POL SCI 111A Study Guide: Sectioned Quote Cards (Weeks 1–4)

Praxagora's Common Property Proposal

The political plan in Aristophanes's Women at the Assembly to abolish private land, money, and personal property to create an identical condition of life for all, which the lecture notes is later challenged by the free-rider problem.

"From Escape to Empire"

Professor Sissa's framing of Aristophanes's Birds, describing how two Athenian citizens seeking an agreeable life free of taxes and lawsuits establish an avian city that ultimately starves the gods and claims world sovereignty.

Basileia

The personification of Sovereignty in Aristophanes's Birds, whose marriage to Pisthetaerus at the end of the drama marks the comic transition from an escape from civic burdens into personal supreme rule.

Aristotle's Principle of Political Plurality

The foundational argument in Politics 2.1261a that a polis essentially consists of a multitude of differentiated persons; pushing unification too far destroys the city by reducing it to a household, and ultimately to an individual.

Teleology of the Polis

Aristotle's explanation in Politics 1.1252b that while the city-state originates out of basic survival needs, it exists for the sake of the good life, representing the self-sufficient completion (telos) and chief good of human partnerships.

Bios

The Greek concept of the 'mode of life' in Politics 7.1323a; Aristotle argues that one must determine the most desirable life for human beings before deciding which form of government (politeia) is best.

Arista Prattein

The Greek phrase meaning 'doing best' or flourishing, used in Politics 7.1323a to describe the outcome achieved by citizens living under the best available constitution under given conditions.

Isonomia

Equality before the law; hailed by Otanes in Herodotus's Inquiries 3.80 as the 'loveliest name of all' for popular government, institutionalized through allotment of offices, power held accountable, and public deliberation.

The "River in Flood" Metaphor

Megabyzus's image in Herodotus's Inquiries 3.81 comparing the unguided, uninstructed multitude to a blindly rushing torrent that lacks knowledge, education, and political discernment.

Darius's Defense of Monarchy

The argument in Herodotus's Inquiries 3.82 asserting that rule by the one best man ensures unified judgment and military secrecy, while oligarchy degenerates into violent factions and popular rule culminates in an idolized monarch.

Plato's Principle of Functional Education

The reasoning in Republic 5 (451e-452a) that social duties dictate educational preparation; female guardians must receive the same training in music, gymnastics, and the art of war as male guardians because they share the same tasks.

Plato's Criterion of Relevant Difference

The conceptual distinction in Republic 5 establishing that biological differences in reproduction (women bearing and men begetting) are not relevant to determining an individual's natural aptitude for guardianship or political office.

Motley Democracy

Socrates' description in Republic 8.557d of democracy as a multicolored garment decorated with every character type, possessing an indiscriminate variety that charms superficial observers but lacks orderly hierarchy and division of roles.

Pericles's Democratic Meritocracy

The political standard articulated in Thucydides 2.37 where administration favors the many and laws afford equal justice, while political advancement is awarded strictly on the basis of capacity and merit rather than wealth or social rank.

Domestic-to-Polis Analogy (Women at the Assembly)

Praxagora's argument in Aristophanes's play transferring women's domestic competence into a qualification for ruling Athens, claiming that because women prudently manage household affairs, they can administer public wealth.

Coercive Sexual Equality

Praxagora's regulation in Women at the Assembly mandating that citizens satisfy older and less attractive partners before approaching the young and desirable, illustrating the coercive costs of enforcing equalized pleasure.

Praxagora's Maternity Argument

The claim in Women at the Assembly (lines 230–235) that mothers are suited for governance because maternal care ensures they will spare soldiers' lives and efficiently transport supplies to the front lines.

Praxagora's Deceit Paradox

The comedic argument in Women at the Assembly (lines 235–240) that women's familiarity with money-getting and deceit qualifies them to govern, because an adept deceiver cannot be easily deceived in office.

Ship of State (Women at the Assembly)

The maritime metaphor used by Praxagora to justify women seizing the management of Athens as a rescue operation to save a drifting vessel, functioning as a reversal of rule comparable to an oligarchic coup.

Sacrificial Smoke Interception

Pisthetaerus's strategic plan in Birds to construct Cloudcuckooland between earth and Olympus, blockading divine passage and intercepting sacrificial smoke to starve the gods into relinquishing imperial power.

Carnivalesque Inversion (Aristophanes's Birds)

The comic device in Birds (lines 753–759) where serious earthly laws and taboos are reversed, such as proclaiming that striking one's father is considered an estimable and honorable deed among the birds.

Zōon Politikon

Aristotle's characterization of man in Politics 1.1253a as an inherently political animal, by nature suited for living in a polis; an individual who is cityless by nature is either low in humanity or above it.

Logos (Politics 1.1253a)

The unique human capacity for speech and reasoned discourse that indicates the advantageous, the harmful, the right, and the wrong, forming the moral partnership that constitutes households and city-states.

Prosperity vs. Happiness (Aristotle)

Aristotle's distinction in Politics 7.1323b holding that external prosperity arises from spontaneous fortune, whereas genuine happiness requires personal virtue, wisdom, and virtuous activity.

Scholē (Aristotelian Leisure)

The condition of freedom from manual labor, commerce, or farming identified in Politics 7.1328b as an indispensable prerequisite for cultivating civic virtue and actively participating in politics.

Sequential Functional Rotation

Aristotle's constitutional design in Politics 7.1329a assigning military warfare to younger citizens based on bodily strength and deliberative governance to elder citizens based on wisdom within the same citizen body across time.

Feasible Political Ideal ("Wish")

Aristotle's methodological principle in Politics 7.4