SOSC Classics of Social and Political Thought - Q1 Final

"It is evident, therefore, that by nature some people are free and others are slaves, for whom slavery is both advantageous and just."

Aristotle: people whose natures suit them to be slaves or rulers. Nature makes bodies of free people and slaves different. One is strong enough to be used for necessities, the other useful for political life. Suggests that there is a natural role that each individual's nature suits them for and that this role is advantageous and just because it is based in nature.

"Yet none of these bad things comes about because property is not communal but because of depravity. For we see that those who own and share property communally have far more disagreements than those who own their property separately."

Aristotle: property, how it should be established by guardians, and whether it should be held communally or not. Suggests that love of private things and for oneself is natural. Communal property, therefore, is not the answer to dispute. Rather, dispute will always exist as long as there is vice. Private property is a better solution because it fosters generosity.

"Hence it is necessary to a prince, if he wants to maintain himself, to learn to be able not to be good, and to use this and not use it according to necessity."

Machiavelli: the Prince's qualities that are either praised or blamed and how a Prince can use immoral actions to his advantage. Aims to do away with idealised and imagined visions of a Prince. Suggests that a Prince must be flexible and willing to not be good when necessary to maintain his power over the state. Those that are always good fail to consolidate power and reign over a secure and stable state.

"To have as teacher a half-beast, half-man means nothing than that a prince needs to know how to use both natures; and the one without the other is not lasting."

Machiavelli: two forms of combat: that of laws and that of force. The former related to man and the latter related to beasts. He suggests that the best teacher would be a centaur like Chiron. He is saying that a prince cannot maintain power with only law or only force as the former would lead to femininity and the latter to savagery. Thus, it is best to learn and lead with both ends of the spectrum.

"Mercenary and auxiliary arms are useless and dangerous; and if one keeps his state founded on mercenary arms, one will never be firm or secure."

Machiavelli: what types of military the Prince should keep to maximise the security of his state. Mercenary armies are not useful because their only motivations are monetary, thus they have no allegiance to the Prince. The Prince will not be secure because he lacks a disciplined, loyal army.

"From this a dispute arises whether it is better to be loved than feared, or the reverse. The response is that one would want to be both the one and the other; but because it is difficult to put them together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one has to lack one of the two."

Machiavelli: whether it is of greater advantage to a Prince's power to be merciful or cruel, and whether a Prince should be feared or loved. To Machiavelli, being feared and loved is nearly impossible for a Prince to attain, thus a Prince should in general aim to be feared rather than loved. Fear commands more power than love, which improves social cohesion and common stability.

"It is said that the prince is absolved from the obligations of the law; but this is not true in the sense that it is lawful for him to do unjust acts, but only in the sense that his character should be such as to cause him to practice equity not through fear of the penalties of the law but through love of justice."

Salisbury: discoursing on law and the Prince, and the relationship of the Prince to the law. The law is a gift from God and all members of the political community are bound by it. This suggests that a Prince does not need to be ruled by the law because he a representation of God's will on Earth, and since the law is God's will, the Prince is essentially the law. The Prince is higher than the law because of his perfect virtue and love of justice.

"From which it will readily appear that it has always been lawful to flatter tyrants and to deceive them, and that it has always been an honourable thing to slay them if they can be curbed in no other way. I am not now talking of tyrants in private life, but of those who oppress the commonwealth."

Salisbury: on how tyrannicide can be justified. Occurs after detailing the flaws of bad Roman emperors. Suggests that tyrannicide is acceptable if there are no other means for a people to rid themselves of a tyrant. This is because a tyrant's rule is unjust and contrary to the interests of the commonwealth, and humans are bound by their duty to God and cooperative associations to uphold the public welfare in the body politic.

"And so we can compose the definition of law from the four characteristics I have mentioned: law is an order of reason for the common good by one who has the care of the community, and promulgated."

Aquinas: definition of law. This states that a law is legitimate when it is an order of reason, oriented towards the common good, bestowed by someone authorised, and promulgated throughout the political community.

"Therefore, if human beings by nature live in association with many others, all of them need to have some power to govern them. For if there are many human beings, and they provide for their own individual interests, the people would split into different factions unless there were also to exist a power to provide for what belongs to the common good."

Aquinas: discussion on Kingship and how human beings are by nature social and political beings. Humans know only generally the things necessary to sustain their lives, and cannot know in particular what things are necessary without the help of a reasoning community. Suggests that due to human beings' natural social nature and tendencies, they cannot know what is best for the common good alone and therefore need a ruler to tell them so. Otherwise, humans would naturally provide for their own individual interests without caring for the good of a community as a whole, causing factions and diminishing the power of mutual associations that render a political community strong

"It evidently belongs to law to induce subjects to their requisite virtue. Therefore, since virtue makes those possessing it good, the proper effect of law is consequently to make its subjects good, either absolutely or in some respect."

Aquinas: opening discussion on law, its purpose, and its effect on human beings. Addresses whether or not law should be aimed towards improving people's virtue. Defines the virtue of every subject as obedience to their ruler. Suggests that law is not only ordered to prevent sin but also to restore virtue in the citizens. Citizens who follow the law are virtuous because they are following their ruler's commands.

"Tyrannical governance is unjust, since it is ordered to the private good of the ruler, not to the common good...And so disturbance of such governance does not have the character of rebellion, except, perhaps, in cases where the tyrant's governance is so inordinately disturbed that the subject people suffer greater harm from the resulting disturbance than from the tyrant's governance."

Aquinas: rebellion and whether or not rebellion is always a sin. Aquinas believes that rebellion is contrary to the unity of the citizens of a political community. This unity is rooted in law and common interest. He therefore concludes that rebellion is by a nature a mortal sin. He, however, does suggest that resisting a tyrannical government should not be considered rebellion. Tyrannical government, like rebellion, disturbs the common good of the people. The disturbance of a tyrannical government is oriented toward the collective interest and therefore does not have the character of rebellion. The one exception occurs when the unsettling of a tyranny produces more instability and harm than the tyrant's government.

"Things done repeatedly seem to proceed from deliberate judgments of reason. And so custom has the force of law and abolishes law and interprets law."

Aquinas: revision of laws, and whether or not a custom has the power to change a law. He believes that a custom has the power to change the law because both custom and law proceed from forces of reason.

"Strictly speaking, justice requires distinct individual subsistent substances and so consists only of the relations of human persons to one another. But...we say metaphorically that justice belongs to one and the same human being insofar as reason commands the irascible and concupiscible powers."

Aquinas: whether justice can exist on an individual level or only consist in our relations to other. Acknowledges that justice requires individuals to be just, but suggests that justice is only a social virtue because justice directs right human action, and actions belong to whole entities rather than particular parts and forms.

"Not everyone is competent to interpret what may be useful or not useful for the community if observance of the letter of the law does not risk a sudden danger that needs to be immediately resolved."

Aquinas: whether subjects are capable of acting contrary to the letter of the law. Contends that it is the meaning of the law, not its specific wording, that is important, and that the letter of the law can be disobeyed as long as it still preserves the common good. Suggests that the typical citizen is not necessarily capable of interpreting the meaning of the law. Only someone who is oriented towards the common good, such as a ruler, is competent to make such interpretations.

"For if what is said in the Ethics is correct, and a happy life is the unimpeded life that is in accord with virtue, and virtue is a medial state, then the middle life is best, the mean that admits of being aimed at by each sort of person. These same defining marks must also define the virtue and vice of a city or constitution. For the constitution is a sort of life of a city."

Aristotle: determining the ideal constitution by deducing which one most cities and people can share in. He determines an aristocracy is the most virtuous, but a polity is similar to an aristocracy and more accessible. This quote says that a virtuous life is finding the mean between two extremes, and in politics, that mean is the middle class between rich and poor. If the society leans towards one or the other, the majority cannot share in it. Therefore, if a city is far from the mean, it is less virtuous. He then uses this principle to determine the polity as an ideal middle-class society

"[Wealth acquisition] is of two sorts, as we said, one belonging to the craft of commerce and the other to household management, and the latter is necessary and praiseworthy, whereas the craft of exchange is justly blamed (for it is not in accord with nature but involves taking from others)."

Aristotle: natural and unnatural wealth acquisition. Defines natural wealth acquisition as the securing of necessities such as food, shelter, and water. Unnatural wealth acquisition as accumulating money for its own sake. Suggests that the wealth acquisition for household management is acceptable because it is used to provide the basic necessities for living and self-sufficiency, which renders the community just according to nature. Doesn't approve of the craft of exchange because it consists of accumulating money for its own sake, which leads people to become unvirtuous and indulge in excess.

"From these considerations, then, it is evident that a city is among the things that exist by nature, that a human is by nature a political animal, and that anyone is without a city, not by luck but by nature, is either a wretch or else better than human."

Aristotle: opening discussion of nature and man and establishment of the city as the natural end of man. Suggests that individuals must live in cities to realise their true natures, which is to form mutual associations and engage in politics. Those who don't live in cities should not be considered human. MEN ARE BY NATURAL POLITICAL ANIMALS

"Now in most cases of rule by politicians people take turns at ruling and being ruled, because they tend to be equal by nature and to differ in nothing. All the same, whenever one person is ruling and another being ruled, the one ruling tries to distinguish himself in dress, titles, and honors from the ruled."

Aristotle: the different rules involved in household management and is comparing the rule of a husband to that of a statesman. He suggests that though the rule of a statesman is balanced and the nature of all statesmen is equal between them there is still a difference between the statesman that is currently ruling and the one who is being ruled. The difference is the one who is being ruled is lumped in with all of the ruled and the ruling statesman must distinguish himself.

"In a constitution that is well mixed, by contrast, both elements should seem to be present, and also neither, and it should be preserved because of itself and not because of external factors...because none of the parts of the city as a whole would even wish for another constitution."

Aristotle: the virtues of a polity and the merits of a mixed constitution, cites the Spartan constitution as a specific example. Suggests that the best, most sustainable and complete form of government is a polity, whose constitution should be a mixture between oligarchy and democracy.

"True it is that we must not give the name citizen to all persons whose presence is necessary for the existence of the state"

Aristotle: who should be a citizen in the city state, specifically whether vulgar craftsmen and slaves should be considered citizens. Suggests that being a citizen requires additional responsibility and qualifications then simply living in the city-state. Thus, not every member of the population is necessarily a citizen.

"Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus would not have been able to make their peoples observe their constitutions for long if they had been unarmed, as happened in our times to Brother Girolamo Savonarola."

Machiavelli: new principalities and how they are acquired. Moses, Cyrus, Theseus, and Romulus are all successful founders of empires. Uses the successful founders of empires as examples to suggest that great rulers consolidate and maintain power over the people by the use of arms and force. There is no more effective way to maintain the support of followers and dissuading non-believers.

"I do not, however, deny that tyrants are the ministers of God, who by His just judgment has willed them to be in the place of highest authority in one sphere or the other, that is to say over souls or over bodies, to the end that by their means the wicked may be punished, and the good chastened and exercised."

John Salisbury: opinion of the tyranny ("scourge of God"). This quote is saying that tyrants are a product of God's will, inflicted as a punishment on bad people. People who are unclean and hypocritical thus deserve unclean kings.

"Wherein we indeed but follow nature, the best guide of life; for nature has gathered together all the senses of her microcosm or little world, which is man, into the head, and has subjected all the members in obedience to it in such wise that they will all function properly so long as they follow the guidance of the head, and the head remains sane."

John of Salisbury: difference between a tyrant and a Prince and what is meant by a Prince. The Prince is a ruler by nature, and because nature is the best guide of life, the people should not be opposed to his will.

"Yet one cannot call it virtue to kill one's citizens, betray one's friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; these modes can enable one to acquire empire, but not glory."

Machiavelli: the Prince acquiring principalities through force and crimes. Uses King Agathocles as an example of a Prince who used severe cruelty and crime to maintain his state. Suggests that power is not necessarily tied to the virtue of a ruler. A Prince does not necessarily need to be virtuous in order to conquer and maintain his empire. Criminal acts can give a Prince power but never glory. The Prince will not be celebrated amongst good men.

"I judge this indeed, that it is better to be impetuous than cautious, because fortune is a woman; and it is necessary, if one wants to hold her down, to beat her and strike her down."

Machiavelli: conclusion of his discussion of the role and influence of fortune in human affairs. Suggests that in order to defeat fortune, the ruler should be firm and unforgiving, and it is better to act rashly than not act and suffer the consequences of fortune

"Truly it is a very natural and ordinary thing to desire to acquire, and always, when men do it who can, they will be praised or not blamed; but when they cannot, and wish to do it anyway, here lie the error and the blame."

Machiavelli: examining how France brought in Spain to help govern Naples, and did not use its own forces. He is saying that the desire to conquer is natural, and even praiseworthy, but only for those men who have the ability to do so. If one does not have the ability to conquer but want too anyway, they should be blamed and refrain from conquering.

"No one will marvel at the ease with which Alexander held the state of Asia and at the difficulties others such as Pyrrhus and many more like him had in keeping their acquisitions. This has come not from much or little virtue in the victor but from the disparity in the subject."

Machiavelli: how Alexander the Great's successors were able to maintain Asian territories. Occurs after presenting two different modes of governance: rule by one Prince and his servants or rule by a Prince and barons who hold their own states. States that are governed by one Prince hold that Prince in greater authority because there is no other ruling figure as superior as himself. Alexander the Great took over Darius's government, which was rule by one Prince and his servants. Suggests that the state remained secure for Alexander the Great and his successors not because of their superior virtue, but because there weren't other lords and barons to interfere with the Prince's rule and the institutions of government were already set up.

"For in every city these two diverse humors are found, which arises from this: that the people desire neither to be commanded nor oppressed by the great, and the great desire to command and oppress the people. From these two diverse appetites one of three effects occurs in cities: principality or liberty or license."

Machiavelli: how a Prince comes to rule over a principality by support of the wealthy or the common people. Defines any Prince who rules with support of the citizens as a civil principality. Ultimately concludes that a Prince rule in the interests of the people rather than the Great because the ends of the people are oriented towards the common good. There are two conflicting interests that determine the nature of a Principality. The common people desire not to be commanded or oppressed, and the wealthy nobles desire to oppress the people. Suggests that this inherent conflict between the wealthy and the poor helps to define the goals of the Principality's government.

"Taking all this into the calculation, he keeps quiet and minds his own business - as a man in a storm, when dust and rain are blown about by the wind, stands aside under a little wall."

Plato: Socrates is identifying the true philosopher. Suggests that he is his own entity separate from society and in an unsuitable regime, he is forced to remain quiet amongst unvirtuous citizens.

"Education is not what the professions of certain men assert it to be. They presumably assert that they put into the soul knowledge that isn't in it, as though they were putting sight into blind eyes."

Plato: Socrates is speaking with Glaucon about the nature of man's education and acquisition of knowledge. Uses the analogy of light to describe knowledge. Suggests that knowledge is present in every man from the beginning and that they must only learn how to use it

"Just as a city is divided into three forms, so the soul of every single man also is divided in three...[and there is] similarly a threefold division of desires and kinds of rule."

Plato: Socrates on transitioning from the parts of the just city to the parts of the just individual. Discusses the three parts of the soul and their characteristics, and how they mirror the relationship between three classes in society. Just as the city is divided into three distinct classes, so too is the individual's soul oriented towards three different desires that correspond to three distinct parts of the soul. There is a rational part of the soul that desires truth, a spirited part of the soul that desires honour, and an appetitive part of the soul that desires everything else such as food, drink, sex, and money. The appetitive part of the soul corresponds to the money-making class, the spirited part to the auxiliaries, and the rational part to the guardians.

"If they imitate, they must imitate what's appropriate to them from childhood: men who are courageous, moderate, holy, free, and everything of the sort; and what is slavish, or anything else shameful, they must neither do nor be clever at imitating, so that they won't get a taste for the being from its imitation."

Plato: Socrates with Glaucon about the qualities that guardians should have and what they should imitate. Socrates suggests that imitation is positive when used to teach virtuous behavior. Guardians should learn to imitate heroes and people of superior virtue at an early age. Guardians should learn to distinguish the virtuous from unvirtuous so that they will know not imitate those who aren't virtuous.

"Justice is the minding of one's own business and not being a busybody, this we have both heard from many others and have often said ourselves."

Plato: Socrates' definition of justice. Defines it as the minding of one's own business according to their nature and never diverging from what is natural. Citizens fulfilling their assigned occupations in the bronze, silver, or gold class is an example of this justice.

"This, then, is the genesis and being of justice; it is a mean between what is best - doing injustice without paying the penalty - and what is worst - suffering injustice without being able to avenge oneself."

Plato: Socrates, Glaucon, and Thrasymachus discoursing on the definition of justice and and injustice. Glaucon constructs a very negative idea of justice so that Socrates can form a good argument against this definition. Glaucon attributes no moral value to justice, suggesting that it is most advantageous to commit injustice without punishment. Men cannot always get away with committing unjust acts without consequences, so justice is a compromise between committing just and unjust acts. Men are compelled to do just things because they don't want unjust things to be done to them.

"Plutarch says that that course is to be pursued in all things which is of advantage to the humbler classes, that is to say to the multitude; for small numbers always yield to great."

Salisbury: after his discussion of the other parts of the body politic, concludes with the feet (artisans and peasants) and discusses the care and protection that the Prince should show them. All body parts must do their job to help maintain the health of the other body parts. Suggests that the feet (artisans and peasants), while they belong to the lowest class, still provide value to the commonwealth. The feet are large in numbers, so it is especially important for the Prince to maintain their health as they are the foundation of the body.

"To produce health is to establish the parts of the body in a relation of mastering, and being mastered by, one another that is according to nature, while to produce sickness is to establish a relations of ruling, and being ruled by, one another that is contrary to nature."

Socrates is speaking to Glaucon (Plato) at the end of the description of the city. He uses the concept of 'mastering' the city to define a healthy society - one that has relationships defined according to nature. He counters this with a description of the imperfect society, which tends towards sickness because its relationships of power are not according to nature. This establishes that justice in general, from the analogy of the city, is mastering the parts of the soul in relation to nature, while injustice is the opposite (mastering the parts of the soul in contradiction to nature

"The current mistake in philosophy - as a result of which, as we also said before, dishonor has befallen philosophy - is that men who aren't worthy take it up."

Socrates speaking to Glaucon (Plato) after the allegory of the cave about who should be guardians and how they should be educated in body and in mind. He suggests these people should be with a memory and lovers of labor in order to be worthy of philosophy. In this specific quote, he states that the issue with philosophers is that those who are not worthy become them, giving philosophy a bad reputation. Socrates is essentially saying that both nature and education are necessary to become a guardian, or later philosopher king, but that men have inherent qualities that predispose them to philosophy.