POLI 107 1st Edition Exam 2 Study Guide Legacy of Plato Aristotle No immediate impact on political affairs Perfected the theory of the city state Failure of city states to live up to ideals inspired criticism Questions arose over moral significance of the city state Failure of the city state freed the virtuous and wise from their obligation to participate in politics on behalf of the greater good Pursuit of the good life became a private endeavor furthered by withdrawing from politics The Cynics Questioned the extent to which citizenship benefited the individual stripping the citystate of its moral force Happiness rests with the individual who must reject the trappings of material life Wise men are completely self sufficing Self sufficiency is a product of thought and character not social and material goods Enlarged scope of association to a single community a city of the world Cynics were better critics than philosophers Rejection of wealth and promotion of equality appealed to the socially marginalized Enlarged scope of political theory beyond the city state reexamining human wants and needs The Epicureans Like the Cynics Epicureans located self sufficiency in the individual Self sufficiency involved the enjoyment of pleasure and avoidance of pain Also like the Cynics Epicureans turned their back on politics Human behavior is egoistic guided primarily by self interest These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute State s role involved security to facilitate peaceful social interaction Whatever did no harm was permissible Human agency is the source of all political and social institutions no God no nature Wisdom realization of human agency allows us to do what we want to do Man was not naturally social Social life based on pleasure only Stoicism Rose to prominence in 3rd century Athens thanks to Chrysippus the Stoa Self sufficiency could be taught through a rigorous training of will in resolution fortitude devotion to duty and indifference to pleasure Stoics believed in the supreme power of God who bestowed upon man his calling a role he must fulfill no matter what Everything has a place in the natural order To experience moral perfection one must participate fully One must submit the human will to God and exercise one s higher faculties reason to contemplate upon and understand the natural order Reason is the spark of divine fire in the souls of men The basis of community is humanity a universal community of men rather than states or classes or families Humankind is united by right reason which teaches us what is just and unjust Political communities are fictions Wise men require no political institutions Fundamental task of politics is to cultivate our highest human traits so that we may free ourselves from ignorance and achieve true self sufficiency and individual happiness Until this happens state must look to the laws of nature which are expressions of God s will in order to make customary laws and establish moral order in city Cicero Cicero was a failure in practical terms He sought the restoration of the Roman Republic and his political theory served this end Cicero s impact on political theory stems from his incorporation of Stoicism into the Western canon God has bestowed upon man a universal law of nature and it is through reasons that men may understand the law of nature The law of nature binds all men regardless of particular political associations Law of nature legitimizes human laws and institutions Law of nature is also the basis for equality We are all equally obligated to understand and pursue the Good w o obstructing others who are doing the same The state must enable the enjoyment of a moral life General Implications o Authority of the state is the reflection of the power of the people o Political power is rightly exercised according to law o The right exercise of political power is only ever in accordance with the law of nature Cicero defines the commonwealth as the property of the people but not just any collection of people o but an assemblage of people in large numbers associated in an agreement with respect to justice and a partnership for the common good 124 What is the basis of agreement upon justice as well as the origins of this motive impulse to promote the common good o True law is right reason in agreement with nature it is of universal application unchanging and everlasting it summons to duty by its commands and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions 125 o There will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens or different laws now and in the future but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times and there will be one master and ruler that is God over us all for he is author of this law its promulgator and its enforcing judge 125 God is the origin of natural law Natural law is superior to human law and human law should incorporate natural law What is the application for custom o The most foolish notion of all is the belief that everything is just which is found in the customs or law of nations 126 o Those who share in law must also share in justice and those who share there are to be regarded as members of the same commonwealth If indeed they obey the same authorities and powers this is true in a far greater degree but as a matter of fact they do obey this celestial system the divine mind and the God of transcendent power Hence we must now conceive of this whole universe as one commonwealth of which both gods and men are members 126 In what ways are men equal according to Cicero o Since law is the bond which unites the civic association and the justice enforced by law is the same for all by what justice can be an association of citizens be held together when there is no equality among the citizens For if we cannot agree to equalize men s wealth and equality of innate ability is impossible the legal rights at least of those who are citizens of the same commonwealth ought to be equal 125 o Though men may be unequal in possessions and innate ability men are equal before the laws of nature and therefore must also be made equal before the laws of a particular state Seneca Wrote in the early years of the Roman Empire and like Cicero was heavily influenced by Stoicism The state will prove ineffective in the face of human wickedness The wise must still serve humankind By identifying with a community of men