Justice & Individual Responsibility in Ancient Greek Philosophy & Modern Political Thought, Study notes of Political Science

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Intro to Poli Sci  AUGUST 26, 2008  Introduction to Political Consciousness  Principle of Subjectivity: Consciousness of Self and of Others  Leads to Estrangement  Estrangement Leads to Political Consciousness  Political Consciousness = self-conscious, deliberate search for rational and moral order.  A Consciousness of self leads to concern for individual rights/conscience.  Consciousness of others leads to concern for obligations of citizenship/duty.  The emergence of political consciousness is the story of the movement from tribal civilization to individuated civilization.  The Transition from Tribal to Individuated Civilization or Two Species of Political Being /  Origins of Political Consciousness 02/12/2010  Origins of Political Consciousness o Custom ruled community o Deliberate, self conscious attempt to make order in a community- (missing from tribal societies) o Ancient Israel & Ancient Greece- visible movement from tribal to individ.  Moses and 10 Commandments proves movement (oder and proper behaviour)  Athens- emergence of political consciouness circa 800-500BC o How do we achieve this?  Answer: Through Principle of Subjectivity! (“I” separated from “YOU”) o Awareness of WE (self) – sense of self o Subjectivity is notion of self, but also others’ individuality o Feeling of estrangement  “Homeless spirit” [thought of “I lost something]  Who am I?; What is my purpose?  Philosophical thoughts  Is there anything permanent in this universe? o Fundamental, critical movement in society= estrangement o Recreate order that has been lost  Results in new “Individuated” society  Two Species of Political Being  Tribalism o Kinship o Sacred quality o Governed on basis of instinct and custom  If one person in the tribe, then the whole tribe gets involved Axial Ages 02/12/2010  Axial Age- period in human history that is dramatically transformative (basic, broad, fundamental change; societies, individuals, and thoughts are different from what they were before) o 800-200 BC o iron and weapons made of iron used o age of cities o age of interaction amongst people o economic, commercial trade o religions o individual consciousness o move from one species of politics to another (tribal to individ.) o new understanding of ancient species  Next Axial Age- 16th & 17th centuries Introduction to Greek Tragedy 02/12/2010  8-31-09  The Critical Perspective of the Tragedians  Classical Greece o Serene order of rational democratic polis replace with violence and conflict o Greek poets looked beneath surface of their world (they were like social critics) o Reason/madness; man/woman; humans/gods; law/custom  attempts to look at how these polarities exist and if they can even be balanced (in fact, they can) o Michel Faucault- French writer  Look at dis-unity, madness, instability  Look beneath normality  Theater of Dionysus o Estimated that 15,000-18,000 people from Athens to all surrounding Greek states to attend these plays o Festival of Dionysus most important  Associated with politics  Funded by polis  Rich patrons gave money o Sponsored plays or built a ship  Wealthy expected to fund plays o Shows how important plays were  Glory of Athens being celebrated  Plays were a manifestation of the greatness of Greece & Athens o Located in large, open air space on southern slope of the Acropolis o Made of stone o Actors stood on stage o In between front row seats- orchestra/chorus  Chorus represents mediators between actors and audience  Represents the community in which the actors and the hero- figures live  Chorus members were amateurs and had to be trained in singing and dancing, were usually formerly involved in military, and played parts like slaves, etc.  Speak on behalf of community  Singing by chorus is more like chanting  Dancing by chorus is in a military style o Not many actors, all male, played more than one role, not many speaking parts o Each year, 3 poets are honored by presenting their plays  Each present 3 tragedies and one Satyr play  This was a competition, prizes were given o 1.Prologue o 2. Chorus enters  Sources for the Playwrights o Playwrights use stories to make a point, use the story for a reason and may alter the story for a particular reason o Trojan War used a lot for plays o Greek tragedy began around 6th century, however flourished in Athens in later part of 6th century and beginning of 5th century  Fundamental Debates o Plays not always followed moral values o Sparked debates o Tragedies represented democracy- free speech, etc.  Nature of justice o Questions in debates:  Nature of justice  Nature of freedom o Greeks believed gods dictated fate o To what extent are we free?  Place of women in society o How should women be viewed? o What is their role o While Agamemnon is away at Troy, Clytaemnestra has a new lover, Aegisthus  Subject Matter of Agamemnon o Psyche o Polis is in state of disorder  There is no rightful ruler o Cosmos [Gods] o The psyche, polis, and cosmos must all be in order for politics to be successful (Aeschylies’s philosophy) o Pathos  Meaning suffering  Pathemata  When we suffer, we want to know why o Theodicy  Question of “How is it that a loving god could condone this suffering?”  Answers to this question: Gods know best, everything works out in the end, Gods have a reason….etc.  Agamemnaon o Opens up with a Watchman who hopes for redemption of stress o Clytaemestra is the unfit ruler o Chorus- the elders o LINES 62-65 o The chorus fears the consequences of the destruction of Troy  They know that nothing is what it should have been  The sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter has not been atoned for  People and temples of Troy have been destroyed  What was the point of this war?  They pray to the gods to give meaning of the war (theodicy)  LINE 121- we hope good will come out in the end = Hymn to Zeus Agamemnon 02/12/2010  Pathos o How citizens come to grips with pathos o Theodicy o Related to justice  Lamentation o Song of sorrow o Play opens with this o In the conclusion, the chorus udders Hymm to Zeus  Gives the answer to “what is the meaning to this?”  Lines 160-183 o “call upon Zeus…” o line 177 o the answer—wisdom comes only from suffering o telling what is happening o gives story of Agamemnon  Hegel o Theory of tragedy that are conflicted with two wrongs and we have to choose one o Lines …? o Don’t get much of that count of the conflict o Line 250  “Justice so moves…”  our suffering will teach us o line 326  announced that Troy has been conquered  as she does this, awful thought o Has the devastation been to extreme? Has the house of Atrius gone too far? o Lines 341-342  We learn how much importance _____ puts on justice  Happy of the victory; want to find out more  Chorus add their input to Clytames…’s fear o Orestes kills his mother. Uses the curse of Apollo to rationalize himself o Responsibility- “It will be you who kill yourself, it will not be I” o Orestes feels vindicated, he did what Apollo told him; however, he can’t take pride in what he has done  It may have been right for him to do it, he may have been destined to do it, but he does not feel good about it LINE 1016 “I have won, but my victory is soiled and I have no pride” o The FURIES- ancient matriarchal goddesses (goddesses of the mother)  “The Bloodhounds of the Mother’s Fate”  they are after Orestes  their power resides in the fact that WE HOLD MEMORY; they are Orestes conscience o his soul is now afflicted with guilt that the Furies have brought him o his psyche is in disorder o the Furies attack him o He returns to shrine of Apollo, hoping Apollo will save him from the Furies o The Euminides 02/12/2010  Holy Places o Everything is in a state of disarray o Oreste’s soul is also in a state of disarray o The action of this play takes place in Holy Places at Delphi (sanctuary of Apollo) then @ Acropolis (temple of Athena)  theme is classic justice  reconciliation that involves the gods o line 52 o Chorus are the Furies o apollo has answered Orestes and put the Furies to sleep temporarily o advises Orestes to flee to Athena o Ghost of Claetamestra appears  Her task is to wake up the Furies  In the awakening, Clataemestra Presents her case to the Furies  The action of reconciliation shifts from the Temple of Apollo to the Acropolis o Apollo believes that the bond of marriage is more sacred (violated by Clataemestra) o The Furies believe in the bond between mother and son (violated by Orestes) o Orestes absolves himself by saying Apollo wanted him to kill Claetamestra (Apollo does not deny this) o Before reconciliation can occur, Orestes must come to terms with himself o Athena explains how she will restore order (line 288)  She will not use her force or spear  ***Athena has the art of persuasion (aka: sweet reason) o Beginning of democracy in Greece*** o Lines 334, 350, 383  The Furies still look over one’s shoulder – GUILT  ***POWER OF FURIES “we hold memory of evil”***  ***where do we learn our lessons about guilt? In the house hold- The Furies are goddesses of the household.*** o Athena announces that her shrine is the place of the just  She chastises the Furies for only listening to one side of the story  Furies are respectful of Athena and agree she has authority in this case  Line 462 “I came back and killed the woman who gave me birth. I plead guilty” –Orestes pleads guilty to his case  ***Athena creates the “Areopagus” – the jury of citizens brought together by Athena to judge Orestes on the charge of manslaughter*** (2nd intimation of democracy) o Furies = fear (guilt)  Line 517 “there are times when fear is good, it must keep a watchful place…”  Fear teaches us respect o World of “in-between” is the world of moderation  Reason along with fear  Later on, Athena uses this and throws it back into the Furies’ face o Well being of the community  Dependant on well being of the soul (line 535)  Health and order of society  The health of the city is dependent on the health of the citizens o ***CLIMAX OF PLAY= TRIAL OF ORESTES*** o Line 683 “This is the ground where justice will be had” –ATHENA o fear/reason fear/justice o Athena calls on balance between fear and justice o Oddity: Athena gives her vote before jury does (for Orestes)  Jury votes a tie (acquittal)  Orestes found not guilty; house of Atreus is saved o Orestes will rule justly as the rightful king  Kingdom is saved o Athena vs the Furies has not been resolved Summary of Points 02/12/2010  Trigology chosen because: o 2 species of politics are both evident in trilogy  it is clear Esculus thinks movement from tribalism to individ. Is progress  has shown elements of this transition  Esculus has shown us that once these 2 come together, we have a sense of how they can co-exist, the co-existence revolves around the idea of fear and reason.  Fear- point of saying “you have a place” emphasizes necessity of “Internalized Guilt” learnt through the process of socialization (Tribalism) ->  Socialization- process of learning values of society, began in family. ->  Conscience- formed by fear of punishment  Power of Reason *Esculus’s point represented by Athena (individ) o Persuasion, tolerance, and patience o Shown by Athena during the trial  Both tribalism and individ. Needed to run a society o Balance is needed o Righteousness o We must create laws  Summarization: o Esculus says that suffering is part of the human condition  Reason why he dwells on concept of pathos  Associated with suffering are notions of guilt and hubaris o Likely to encounter in the family o These plays are an expression of optimism  Out of the tribal warfare, harmony can emerge o Esculus emphasizes the platonic conception of politics (philosophical anthropology)  Harmony = harmony of the soul, city, and of the cosmos o The city can only be in harmony if it is just o Soul of the city and the harmony of the gods o Attention must be given to morals, laws of city, and sense of divine justice o Esculus views his plays as a victory over barbarism  He celebrates Greek’s victory over Persia  Any victory over barbarism is always contingent and dependent upon the continued attention to balance and self control  Hubaris and lack of restraint threatens civilization o Intimations of Democracy  Citizens be involved in the resolution of the conflict in the house of atreus; Athena has jury to decide  Personage of Athena role of persuasion; sweet reason (critical to democratic politics) o Balance of Fear & Reason  Politics must balance fear and reason o Fear and guilt is a good thins, restraints are good o Reason is important. Reason, persuasion, deliberation are critical to democratic politics o Celebration of Victory over Barbarism  Movement from tribalism to individ. o Journey of Self-Knowledge  Right of passage  Knowledge of pride and fear Metaphysics & Democritus, Marx, and Plato 02/12/2010  Metaphysical Foundations of Politics o Set of theories that answer: what is fundamental reality?  Is anything permanent? o If so, what is it? o What is changeable, what is in constant flux?  META TA PHYSIKA (greek for metaphysics)  Modern Counterparts o Takes metaphysical perspective and turn into political philosophy o Metaphysics has an impact on politics o Karl Marx, Plato, Aristotle.. etc.  3 Branches of metaphysics: o Ontology- study of being  Study of human-being  Philosophical anthropology  Who are we? o Are we good/evil? Are we free/fated? o Are we good/rational? Are we not good/irrational? o Are we free/determined? To what extent are we free? o Epistemology- study of knowing  How do we know? What can we know?  What are the problems associated with knowing?  How and what we can know are critical to politics o EX. Jury trial looks at facts- figure out the truth o Ethics- the systematic study of valuing/value  Study of what is good/right  How do we determine what is right/wrong?  3 great metaphysical traditions: o “MATTER MATTERS!” o politics follow economics o Triangle  Plato o (428-347 BCE) o Idealist o Student of Socrates o Is there anything permanent in nature/reality?  Everything in Nature is constantly changing  Everything in material world erodes over time- except for the FORM o The Doctrine for the Theory of Form  The form of the thing is the idea of the thing, cannot be changed o Triangle example  Behind the material world there is a reality of Form  2 diff realities (worlds) o realities of senses o world of idea that do not change o reason o Rationalist (like Socrates) o Forms  Humans have soul & body (we are reflection of the 2 worlds) o The soul is perfect; body is imperfect; knowledge of forms is imperfect as long as we are alive o Perfect knowledge of forms is forgotten when soul enters body o We experience a yearning to know perfect knowledge= EROS o The process of remembering what we have forgotten is RECOLLECTION (aka education) o Bodies make us forget o We are material and spiritual  Body & soul (immortal)  Ultimate goal is to free the soul from the world of senses  If everything has a form, so too does the good o Good is pure, everlasting, indivisible o Good exists as a form; we can know it, but imperfectly o The Republic  Head – seat of reason (rationality that is important) = wisdom  Chest – seat of will (the heart) = courage  Abdomen – seat of appetite (the stomach) = temperance (moderation)  The good city must be governed with reason to work effectively  Education – how to educate by state  Philosophy king and warriors can’t have fams  Women are = (this idea is revolutionary)  We would be wise to find people smarter than us and put them in power; and we would be wiser not to trust them  QUIZ! password: plato  EXAM MONDAY SEPT. 28th @ 10:30am (during class time) o Bring in scantron & no. 2 pencil!! o Immanuel Kant 02/12/2010  Immanuel Kant o (1724-1804) o Homo phenomenon  sensual, animals (body) o Homo noumenon  reasoning (soul) o “we are sensual creatures and we are rational creatures”  we are just like all other animals, have no particular values (sensual)  we are unique because we have the ability of reasoning morally, it is that reasoning that makes a difference politically (rational) o the “Golden Rule”  Against utilitarianism  we are capable of moving beyond self interest to some universal priniciples (our ability to think, our capacity to reason morally can lead us to think of imperatives (categorical imperatives) o Catergorial Imperatives: o Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it would become a universal law. o Are my actions such that I would will that they should become universal law, applicable to all who act in the same circumstance?  Would you want what you do (your actions) to be universal?  The ability to construct in your mind, universal principles o Kant is “Father of Deontological Ethics” (rule-based ethics) o Political Consequences of Kant’s Philosophy:  Humans have moral value and dignity (liberal tradition)  Politics are legal realization of moral ends o Conflict w/ “you can’t legislate morality”  this is false! (ex. You cannot kill) o A: reason, we are rational, we can think. “spark of divinity”; capacity to speak, a language; we possess memory. o What is required to reach our potential? o A: Happiness. o Euphoria (feeling good- sex, drugs, alcohol) o baseball is true game- object to come home! o Eudemonia (free, virtous, responsible, citizen) o Contemplation (thinking) o Balance & Proportionality between all 3 in order for us to be truly happy o Function of politics to ensure happiness  Polis o = citadel (defense) o =city-state (political institution where gov. occurs) o =community in which we reach our potential  Zoon Politican- we are by nature political animals, social creatures, we cannot achieve happiness, we cannot reach potential alone, we need one another  Nietzsche 02/12/2010  Nietzsche o (1844-1900) o Gay Science  Story of Madman  God is dead o How is this answering question of permanence? o A: chaos, there is no truth, no ground on which to stand, nothing permanent o Where is the order? o A: will=order  We must possess power: “The will to power”  Highly individualistic notion  There are NO TRUTHS, only INTERPRETATIONS (perspectives) o Perspectivism o Post Modernism  Notion of the Metanarrative o Metanarrative- grand theory that claims to be universal truth  Sees diversity, difference (which is a good thing)  Postmodernism- suspicious of any system of thought that claims universal truth o Suspicion of metanarratives o Ex. Religion, enlightenment period with reason  Tasks of Postmoderism o Diagnose the truth claims (unmasking metanarratives) o Deconstruction of a text (a social practice) o unbuild, look beneath the surface  Binary Opposition  Reason and revelation  Reveals Hierarchies o Who has the dominance and how do they get it? (Who controls the text?)  What is the universal domination there- truth?  Hermeneutic of Suspicion o Looking at alternatives and interpretations  Political Implications of Postmodernism o Relativists/Relativism o Releases us from hold of metanarratives o All truths are relative to their culture o Diversity o Recognizes and Values diversity o Deny existence of universal truth o Diversity=richness of human experience o Toleration o If we are to live in a world where truth is different and diversity is celebrated, we have to be tolerant of differences o CHAOS  END TEST o What is the soul? o To know about politics one must know the workings of the soul o To know soul we must know human nature  Human nature  Who are we, what are we?  We are a mix of rational and irrational  Irrational creatures o Vegetative  need food  nourishment  sleep o Instinctual  Desires, wishes, appetites  Rational creature o Reason  We can decide what is right o Language  Express ourselves  Communicate with others o Memory  recall events o What is Virtue?  Intellectual virtue o Taught- we teach them o Understanding o Theoretical reason o Work of a philosopher o Teach the politicians  Moral Virtue o Habituated- we learn them o Obeying the law  Enforcement o More practical o Generosity o Courage o Self-control o Conduct o VIRTUE  Aristotle is among the Virtue Ethicist o Who shall I be?  Principles of Virtuous Action: o Act of a certain kind o Agent must know what he is doing  The agent must choose the act  Choose the act for its own sake o Not because it will get you to something, but because it’s the right thing to do  Act springs from an unchangeable character o This is something you accepted from that person o This is that person’s character o Two Dimensions of Virtue  External Particularity o Surface of action o Who did it? o What was done? o To whom was it done? o How was it done? o Circumstances o What was the end result of this action  Internal Particularity o Inner aspects of action o Did the agent know what he was doing? o What was the agent’s purpose? o What are the motivations of the agent? o Guidelines to Character Virtue  In all likelihood it is best to seek the mean. o The mean is the activity where you try to find the “center of the circle” o Finding the center of the circle will be difficult, but when you find the center you will be doing the right thing at the right time with the right person o Seek moderation/proportionality o The mean = the avoidance of excess and deficiency o EX. Excess of courage leads to recklessness, a deficiency of courage is cowardness o EX. excess or deficiency in generosity and selfishness o Not everything admits to the mean o Some things you just do not do o Most things will o When making an ethical decision, avoid what is pleasant to you (most of the time) o Be wary of the decisions you make that you like, think are good, make you SEEM like a good person  Self-interest is usually a lie o Sophrosyne- “soundness of mind”  Self-control  Self-restraint  Self-knowledge o Knowledge of limitations and strengths o Leads to self-control (self-“mastery”) o free to work o merit (you work and earn something of value) o equality o some things everyone should get  education  health care o Retributive  What we do if some one commits a wrong-doing  What do we want to be done to them?  Retribution  What values do we use o Equilibrium o If some one steals, murders, threatens, cheats- society is unbalanced and needs to restore balance o How do we want balance restored?  Fairness  Equity  Punishment to match the crime  Proportionality o If you are accused you want  Mercy  Ability to have representation  Treated like everyone else  Rights (rights to council)  Equal Protection of the Law  State must prove you’re guilty  Aristotle’s Politics  Constitutions o Arrangement of political offices  Who governs?  Classification Criteria o Empirical criteria  How many people govern? (one, a few, many) o Normative  Are they bad or good?  The bad govern in the interest of themselves  The good govern in the interest of everybody o Monarchy- (ruled by one, good) o Tyranny- (ruled by one, bad) o Aristocracy- (ruled by few, good) o Oligarchy- (ruled by few, bad) o Polity- (ruled by many, good) o Democracy- (ruled by many, bad) Aristotle 2 02/12/2010  Political Economist  Largest thing is conflict between rich and the poor  Social class is very important o Economics is also very important o Aristotle is first political economist o The fundamental conflict in all societies is between poor and rich o If we want to understand a character of a constitution look at distribution of wealth  Oligarchy means ruled by the few wealthy in their own interest  Tyranny neither rich nor poor can keep control o Plato’s cure for this was: those who rule cannot own property  Make them rule more in public interest o Aristotle’s on property: property is natural, natural part of human experience; people who have it seek their own economic interest  Property is like all human institutions, its good and bad  Property is good because it encourages people to work, encourages responsibility, teaches discipline and reward  Property is bad because it appeals to greed, we pursue it at the expense of others  Property is ethically ambiguous (good and bad)  Do not deny good because there is some bad, find a way through differences o Aristotle’s cure for rich/poor property conflict:  Polity and oligarchy o Some distribution of political offices and wealth o Average constitution  Polity is created by balancing wants of rich and poor, so neither can gain control  Aristotle’s cure is the MIDDLE CLASS o This is how to provide for political stability o Ruled by middle class majority  this play won 3rd place o “Trojan Women”  female captives of the war  Hecuba and her daughter Cassandra o 408 BC Euripides left Athens  moved to Macedonia  probably because he became increasingly more unpopular  died in 406  Socrates mocked his death by dressing the chorus in black o Hecuba survives because it was revived in Rome  Adapted play for school children  Hecuba speaks to the complexities of human character  Nomos o Can mean “LAW”, “AUTHORITY”, and “CUSTOM” o The Nomos is the ground on which we stand  It is the consensus we possess as a society or a culture on values o What is it we share? What is it that holds us together as a culture? What is the basis of our culture? What is our Nomos? o In the modern world: Nomos is political culture  What is the American political culture? What are its positive and negative feature? o If a culture is to maintain order, there must be a consensus on values. o In Hecuba, the Nomos of a society, and in Hecuba as a queen, is destroyed and what happens when it breaks down.  Hecuba has lost her kingdom, it has been destroyed, she is a captive, her son and daughter will be killed, and the gods have deserted her. Who has she become in the wake of this? o Nomos is critical, demolition of a Nomos leads to disorder, madness, no control. o Euripides asks 3 questions about the Nomos:  Is it divine? o Is it based on divine order? o Is the Nomos fundamentally theological in character?  Is it custom? o Is it something we teach one another handed down from generations? o Is it merely custom?  How is it taught? o Can it be taught? If so, how? o Seen in particular in the daugheter of Hecuba who is sacrificed. Dies in a noble honour, Athenian army weeps. Hecuba wonders where she got the courage, did I teach it to her, or was she just born with it (gift of the gods)? o Nature vs. Nurture Argument  Are you who you are because of your genes?  Are you who you are because of people who taught you? Hecuba 02/12/2010  Hecuba- queen of Troy  Priam- king of Troy o “losers” of the war o 3 children:  Cassandra- gift of seeing into future, but no one believes her  Polydorus  Polyxena  Play opens with ghost of Polydorus o Explains to audience how Priam gave him in trust to the king of Thrace, Polymerstor. o Priam and Hecuba gave Polydorus enough gold to be well off as a prince. o Polydorus flourishes under watch of Polymerstor, until Hector dies. o Polymestor murders Polydorus for gold and throws his body into the sea.  Trust is violated because Polymestor was supposed to take care of Polydorus  This play is about the violation of trust  Some one you trust will care for your children  Play opens with the voice of a child- most vulnerable voice to which we can listen, the voice of a dead child saying things have happened, Nomos has been broken to such an extent that children are victims. o Polyxena sacrificed to ghost of Achilles later on in play o Hecuba knows of Polyxena’s fate, but does not know the fate of Polydorus. o Other crime Polymestor commits is throwing body into sea, the body did not get a proper burial. Polydorus’ soul would wonder for rest of time, violation of Nomos. o Hecuba goes to Odysseus attempting to pursuade him to intervine and get the Greeks to spare Polyxena. Hecuba 2 02/12/2010  Ghost of Polydorus o Why does Euripides do this?  In the child, represented by Polydorus, we have hope, youth, and innocence o Child suggests that young grow into maturity by nourishment of family and society o How the Nomos is killed  Fragility of Civilization o Play about the fragility of “humanness”, of human character o The contingency that exists in our being, in this case, the being of Hecuba o Trust has been broken, a child murdered for gold, greed o This play is about a dominant, moral philosophy o Plato’s o Believes goodness is incorruptible o Dangerous philosophy, Euripides shows that it is corruptible  Role of the Community in building Character o What is the role of the community in maintaining the Nomos? o “The gods are gone, and so is convention” – Hecuba  Nature vs. Nurture o Question of “who are we, are we a bundle of DNA genetically determined, or are we who our parents/ society makes us to be?” o Politically speaking, this is all about freedom; are we free? o 2 different kinds of ethical claims o natural universal, ethical in nature that will support human stability o there is this conventional universe, dependant on us teaching each other morals (traditions that we teach each other)  Hecuba’s Corruption o Hecuba is a mother, queen, wife o She is corrupted by something that happens o What corrupts her?  The murder of a defenseless child  The failure of a caretaker to properly nurture that child  Polymestor committed this crime without guilt and also tosses the body into the sea  If he has motivation, then it is greed. He is already a king, and wealthy  He breaks the trust of friendship. He made a sacred promise to take care of Polydorus. o Crime commited by Polymestor is a crime of betrayal.  Knowledge of this crime have the capacity of literally defiling Hecuba  “My new song is the song of revenge” – Hecuba  old song would have been a lullaby, teaching the child.  Now in mourning and anger, she sings the song of revenge  Solitary song, NOT a communal song  Wants to replicate the very act itself (the crime committed) she wants to inflict this onto Polymester  Hecuba’s New Character o Into what has Hecuba transformed? o Her new Nomos is solitary and vengeful o New Nomos o No regard for community o No regard for friendships or relationships, she uses everyone o Her mother love has been transformed o She kills the innocent children of Polymestor o Justice is now a matter of personal punishment o Prudence and moderation is gone  Euripides shows us that civilization is fragile  We are inbetween being beasts and gods  “Can we keep our Nomos live and vigorous, and what are the alternatives if we cannot?” “Knowing goodness is fragile, can we maintain it?” o across the globe total disregard for human life o it is fragile Ideology 02/12/2010  Ideology o Greek EIDOS and LOGOS o EIDOS- knowledge LOGOS- words of knowledge o Set of beliefs that orient us towards challenges and opportunities of life  Begin with basic conceptions then move on to more complicated set of beliefs  Most common ideologies in our culture are LIBERAL and CONSERVATIVE  Ideologies…..  Make sense of reality  Reference point o lense through which we attempt to view the world  Satisfy some of our psychological needs o safety o freedom o love o community o ideologies can help satisfy these needs  Always related to interests o our ideologies are related to our class (economic status) interests  Marx and Aristotle prospective  Powerful o inspirational o liberating o designed to over-throw  story of the Exodus o represent deeply felt animosities and conflicts  Political o also social, economic, and religious o they are political because  almost all political ideologies have a view of human nature in them o human beings are good/bad  some story of the origin of society and state o how did politics emerge? o What is the origin of who we are in a society  goals of government o What is it that politics are supposed to do?  structural characteristics of government o political ideologies justify and explain power  they transform power into authority o ideologies allow us to view the world in 2 ways  a picture of the world as is  a vision of the world as it might be  Change o Disposition, depth, speed, and method of change  Disposition o Left is future oriented (progressive) o Right is past oriented (regressive)  Depth o Amount of change o Middle wants a little change o Left and right want a lot of change  Speed o Like depth o Left and right want fast results  Method o Willingness to use violence to get this change o In the middle, non violence  Compromise, persuasion, bargaining, etc o Left and right more likely to use violence to get change as quickly as possible  Views of Human Nature o Essentially good/rational or essentially evil/irrational  Essentially good/rational – left  Essentially bad/irrational- right  Individual vs. Community o Are we most interested in the desire for individuality or need for community?  Liberalism vs. conservativism o List positive features of the American political culture o List negative features of American political culture  QUIZ!  Password- Hecuba (capital H)!!!   Not everything we do or embrace can be defined in this way; we are more than liberal or conservative. Politically speaking, this helps us know who we are POLITICALLY.  American Political Culture o We are a liberal culture o Not everyone is a conservative o We are the most liberal conservative culture in the world o Positive Characteristics of American Political Culture (our NOMOS):  Liberty o We believe, enjoy and honour it  Equality o Before the law, equal due process o Respect to security, education  Individualism o Outgrowth in equality  Rule of Law o Both liberals and conservatives o Legal institutions are important o Put belief in some sort of established order o Laws, not men (lawyers)  Democratic Republicans o Represent democracy o Direct o Every person, 1 vote o Negative Characteristics of American Political Culture  Partisanship o Lack of seeing the complexity of issues  Apathy  Anti-intellectualism  Mistrust & Corruption  Violence/safety  We use violence to resolve conflicts  Racism  American Exceptionalism o The idea that we are morally superior to other nations o Leads to hubaris and self-righteousness  What preserves our Nomos (our culture)? o Education  Those with higher education are more committed to democratic society  Understand the needs for rights, resolution, compromise, understand for the need of the democratic process  Those with less education do not o Participation  Leads to more commitment to the positive values of our Nomos o Constant Critique  Recognizing what is wrong with ourselves  Judgment  Judgment of ourselves  A person who knows them selves and their weaknesses  Nuremberg Principle Exodus 02/12/2010  Exodus o Torah  Reason and Revelation o They will definitely use reason o Rationality is important, as is god’s spoken word  The Exodus is about a young boy (Moses) adopted by the pharaoh who sees a slave being beaten and he kills the man who was beating the slave. He had to run away and become a shepherd. He saw a burning bush and was beckoned by Yahweh.  Theocracy o People believed that Yahweh was involved in their national lives o God ruled, but there are checks on the human beings involved  Yahweh o Ancient form of the ancient tribal god o Comes from the the Yhwh  The Hebrew name for the book of Exodus is Shemoth, which means “names” o the issue is naming; to name some one is to speak to them o Exodus means “departure” or “going out”  Describes the organization of public worship, the revelation of the 10 commandments, and other rules. o Religious and political/secular o A text of hope o A promise at the end for a new beginning o Model of social change  Judgment o Exposes a world that doesn’t want to be exposed o Removes veil of ignorance o It calls things by their right name Disorder 02/12/2010  What form of politics do we choose to maintain the order we desire? o What is it we want? o What do we wish to create?  Code of Hammurabi o Ruler who created Babylon, the world’s greatest metropolis o Regime from 1795-1750 BC o Regarded as a “wise law giver”  Celebrated code of Hammurabi, a code of laws  Earliest example of a ruler proclaiming publically to the people rules so that the whole kingdom knew what was required of them  Carves on 8 foot high stone monument  Viewed by the public o The Code  Begins and ends with addresses to the gods  Regarded as a subject for prayers  Prayers are curses against those who defy the law  The code regulates in clear and definitive ways the organization of society  Self-consciousness is at work; the content of the code is from customs and traditions  An accused person is allowed to avoid a trial if he is willing to cast himself into the river o If the current brought you to shore alive then you were innocent; if you drowned you were guilty  Trust in the rule of gods  It actually wasn’t the earliest, the proceeding laws disappeared … Hammurabi’s Code were a set of codes that were reestablished  The Companion Movement o Creation of institutions of governments o With it the growing power of government until we see the creation of the modern nation’s state, and with it the idea of sovereignty, absolute power, monopoly of violence o Europe of the 15th century o Gradual centralization of power o Until the time of Machiavelli  Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely Text of Deuteronomy 02/12/2010  Hewbrew Culture  621 BC King Josiah is having the temple grounds reconstructed o Instructed high priest to supervise repair o An ancient scroll is dug up and brought to the king o Josiah looks at it and wants it to be authenticated, gives it to a prophetess Hulda o She authenticates it  It is an ancient sacred text, the contents is law  The scroll was thought to be the Text of Deuteronomy o Josiah says the text is now the law (his Law too) o Significance of Deuteronomy:  The centralization of worship in Jerusalem o Some of the local shrines are destroyed after the law has been found  Ethical/ Justice o Politics/ Ritual o This text is an updated version of the ancient law that stresses political justice instead of merely religious ritual o Set of social, legal, and political codes o Laws of Deuteronomy are not only religious laws, they involve ritual, but also justice, social and economic o EX. Moses goes to the top of the mountain with 2 tablets  1st Tablet proper relationship with Yahweh  2nd Tablet relationships with others  Beginning of political conciousness o The Covenant  History  Genesis - Beginning o Cannot possess great quantity of gold/wealth o Another distraction o When the ideal king is anointed, he must write down a copy of the Deuteronomy code and be ruled by it and get approval of priests o Must not be above the law, but under it  Prophetic Voice  Prophets use this to say “if you do these things then you will see what justice looks like”  Amos is critical of old covenant o Yahweh cares about justice and righteousness o Way of enforcing social cohesion through ritual o Way of organizing the notion of the monarchy o Way of talking about justice o What does the Prophetic Voice do? o the prophet is regarded as the spokes person for Yahweh  critic of the king o Theodicy  Why do bad things happen to good people?  Prophets answer this question: the reason why is because you have not followed the covenant o Vision  They construct a vision of social justice/ideals  As the prophetic voice matures, the content of it matures with it  Here is what justice/social ideal looks like  Equalitarianism  Voice of equality  Great deal of wealth is frowned upon  Limit private property  Individual Responsibility  Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth  Subjective notion of the responsibility of a person  Prophets deeply advocate this o Utopian Vision  New covenant  Vision of the future  Nature is usually of social harmony  Idea that societies will be societies of order, harmony, where useless labour isn’t required  Thomas Hobbes 02/12/2010  Thomas Hobbes o (1588-1679) o wrote in the midst of chaos  wrote during the “glorious” revolution of England  turned his attention to politics o published The Leviathan in 1651 o between the royalists and the revolutionaries o alienated both sides o fled to Paris o on the side of order and the power necessary to achieve order o one of the two notable modern thinkers  Machiavelli sees order in presence of the Prince  Hobbes sees it in the presence of the son o What is the basic principle of all things? What is fundamental to the universe?  ANSWER: MOTION  Motion is fundamental  Explains mechanical and political laws of motion  Only things can move, all existence is characterized by MATTER (or matter in motion)  Even thought for us is matter in this sense o Human Nature  Human beings are animals, and in them there are two kinds of motion: VITAL and VOLUNTARY  VITAL motion: o Your heart beating, respiratory system breathing, things the body does that are beyond our control  VOLUNTARY motion: o Speech, walking o PASSION o Passions for things  A desire o Doesn’t consider wide array of intermediate institutions (groups) o With one exception: religion of the church  There is always a higher power to which we owe respect to  Neglects International Order o “anarchy of sovereigns” o does not consider this o Positive Aspects:  For morality, power is essential o You need order if you want a moral world  Egalitarian => respect to human beings o Awakening, emphasizing human frailty o We need to know who we are  IRONICALLY- he warns us against absolute power o We need a sovereign to handle disorder o maybe we want to create order with limits? o Maybe we want to take the consequences o We want justice, we know order is necessary is important o Power isn’t the only limiter o We are afraid of Hobbes’ solution  Who wants a sovereign with that kind of power (tyranny)?  Hobbes warns us against tyranny  Sophocles 02/12/2010  Sophocles o 496-406 o Antigone o Wrote 123 plays, only have 7 o Finest of poets o Born of rich parents in Colonus o Grew up during Persian wars o At 28 won first prize, and won 24 first place victories o Adds more actors, 2-3 actors o Adds more chorus, from 12 to 13 o Painted scenery o Stops use of unified trilogy o Themes used:  Limits of human power and knowledge  Heroes larger than life  and they fall  Gods o What is their purpose? o What is their relationship to human beings? o Raises these questions, but doesn’t answer them. o Layers of Analysis:  Creon versus Antigone o Creon is the king o Polynices is Antigone’s brother o Creon represents the laws of the state o Antigone represents laws of the gods  Public City  Private Family  Narrating Strategies for Resolving Conflict o Tragic  QUIZ: chaos  Vocabulary 02/12/2010 o Political Culture o How we feel and think about political reality o Government o When you say government, it means individuals who at any specific time occupy the offices of political authority  Obama administration and the members of his cabinet o Regimes o A regime is the structure of governing institutions in a government  The rules and procedures that tell us who governs and who rules  Very often asks four questions: o How is power organized? o What do the rules say about power?  One?  A lot? o What forms of political participation exist? o How are interests organized? o How are those interest articulated in the regime? o What is the configuration of political rights? o Who has them and what are they like?  Regimes can change o Less often than governments change  US is in 2nd regime o Constitution of 1787 or 1777 (didn’t hear; one or the other) o First was the Articles of Confederation  Under what conditions do regimes change?  Evaluation of… o Legitimacy o How much participation is there? o How extensive are the political rights? o How broadly are interests articulated? o Stability o Nation-State o state: politically organized  usually through government  have borders o nation: group of people who have things in common  language, etc…  more than one nation in a state o Sovereignty o we know what sovereign is.  ****Quiz Password: value  DUE: Monday, November 30, 2009 o Day we come back from Thanksgiving!  MOODLE: Get the instructions, outline, possible topics and example online.  Defend your moral judgment on the issue  One page  Complete sentences Regimes 02/12/2010 Government  Those who hold the political offices in a country  Governments change often Regime  The structures of government  The formal rules and procedures that determines who will exercise political authority Regimes  Democratic o Regular, frequent, and free elections essential o Strong and independent legislatures  A governing body separate from the executive o Strong and independent judiciaries  Courts of law that have independence o Multiplicity of parties and interest groups (Pluralism) o Have extensive Grass Roots participation o Culture of Tolerance  A civic culture  Conflict must be resolved peacefully  Appreciation for to diversity of humans o Balance of liberty and equality  Authoritarian o Most regimes today are authoritarian o Oldest regime o “Pre-modern”  lack modern communication, technologies, and bureaucracies  third world nation states o Dictatorships  Ruled by a single person, single party, or single group  Control is limited to the military and politics Freedom and Identity 02/12/2010 Hecuba  Political Discourse o Persuasive Speech o Essential for citizen and leader o Command of Language clarity of expression o Learning how to participate in political and ethical discussions o Framing the Debate o Naming things rightly  Hecuba’s Disdain for Persuasion o Ponder o Reputation of Speaker  How to Persuade o Justice  Abstract- philosophical arguement o Pathos  Appeal to memory  Capacity for empathy to extend mercy request o Self Interest  Expected consequences (real/imagine)  Read Oedipus Rex o Freedom and identity o Written by sophocles  496-406  In his plays, he shows these themes: o Limits of human knowledge o They think they know a lot, but don’t o Edipus doesn’t know that he killed his father, married his mother and had 4 children o A search by Edipus for hom self (literally and more deeply) o Avoidance of fate o Edipus’s parents heard the oracle and tried to avoid his fate o After being adopted, same thing seen by parents o What’s the role of Gods in our lives> o Heroes are Larger than Life o Edipus cares for people, city, and truth  He is noble, strong, wise, pious who FALLS o Gods dictate what happens in our lives o Gods are malicious, capricious o Theham Trilogy  Antigone 441 BC  Edipus Rex 14-15 years later  Edipus at Colonus 400 BC  Edipus o Story involving search o Identity  Who am I? Who killed the king? o Truth o Responsibility o The search for freedom is related to fate o Search for truth is related to responsibility o Evidence of search for truth, the issue of freedom + fate o Freedom is the recognition of necessity- paradox  QUIZ: demos  o “we’ll teach you a lesson- here it is” (the gods are harsh) o process of reversal- edipus finds out who he is o he is his own pursuer, he is engaged in a relentless pursuit of self knowledge o pursuit for self knowledge is the pursuit of answering the question- “What is my place in the universe?”, “Who am I?” o most climactic scene is with Tyresis, when Edipus tries to get the truth from him o Tyresis finally tells Edipus the truth o Edipus “what have I done?” “What have I been?”  Conclusion of the play o What we learn is that actions have consequences o Edipus realizes this, and accepts the responsibility for those actions  Doesn’t matter that he didn’t know his fate, he still takes responsibility  This makes him the hero  Freedom & Necessity o We are free in the context of, in the midst of necessity o Freedom- the recognition of necessity o What are the necessities of life? o Freedom consists of how we handle these necessities o Freedom is what I do with what other people do to me  There is always a bunch of constraints out there  What we do with where we are- the extent to which we are free  Understanding of freedom is understanding the necessities  Truth and Responsibility o This is who I am, this is who I shall be, this is what I have done o Actions have consequences  responsibility o Central issue of identity o Moral lesson of Edipus  No matter how much you know, your actions do and can pollute o When they do, we are responsible for those consequences  Four principles: o Strive for excellence in a world of constraints o No matter what the necessities are o Rebel against and accept the limitations of the gods o Paradox o Bravely, heroically accept the consequences for your actions, no matter what your intentions o Do all of this with reverence and humility, especially for the gods John Stuart Mill 02/12/2010  FINAL: memorize previous answers, 75 questions o Bring scan tron, #2 pencil, student ID o 5:30-7:30 @ Dodson Tuesday, dec. 8 o check moodle for prev. exams  John Stuart Mill o 19 century thinker o On Liberty o Thoughts that defend Freedom:  Natural Rights School o We are free because: we are human, god given rights, natural rights o No state or person gives us these rights; ours because we exist as humans, they are “god” given or just simply natural o Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness o Controversy over natural rights in 19th century o How do you know its natural? How can you show that? o Attack on metaphysical assumptions of natural rights  Utilitarianism o ***new foundations for the defense of liberty*** o it is now utility o we are free, and our freedom is now defended because it has UTILITY, it is USEFUL  it is useful for (according to Mills):  For the pursuit of truth o Nobody has complete truth o How can we know what truth is if we cannot debate it, question it, etc? o What do I need to do to become lawyer/architect/ etc?  Discriminate/Decide/Choose  Hold On to What We Decide o Courage to say: this is who I am, this is who I wish to be o Freedom is the utility  Progressive Societies (continued) o Freedom is Necessary for:  Innovation o If we have invention in art, tech, etc. then we need to be free to push boundaries  Sustain Old Truths & Traditions o We need those who have freedom to study and sustain the old truths and traditions o Societies cultures need to keep traditions  Avoid Mediocrity o With public opinion, often comes mediocrity (lazy tendency to conform)  QUIZ password: Rex  Pericles & Socrates 02/12/2010  Pericles o 495-429 BC o Athenians are at war when he gives speech… funeral held at public cost for those who die in war… bones of dead are put in a tent… friends and relatives bring flowers for the dead… after two days the coffins are brought in cars… among the coffins there is a coffin for an MIA soldier… any citizen may follow the coffins… after the bodies have been buried, a man is chosen by the state (very good, reliable man)- this man is Pericles.. he was a statesmen, oracle and gentlemen… at the end of the third day, Pericles among others would stand up high to speak the funeral oration… shows us proper citizenship o Golden age of Athens- Age of Pericles  Pericles’ Speech: o Athens  City of empire  City of freedom  Center of Greece & sets standards  Laws and customs superior and imitated  Exceptional  Citizenship o Arete- excellence o Athens promotes excellence in all things (art, sports, academics, etc) o Whatever we do we do our best o Public service o Reverence for the city o Love the city, even if you disagree o Respect for law and authority o Volunteer for Military Training o Obligation to be trained in some way o Appreciation for beauty o Love of beauty o Beauty in all things  Beauty in self is supposed to be cherished o Willing and able to take part in Deliberation o Persuasion  Sweet reason o Essential to a democracy o Willingness to Die for the City o This is a moment of celebration to honour those who have died for Athens o A little too much hubaris in glorification of the city  Maybe you don’t see your faults or listen to others because of hubaris  Socrates  Apology o Socrates is on trial for his life o He defends what he has done  Different perspective on citizenship than Pericles o Defense  Common speech  Vocation o Your calling, what are you called to do/be? o Socrates talks about his vocation o Went to an oracle to find the out who the wisest man in Athens was. ANSWER: Socrates o Went about Athens to ask people who they thought was the smartest person o Socrates learns a truth: he knows he does not know- SOCRATIC IGNORANCE