POLI 107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Enlightened Despotism, Teleology, Habituation
23 Feb 2017
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• There is no inherent moral value in law. The quality of law is always dependent upon the idea of
the Good, which is channeled first through the philosopher and then imparted into law.
The La Platos late thought
• The Las as itte late i Platos life, perhaps demonstrating a maturing of his thought from
the time of the republic, as well as his failures in Syracuse to bring about reforms
• In Laws, Plato wishes to contemplate the best political forms with an eye toward actualization.
He does not abandon his idealism; rather, he explains that the subject of the Laws is the second-
best state.
• The great change, however, is the rehabilitation of convention
Statesman (later thought)
• Enlightened despotism is the first most preferred form of government; and, because it unifies
the city with the good life, it is essentially divine
• Yet Plato wonders if the philosopher-king is realizable. Perhaps, then law might serve to sustain
the city whenever a philosopher-king is absent from government
• Lagely agaia soieties ae pefeale eause they ted to podue the hadiest ad ost
tepeate kid of populatio
• Further a common race, language law and religion are also conducive to a good state.
What ultimately sustains this second-best state is a careful balance between interests of the citizens
embodied the law
Part 3
Aistotles appoah to koledge & politial siee
Aristotle sought knowledge of the entirety of politics: the relative and absolute good, as well as the
inferior or even the bad.
• His published works are taken from lectures collected from his school, the Lyceum.
• The Politics is his most significant work of political science.
• Aristotle wanted to establish a new political science that covers both the ideal and the actual
Key differences between Plato & Aristotle
• Key diffeee: Aistotles fous o the atual old s. Platos fous o the ideal
• Both view the polis as an educative institution designed to make its people good
• Both associate virtue with knowledge, and the study of virtue is the beating heart of political
theory
• Aistotle atteded Platos shool ut distaed hiself fo hi
• Aistotle ojets to Platos adialis ad speulatio … politial science should be based on
facts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
There is no inherent moral value in law. The quality of law is always dependent upon the idea of the good, which is channeled first through the philosopher and then imparted into law. The la(cid:449) (cid:894)plato(cid:859)s late(cid:396) thought(cid:895: the la(cid:449)s (cid:449)as (cid:449)(cid:396)itte(cid:374) late i(cid:374) plato(cid:859)s life, perhaps demonstrating a maturing of his thought from the time of the republic, as well as his failures in syracuse to bring about reforms. In laws, plato wishes to contemplate the best political forms with an eye toward actualization. He does not abandon his idealism; rather, he explains that the subject of the laws is the second- best state: the great change, however, is the rehabilitation of convention. Statesman (later thought: enlightened despotism is the first most preferred form of government; and, because it unifies the city with the good life, it is essentially divine, yet plato wonders if the philosopher-king is realizable.
