POL 2107 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Thought Experiment, Democracy, Superpower
12 Oct 2018
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Department
Course
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POL 2107
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Plato - The Republic
Introduction to Political Thought
-Justice is simply the understanding of the stronger.
-Manipulation of the weak, and justice is crucial to the well being of a person.
- Socrates believed that Plato confused a by-product with an activity.
Plato, Two students arguing for selfishness (evil) to Socrates their teacher: Glaucon and
Thrychymachus.
You should be selfish (evil).
It is better to be an evil person that everyone thinks is a good person than a good person
that everyone thinks is evil.
We all, to some extent, admire the successful bad man more than the unsuccessful good
man.
Religion, Hellenism, it actually supports the selfish evil person. It puts loop holes in the
law that allows such a person to get away with it. Just perform some ritual, pilgrimage
etc, and you will be cleansed.
Only frightened and weak people choose the just life. Myth of Gyges (if we could turn
invisible (magic ring) then morality would not exist (it would not exist as a concept)).
Assumption about human nature. We are all naturally selfish (evil) and we only do good
out of fear of punishment.
Are human beings morally governed on a reward/punishment basis?
That is the classic argument for selfishness.
What did Socrates say in return:
Humans require a peace of mind that does not permit them to be all selfish.
We do not act out of reward/punishment. We act out of empathy. Guided by feelings
towards other human beings. If empathy guides our actions than emotions should guide
our actions. Usually Socrates says that reason should guide our actions, he kind of
betrays himself there. Emotions vs Reasons debate going on here.
What is it to be a human?
Only when we fulfill our function are we happy.
!1
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Thursday, September 17, 2015
People only act out of their self interest, and just because people act unjust does not
mean that their is no justice.
Are people generally good or bad?
Justice in the state? Plato says, what does it mean for a state to function well? A state
that is corrupt and falling apart cannot function well. A state functions well, when every
citizen can contribute towards it’s function.
We have a government because we are not all self sufficient. It’s better if people
specialize in what their good at then we exchange and grow together.
Justice is the division labour according to natural aptitudes. We need a state that
supervisors and organizes the exchanges between citizen, this creates order.
Plato divides his just society into three classes: the producers, the auxiliaries, and the
guardians. The auxiliaries are the warriors, responsible for defending the city from
invaders, and for keeping the peace at home. They must enforce the convictions of the
guardians, and ensure that the producers obey. He said they must have the virtues of
dogs (loyalty/protective). They must believe with conviction, those with emotions and
those who question the law are not fit to be auxiliaries.
*A leader must be older (wise), capable of the job and must care of the well being of the
state as a whole. They must love their state and thirst for the knowledge that will help
create a good job. Those who rule should be philosophers, and they must identify their
interests with the states. They must build individual with integrity.
In order to create justice you must lie. {The Noble Lie}
-The lie is that somehow each of us have an inherit character; bronze, silver or gold.
-Gold people are leaders, silver are the auxiliaries
-Every person should follow their medal
It’s necessary to lie to your population in society, to create order.
!2
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Justice is simply the understanding of the stronger. Manipulation of the weak, and justice is crucial to the well being of a person. Socrates believed that plato confused a by-product with an activity. Plato, two students arguing for sel shness (evil) to socrates their teacher: glaucon and. It is better to be an evil person that everyone thinks is a good person than a good person that everyone thinks is evil. We all, to some extent, admire the successful bad man more than the unsuccessful good man. Religion, hellenism, it actually supports the sel sh evil person. It puts loop holes in the law that allows such a person to get away with it. Just perform some ritual, pilgrimage etc, and you will be cleansed. Only frightened and weak people choose the just life. Myth of gyges (if we could turn invisible (magic ring) then morality would not exist (it would not exist as a concept)).
