Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Ancient Political Theory'

Plato and Aristotle both believe that in ideal circumstances the best form of government obtains when virtuous and knowledgeable people rule. But surprisingly, alongside their well-known views in ideal political philosophy, they also have rich and complex views on non-ideal political philosophy, and these views turn out to be deeply conservative. In the Statesman, Laws, and Politics, Plato and Aristotle recognize stability problems generated by non-ideal circumstances. Specifically, their views on the law’s role in habituation of character, and habituation’s role in ensuring the authority of the law lead them to think that the high costs of changing the existing legislation and constitutional arrangements normally outweigh the benefits gained.

This thesis explores the significance of political change, law, and rhetoric in imaginary cities that feature animals and women as ‘Others.’ It studies dramatic and philosophical texts, from Aeschylean tragedy, Aristophanic comedy, and Platonic dialogue in ancient Greece to modern works, including Thomas More’s Utopia in 16th-century England and the utopias and dystopias of the 20th-century, in order to offer a discourse between the ancient and modern world. I demonstrate that each of these texts can be compared on a rhetorical and jurisprudential level, which allows us to examine how different characters engage with different forms of power in a setting which at least begins by being democratic. This enables us to trace the development of this strand of Western political thought over the last two thousand years, and to confront intractable political problems that recur throughout time. This confrontation helps us understand patterns of legal reforms and rhetoric and demonstrates that the concerns of Aristophanes and Plato can also be found in modern paradigms. The recourse to the utopian and dystopian fantastic, the seemingly apolitical animal world, and the differently organised female sphere, offers new insight into the activities of law-making, city-planning, and rhetoric, both in antiquity and today.

Social, political and philosophical dynamics which supposedly played an important role in the formation of the grid-plan in ancient Greek cities are explored in this thesis. In this respect, the thesis aims to expose the socio-political and philosophical matrix of Greek society in which the grid was implemented with an emphasis on the concepts of equality, rationality and geometric harmony. Having formulated a theoretical framework, it concentrates on several cases from different regions and contexts in the Mediterranean in order to confirm this framework. The thesis investigates the nature of the Greek grid-plan within three main parts
first the grid-plans of non-Greek cultures with which ancient Greeks had close contacts
second the relationship between the grid-plan and political power in Greek poleis with special attention to the formation of &
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egalitarian&
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ideals in society
third the physical expressions of the philosophical concepts of perfection, mathematical regularity and geometrical equality in the cosmos on urban pattern.

The influence of the Roman Republic and Empire is visible everywhere in the contemporary United States government. Some even propose a “democratic legacy” that the United States has inherited from the Roman Republic, a legacy that dooms modern America to a similar “decline and fall.” These arguments reached their apex in journalism surrounding the 2016 presidential election. A comparison between American Presidents and Roman Emperors proves that these assertions are false, employing case studies in each society’s democracy, interactions with deliberative bodies, public image management, and demagoguery. The distinctness of Roman and American social and political culture in each of these areas suggests a fundamental incongruity between the political figures of the two cultures. Even apparent commonalities can be misleading, as there are significant structural or cultural discrepancies that prevent scholars from drawing conclusions about Presidents using the Roman Imperial example. The argument of this thesis is therefore historiographical in nature: The findings this thesis contains suggest that modern scholars should not read history, specifically Roman history, to predict or justify present political circumstances. The comparisons made between Emperors and Presidents instead serve to prove the distinctness of contemporary American political culture as well as ancient Roman political culture. Acknowledgement of the uniqueness of both of these societies allows scholars to better understand both Presidents and Emperors within their own context. This separation will also lead to more directed, better informed study in the field of Roman history and in the field of modern American governmental policy.

Alcibiades was one of the most dynamic and engaging figures of the Peloponnesian War. Like a chameleon, he managed to change himself to fit almost any occasion and audience; few historical figures can claim to have successfully switched allegiances as many times during a conflict. Starting as a general in Athens, he moved on to side with the Spartans, then the Persians, and then returned to Athens. Some would consider him a young and impulsive egoist, but a closer investigation indicates that he more than likely had a larger, pragmatic goal motivating his actions. This essay will aim first to establish his break from the philosophical status quo of Athens, and then to determine the nature of these larger goals. It will pivot around Alcibiades’ address to the Athenian assembly, using it in a comparative analysis of both Pericles’ Funeral Oration, and briefly supplementing it with Plato’s Alcibiades I.

This article pretends to provide a reading of the Seventh Letter focused on the role that medical terminology plays in it. Leaving aside the unsolvable enigma of Plato’s authorship, the letter shows evident connections with fundamental topics from the last” Plato, particularly in its political aspects. In many passages of the Seventh Letter, the figure of the philosopher as an educator appears covered with medical aspects, and the political situation is defined as a pathology that we must treat according to a therapeutic methodology.
En este artículo se pretende aportar una lectura de la Carta VII desde la función que desempeña en ella el léxico médico. Dejando al margen la irresoluble cuestión sobre la autoría platónica, la carta muestra conexiones evidentes con temas fundamentales en el llamado último” Platón, principalmente en sus aspectos políticos. En varios pasajes de la Carta VII, la figura del filósofo en tanto educador aparece revestida de aspectos médicos, y la propia situación política es definida como una patología sobre la que hay que actuar de acuerdo con una metodología terapéutica.

American Public Administration (PA) theory and practices have lacked adequately articulated or formalized normative foundations since the formal founding of the American State. Discussions regarding how PA theory derives from individual and collective critical reflection on practices (praxiology) and how that knowledge can inform future actions (praxis) virtually have been absent in all organizations. The recognition of the political legitimacy of PA has been lacking. The placing of a viable and critical social theory that posits conscious, responsible, and committed human practices within the context of the administration of the American Constitutional State, a politically narrow context, has been lacking as well. This dissertation establishes the works of social theorists Orion White, Jr., Michael Harmon, Robert Denhardt and Bayard Catron as the foundation for understanding how individuals do and can contribute to the collective administration of the complex state, including how they operate daily in organizations they join, critique and are capable of changing. These scholars understand the dynamics of human being and present discussions of human actions and practices that are capable of tackling the challenges associated with administering the American State. The work of John Rohr has established the other missing linksâ the constitutional legitimacy of PA and the clarification of constitutional values to which American administrative actions and knowledge must adhere. This dissertation asserts that it is the placing of human theory and action within the distinctly American theory and practices of the State that constitutes the solid normative foundations for American PA Praxis and Praxiology that constitutes a viable and formal founding of American Public Administration in word and deed.
Ph. D.

The nature of the Republican constitution has been much contested by scholars studying the history of the Roman Republic. In considering the problems of the late Republic, the nature of the constitution is an important question, for if we do not understand what the constitution was, how can we explain Rome’s transition from ‘Republic’ to ‘Empire’? Such a question is particularly pertinent when looking at events at Rome following the assassination of Caesar, as we try to understand why it was that the Republic, as we understand it as a polity without a sole ruler, was not restored. This thesis examines the Roman understanding of the constitution in the aftermath of Caesar’s death and argues that for the Romans the constitution was a contested entity, its proper nature debated and fought over, and that this contest led to conflict on the political stage, becoming a key factor in the failure to restore the Republic and the establishment of the Second Triumvirate. The thesis proposes a new methodology for the examination of the constitution, employing modern critical theories of discourse and the formation of knowledge to establish and analyse the Roman constitution as a discursive entity: interpreted, contested and established through discourse. I argue that the Roman knowledge of the proper nature of the constitution of the res publica had fractured by the time of Caesar’s death and that this fracturing led to multiple understandings of the constitution. In this thesis I describe the state of Rome in 44-43 B.C. to reveal these multiple understandings of the constitution, and undertake an analysis of the discourse of Cicero and Sallust after 44 B.C. in order to describe the way in which different understandings of the constitution were formulated and expressed. Through this examination this thesis shows that the expression and interrelation of these multiple understandings in Roman political discourse made arrival at a unified agreement on a common course of action all but impossible and that this combined with the volatile atmosphere at Rome after Caesar’s death played a major role in Rome’s slide towards civil war and the eventual establishment of a different political system.

When Alexis de Tocqueville observed the spread of modern democracy across France, England, and the United States, he saw that democracy would give rise to a new state of letters, and that this new state of letters would influence how democratic citizens and statesmen would understand the new political world. As he reflected on this new intellectual sphere, Tocqueville became concerned that democracy would foster changes in language and thought that would stifle concepts and ideas essential to the preservation of intellectual and political liberty. In an effort to direct, refine, and reshape political thought in democracy, Tocqueville undertook a critique of the democratic state of letters, assessing intellectual life and contributing his own ideas and concepts to help citizens and statesmen think more coherently about democratic politics. Here, I analyze Tocqueville's critique and offer an account of his effort to reshape democratic political thought. I show that through his analyses of the role of intellectuals in democratic regimes, the influence of modern science on democratic public life, the intellectual habits that democracy fosters, and the power of literary works for shaping democratic self-understanding, Tocqueville succeeds in reshaping democratic language and thought in a manner that contributes to the preservation of intellectual and political liberty within the modern democratic world.

This dissertation seeks to identify what makes Cicero’s approach to politics unique. The author's methodology is to turn to Cicero’s unique interpretation of Plato as the crux of what made his thinking neither Stoic nor Aristotelian nor even Platonic (at least, in the usual sense of the word) but Ciceronian. As the author demonstrates in his reading of Cicero’s correspondences and dialogues during the downward spiral of a decade that ended in the fall of the Republic (that is, from Cicero’s return from exile in 57 BC to Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon in 49 BC), it is through Cicero's reading of Plato that the former develops his characteristically Ciceronian approach to politics—that is, his appreciation for the tension between the political ideal on the one hand and the reality of human nature on the other as well as the need for rhetoric to fuse a practicable compromise between the two. This triangulation of political ideal, human nature, and rhetoric is developed by Cicero through his dialogues "de Oratore," "de Re publica," and "de Legibus."

Dissertation

This dissertation describes instability as a problem with a variety of sources and explains Publius' contribution to understanding the importance of these problems for politics and political theory. Using the Federalist and Publius' reading in political theory, history, and politics to ground my analysis, I explain the concept of instability as a multi-faceted problem that requires different solutions. I show that instability arises from one or a combination of four distinct notions: stasis or factional conflict, corruption, the mutability of the laws, and changing global conditions. My dissertation suggests that one of the primary goals of ancient and modern democracies was to solve the political challenges posed by instability. I further argue that the sources of instability remain relevant because they allow us to describe the problem of instability in a way that is theoretically and practically useful for understanding the role that democracy plays in addressing them. Finally, I suggest that describing and addressing the patterns of instability were central to Publius' interpretation of history and political theory and that recognizing and tackling these patterns are a part of the scope of modern political science and are central to the study of democratic politics.
Dissertation

This thesis analyzes Books III and IV of Xenophon’s Memorabilia. The Memorabilia is Xenophon’s defense of Socrates or the philosophic life against Athens or the political community as such. In Book III, Xenophon presents six portraits of ambitious young men. These portraits, read closely, unveil the psychological nature of ambition and convey important lessons about the Socratic understanding of healthy politics, as a realm that is necessarily pious. Book IV’s four Socratic conversations with a dim-witted youth named Euthydemus both underscore the lessons of Book III and explore piety itself, as a phenomenon that is necessarily political. These sections of the Memorabilia may be read as an argument for the necessity of a fissure between healthy politics and philosophy – and as a bridge from the one to the other.
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The modern criminal justice system is experiencing what may be called a moral crisis brought about by a fundamental disagreement regarding the just and humane treatment of criminals and the purpose of punishment. This crisis has been addressed by contemporary scholarship without much success. The most serious defect of these scholarly attempts has been a failure to grasp how the apparently clashing aims of punishment—deterrence, retribution, and rehabilitation—relate to the fundamental principles of modern politics. Without this knowledge, it is impossible to begin to understand how these different penal aims may today be compatible and how incompatible, or even to appreciate what is at stake in each of them. In order to gain a firmer grip on the problem, this dissertation returns to the original arguments for modern punishment by examining crucial moments in its theoretical development. In Hobbes, modern punishment theory attains its first and most consistent articulation. Hobbes shows that the principles of modern politics limit the scope of justice to the protection of private freedom and property, and thus necessitate that deterrence should be the dominant aim of punishment. In his reaction against Hobbes, Kant affirms the importance of human dignity and argues that a penal system of pure deterrence would threaten the humanity of the criminal. Kant presents retribution as a more noble aim of punishment and tries to defend it on modern grounds, although he ultimately fails in this task. In light of the aporetic conclusion of the examination of modern punishment theory, this dissertation turns to investigate the classical approach to the question of punishment as it is expressed in the proposal for humane penal reform in Plato’s 'Laws.' In the 'Laws,' the highest aim of punishment, as the city understands it, is shown to be moral rehabilitation, although retribution and deterrence are also incorporated into the city’s actual penal code as a concession to necessity and to the limitations of the thumotic civic outlook. The most humanizing feature of the penal reform proposal in the 'Laws' is, however, its philosophical analysis of the nature of crime.
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This thesis explores the question of what it means to be a critical being, and how we can cultivate and enact a critical orientation through the ancient Aristotelian notion of phronesis. I begin by defending the claim that the familiar traditions and methods of rhetoric and hermeneutics have their practical, experiential and critical origins in a fundamental and constitutive human desire to express and understand ourselves and others through the most primary of human capabilities: listening, speaking, interpreting and understanding. This way of describing hermeneutics and rhetoric gives us a sense of their origins in lived experience. It also reminds us that rhetorical expression and hermeneutic understanding are not to be thought of as merely ‘systematized disciplines’, ‘instruments’ or ‘methods’ that we can be indifferent to, but part of our participatory linguistic experience. I argue that once the interpenetrating relation of rhetorical expression and hermeneutic understanding is made apparent, an implicit critical-thinking dimension in experience also becomes visible. This ‘critical dimension’ is not discovered in static theory, procedure or method, but, rather, something that is enacted over time with and among others. It is Aristotle’s concept of phronesis, and his understanding of insight and practical reasoning that best captures the emergence and enactment of critical thinking-being. Phronesis is a mode of practical reasoning that is always in motion, always challenging and interrogating the relation between the particular circumstances we find ourselves in, and the historical traditions, general rules, laws or procedures that form our normative background. I allow this argument for a critical hermeneutics through phronesis to be challenged by Jürgen Habermas’s critical sociological approach. I conclude, firstly, that Habermas’s critical theory relies for its critical thrust on a hermeneutical reflective tradition of immanent critique and insights about communication that can be grasped through phronetic reasoning, tradition and concrete embodied linguistic practices. Secondly, I argue that critical hermeneutics enacted through practical reasoning and phronesis describes a way of thinking-acting-desiring being that is more congruent with our actual experience, and therefore capable of meeting the personal, occupational, moral and political exigencies of a complex and diverse contemporary world.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
歷史學系研究所
86
This thesis bases its subject under discussion on the political theory of kingcraft of Ito Jinsai(1627-1705) and Ogyu Sorai(1666-1728),scholars of t he Ancient Learning School in the age of Tokugawa Japan,thus,advancing explan- ations of the three questions as follow: 1)What is the difference in nature between the kingcraft of political theory of Ito Jinsai and that of Ogyu Sorai?and why did either scholar diversify his own thought of kingcraft from one another''s thought to such a large extension. 2)What is the foundation of which the both scholars'' theories of kingcraft had laid? And how did they transform the Chinese Confucianism?3)What kind of ef fect did both scholar''political thories of kin-gcraft have upon the Cofucians thinking in the later half of the age Tokugawa? And how did they affect the Ba kufu and modern consciousness? Accordingly,in the chaper two, "The orgin and background of the thought of ancient learning school", the thesis firstl y introduces the progess in which the thought of Ito Jinsai and Ogyu Sorai wer e shaped,and then synthetically compares both scholars''thinking,figuring out t hat though the both scholars promoted the renai-ssance of ancient Japanese l earning,they different in nature.Secondly, the thesis inqures further into the point by which the thoughts of Ancient Learning School had been in associatio n with the anti-Neoconfucianism,under the intellectuals between middleand la te Ming Dynasty, attempts to compare the classics in terms of hermeneutics, an d views that not only the intell-ectuals throughout Ming Dynasty but also the Confucian thought of Han Dynasty should be indispensable to the intell-ectual origin of Ancient Learning School thoughts. it is also of necessity to expound the search for kingcraft theories of Jinsai and Sorai, who had the least comp lication with Shintoism. Upon the overall comparision of both scholar''s tho-ug ht,this chapter leads itself to the thinking background of the first problem. The chapter three is the central axis that deals with the first problem o f thesis,namely, "The kingcraft and the idea of revolution of Ancient Learning School". Being an subject description, the first section is required to clari fythe advancement of Mencius''s kingcraft proposition from its beginning, hence , it would be easier to analyze and compare the kingcraft theories among the A ncient Learning School. Centering on the above-mentioned kingcraft, the follow ing five point,the revolutionary theory of T''ang Wu overthrow,between the int erretationship of monarchs and the subjects, the theory of Kuan-Chung,the the ory kingcraft and hegemony,and the controversies between benevolence-righteous ness and propriety-ceremonial music, dissect thetheories of Ito Jinsai and Ogy u Sorai, reasoning out the work on Kuan-Chung(管仲) had been highly est- eem ed in the eyes of Ancient Learning School scholars, be they pro-Mencius or ant i-Mencius. Thence, the Confucianists of Japan were proved to have the pragmati c character. Furthermore both scholars had a great assent to the revo-lutionar y theory of T''ang Wu overthrew(湯武放伐) ,their theories had been demonstrated menacing towards the Bakufu. As a whole, this chapter aim at solutions to the first problem. The chapter three into the level of "How" of the Ancient Learning School kingcraft. The chapter four "The founda tion of the kingcraft theories of Ancient Learning School--metamorposis and subtilization towards t he idea of Chinese Confucianism", extends its further search for the foundatio n of kingcraft political theories, These problems are basica-lly "Why" focusin g on the analyses of many a unit-idea, such as benevolence, rightiousness, pro priety, wisdom, way, and morality.In this context, one should be cognizant of the fact that how Japanese Confucianists had "mtamorphosed" or "transformed" Chinese Confucianism, and should also has a preliminary insight into subtiliza tion of Japanese Ancient Lear-ning School in thinking. Now that eit her was a paramount authority, under whom the controversity over Confucianism had been increasingly affe-cted. All arguments about pro-Mencius and anti-Menc ius were to be more head-lined in the later period of Tokugawa Confucia-nism, thereupon, the chapter five "The repercussions of the kingcraft on the Tokugaw a Confucianism--the controversies over political thought of Mencius", dig into the third problem. On the basis of kingcraft theories under the Ancient Learn ingSchool. This chapter is concentrated downwards on the Confucianist from mid dle Tokugawa period to late Tokugawa period, continuing the controversies over kingcraft theories between Ito Jinsai and Ogyu Sorai. Since one of its fundam ental positions was openly against the Neo-Confucianism(specially is Chu Hsi S chool), the Ancient Learning School suffered attacks by both official an priv ate Neo-Confucianists,which led to a state edict "heresy" in 1790. With an in clination to pragmatism that vehemently excluded Mencius,Sorai was more critiz ed by Sorai as "an identity of Sung Neo-Confuianism" because his thought coinc idedwith Neo-Confucianism in many respcts. For instance, thanks to its sympath y withChen Hao,Chen Yi,and Chu Hsi in favor of Mencious, Sorai School was more attactson the Reviving Ancient Learning School, suddenly, came up into being , whose subjects were still limited to some themes within kingcraft. Also,tho se studentsin favor of Sorai School presented their arguments. The both sides initiated, in effect, their controversies witin the scope of Mencious politica l thought and of Ancient Learning School interpretations of Mencious. Herewith , the thesis analyzes the influences and transformations of Ancient Learning S chool kingcraftthoughts. In the end, the hapter six in its coclusions summ rizes what the previous five chapters have explored and issues future outlooks towards these problems.

The reading of four contemporary novels, namely: Credo by Melvyn Bragg, The Catastrophist by Ronan Bennett, Everything You Need by A.L. Kennedy and American Gods by Neil Gaiman explores the prominent position of mythification and remythification in contemporary literature. The discussion of Bragg's novel examines the significance of Celtic mythology and folklore and to what extent it influenced Christian mythology on the British Isles and vice versa. The presentation of the transition from a cyclical, pagan to a linear, Christian belief system is analysed. My analysis of Bennett's novel supports the observation that political myth as myth transformed contains elements and qualities embodied by sacred myths and investigates the relevance of Johan Degenaar's observation that "[p]ostmodernism emphasises the fact that myth is an ambiguous phenomenon" and practices an attitude of "eternal vigilance" (1995: 47), as is evident in the main protagonist's dispassionate stance. My reading of Kennedy's novel explores the bond that myth creates between the artist and the audience and argues that the writer as myth creator fulfils a restorative function through the mythical and symbolic qualities embedded in literature. Gaiman's novel American Gods focuses on the function of meta/multi-mythology in contemporary literature (especially the fantasy genre) and on what these qualities reveal about a society and its concerns and values. The thesis contemplates how in each case the original myths were substituted, modulated or transfigured to be presented as metamyth or myth transformed. The analysis shows that myth can be used in various ways in literature: as the data or information that is recreated and transformed in the creative process to establish a common matrix of stories, symbols, images and motifs which represents a bond between the author and the reader in terms of the meaning-making process; to facilitate a spiritual enrichment in a demythologized world and for its restorative abilities. The study is confirmed by detailed mythical reference.
English Studies
(D. Litt. et Phil. (English))