POLS 1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ancient Greek, Glaucon, Cephalus
Document Summary
Ancient greek thought about justice is fairly different than contemporary u. s thought. Law-based = modern train of thought, the conformity with norms/rules, education is the learning and application of rules. Comes from the latin word jus = right and wrong. Character-based = ancient greek train of thought, justice is the achievement of virtue/excellence, education crafts and draws out virtues, socialize children in the way that is right, don"t need formal laws if this works. Comes from the greek word arete = moderation. Socrates" idea is law supplements character, if your character is good enough you don"t need a lot of laws. Socrates wants to endow political power with ethical purpose, ethical purpose with political power. Fundamentally an ethical practice, the need for glory. An economic practice, the job of politicians is to make sure citizens are economically successful and stable, constantly getting better. The point of politics are to improve the character of citizens.
