62
On Nationalism 63
On Warfare 66
Lecture 12: Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels 68
On human nature 68
On Class 68
Historical materialism 69
Communism 73
Politics, Power and Responsibility in the 20th Century 74
Lecture 13: Hannah Arendt 74
Totalitarianism 74
The Human Condition 76
On Freedom 76
Lecture 14: Michael Foucault 78
Archeological phase 78
Genealogical phase 79
On Power 80
,Understanding the Ancients
Lecture 1: Introduction & Plato
I did not read any literature on Plato.
Political philosophy = the branch of philosophy studying the fundamental questions about
government, justice, liberty, rights, laws, and the organization of society, exploring concepts
like power, authority, equality, and the ideal way that humans should live together. It is
normative and theoretical, asking ‘what ought to be’ rather than just ‘what is’, analyzing the
ethical basis for political systems and proposing principles for better governance.
Political philosophy is usually about a selection of important works/books, but this comes
with risks in terms of defining political theory in terms of these books.
- How is the selection made? And who decides what the canon becomes?
- The selection is always arbitrary.. Up to a point, the canon changes – it is not
definitive
- It is not like anything goes → you cannot flex the canon however you want to,
because the authors respond to each other and build upon each other. You can
therefore not take some out of the story.
- But also irrelevance → we want to apply these thinkers to current day issues.
Most fundamental question in political philosophy = what is the essence of good or bad
government? What is the best regime.
Political Theory = the study of the essence, causes and effects of good and bad governance.
3 core ideas:
1) good and bad governance has a tremendous impact on the quality of life
2) our type of government is not set in stone → different choices that we make
3) we can and should distinguish between good and bad rule → there is political
theoretical knowledge
, Plato
Plato (c. 427–347 BCE) lived in Athens during political chaos;
- Athens experimented with direct democracy, lost the Peloponnesian War with Sparta.
It experienced violent regime changes. The most important event = 399 BCE, with the
execution of Socrates.
This shaped Plato deeply → he became skeptical of ordinary political power and popular
rule.
Historical context:
507: Emergence of democracy
480: Greeks defeat Persians
469: Pericles to power
431: Peloponnesian war start
427: Plato born
404: Rule of the Thirty Tyrants
403: Democracy restored
399: Execution of Socrates by democratic regime
387: Plato founds the Academy
Socrates was Plato’s teacher and central inspiration. Socrates wrote nothing; we know him
mainly through Plato’s dialogues. His methods was to ask questions like what is justice?
What is beauty? What is knowledge? And then he exposed contradictions in people’s answers
(= the Socratic Method)
- “Knowing that you do not know is the beginning of philosophy”
Socrates believed that thinking that you know everything is ignorance, and that philosophy
begins with questioning common sense. This questioning made him unpopular.
Socrates was executed by a democratic Athenian court. His official charges were that he was
corrupting the youth, and that he had impiety (not respecting the Gods).
- Plato’s interpretation: democracy is dangerous because the masses fear critical
thinking
- Philosophers threaten people who believe that their opinions are knowledge
