Political Ideas

10/16

  • Hobbes State of Nature vs Locke??????

  • It goes against reason to take more than you actually need

    • If you take too many apples to eat and some rot, you violate the right of nature.

    • If you turn some into cider and exchange some for nuts, you are not out of the woods because they can still rot

    • You should sell them for gold and jewels so they don’t spoil; money doesn’t spoil

10/6

Born/beginning of hobbes life → conflict

Old man → conflict


Hobbes:

Newtonian Physics

People are going to have a desire or aversion to different things


9/18

Regimes:

  • Aristocracy → rule by the best

  • Timocracy → rule by honor

  • Oligarchy → rule by money/few

  • Democracy → rule by many

  • Tyranny → rule by one (bad one)

    • A good kind of rule by one would be monarchy (NOT NEEDED)


  • In a tyranny, the tyrant will rule by their appetites, making them become a slave to their appetites.

  • Then the cycle begins again, and to go back to an aristocracy by removing the tyrants through the lead of a philosopher king


9/15

The Noble Lie: a philosophical concept introduced by Plato in his work 'The Republic', proposing that a myth or untrue story may be necessary to promote social harmony and stability.


  • A lie told by position of power for the benefit/protection of people

  • People were told that there is a metal in their soul that determines what they are meant to do (e.g. gold=ruler, silver=soldier, bronze=be ruled)

  • Guardians have gold in their soul, auxiliaries have silver in the soul, trades have bronze/iron in their soul

  • Noble lies are used to justify society (e.g. all people are created equal)


Virtues in the State and the Parts of the Soul:


Four traits:

  • Wisdom: Guardians

  • Bravery: Auxiliaries

  • Moderation: Harmony between everyone (rulers and the ruled)

  • Justice: Mind one’s own business


Three parts of the soul:


  • Reason (the point of reason is to govern appetites)

  • Appetites

  • Spirit (The auxiliary, bravery and courage)


Philosopher Kings:


Captain: Get where they need to go

Sailor: strong, good eyesight, steer the ship


The Cave: In this allegory, Plato explores the nature of reality and knowledge, suggesting that most people live in ignorance, perceiving only shadows of the true forms or ideas.

  • Someone is chained up and can only face the wall in front of them; there is a fire behind them that produces shadows they can see; that is all they know and understand

  • Now they are released from their chains and allowed to turn around, experiencing the vibrant colors and forms of the objects casting the shadows. This newfound perspective symbolizes the journey towards enlightenment and the difficult transition from ignorance to knowledge.

  • Then they come back and tell the others who are chained up, and they don’t believe him

  • Since the people never identified what these shadows are, they only know the shadow and don’t know what the shadow was of

    • The person who went outside is a philosopher king, embodying the ideal ruler who possesses both knowledge and wisdom, and understands the difference between the shadows of reality and the truth

    • The other people reject the ideas and ridicule the person