Political Thought Changes
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Political Thought Changes
The study of western political thought has endured a drastic change throughout
the centuries. This shift occurred through the queries of ancient philosophical
minds such as Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, and St. Augustine. Two examples of
great importance are the inequality of gender and the role of power distributed
and issued within the state. Plato believed all people, men and women alike are
created equal; this notion runs parallel to our modern day Constitution. He
states “if we are to set women to the same tasks as men, we must teach them
the same things,” they must endure “training for the mind and body and also
be taught the art of war” (149). Plato developed a role known as a guardian or
a soldier to protect over the people. He relates this to the fact that if
watchdogs can be both male and female why can’t guardians. Aristotle is known
as Plato’s greatest pupil. He was strongly influenced by the teachings of
Plato but was also known for ridiculing some of his ways. His view of women is
drastically different from those of Plato. By nature, he says, women are to be
dominated by men. Aristotle refers to women as imperfect men. He acknowledges
that women can possess reason, but can not obtain the same stature as men.
Aristotle believes the only purpose that women serve is to provide matter for
the child and the men provide the form. His ideas of form and matter are very
different from that of Plato, since his beliefs are void of matter holding only
form as the essence behind life. The beginning of Stoic philosophy formed a
totally different view on the idea of equality. Equality was no longer devised
with respects to a community in the whole, but rather as individuals. The Stoics
developed a system consisting of three classes. Everyone within each particular
class was considered equals. They were strong followers of the concept of
natural law, which meant both men and women can reason. Their reasoning was
treated in the same respects no matter what gender; this statement is very
different from that of Aristotle. Zeno, the founder of the Stoics, believed in
the notion of brotherhood among all, men and women alike. St. Augustine took the
Stoics ideas of equality one step further. His views pertain to that of the
Christian approach. Augustine believed that people were all equals within the
City of God. Spiritually women were identical to men, but physically they shared
many dif...
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