Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Part I The Nature And Origin Of Political Philosophy
- 1 What Philosophy Is
- 2 The Origin of Philosophy
- 3 The Nature of Politics
- 4 The Origin of Political Philosophy
- Part Two The Problem Of Political Philosophy
- Part III The Permutations Of Political Philosophy
- Epilogue
- Index
4 - The Origin of Political Philosophy
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Part I The Nature And Origin Of Political Philosophy
- 1 What Philosophy Is
- 2 The Origin of Philosophy
- 3 The Nature of Politics
- 4 The Origin of Political Philosophy
- Part Two The Problem Of Political Philosophy
- Part III The Permutations Of Political Philosophy
- Epilogue
- Index
Summary
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 b.c.), a lawyer, orator, statesman, and philosopher, was likely the greatest intellect of the ancient Roman republic. He is usually called a “Stoic,” after the group of postclassical philosophers who carried on their disputations while taking their ease under the stoa, or porticos, of Athens. Cicero calls himself such, but questions have been raised as to whether he fit in with the other Stoics or departed from them by way of a return to stricter adherence to the philosophic principles of the classical thinkers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These three are, of course, the three great figures of political philosophy at its beginnings. Aristotle (384–322 b.c.), the last of the three, wrote treatises. A treatise is a work that endeavors to offer demonstrative proofs regarding the matters treated. He seems to have meant this method as an improvement on the work of his teacher, Plato (427–347 b.c.). All of Plato's writings that have come down to us (other than a few letters) are called “dialogues.” The dialogues look a bit like plays and they have something of the poetic quality of plays. Plato was the first political philosopher to leave behind a body of writings. He was the most prominent follower of Socrates (469–399 b.c.), who left no writings. The oldest academic joke explains that Socrates “didn't get tenure” because he didn't publish anything. Cicero was the first to say that Socrates founded political philosophy. He wrote:
[F]rom the ancient days down to the time of Socrates,…philosophy dealt with numbers and movements, with the problem whence all things came, or whither they returned, and zealously inquired into the size of the stars, the spaces that divided them, their courses and all celestial phenomena; Socrates on the other hand was the first to call philosophy down from the heavens and set her into the cities of men and bring her also into their homes and compel her to ask questions about life and morality and things good and evil.
What we know of Socrates we learn from the writings of his contemporaries – his close associate, Xenophon, and the comic poet, Aristophanes, as well as his greatest adherent, Plato, and, once removed, Plato's pupil, Aristotle. We can begin to see the origin of political philosophy by reading the Aristophanes comedy the Clouds; the Platonic dialogue that preserves for us the defense speech of Socrates at the trial that ended in his being given the death penalty, Plato's Apology of Socrates; and the Platonic dialogues Crito and Phaedo, which give accounts of the life of Socrates between his trial and execution.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Political PhilosophyAn Introduction, pp. 78 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010