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Introduction to Political Theory

Week 1 - Plato

Plato was considered to be the beginning of western political theory. Plato lived in turbulent times but there was no Greek state. Greeks were threatened by the Persians ands Athens by Sparta (Peloponnesian War) Athens in 404BC was controlled by the "Commission of 30" (tyrants). In 399BC Socrates took suicide. In Plato's work, the 7th letter, he says why he was interested in politics. Even Plato was concerned about sleaze! If you get too involved, you could become corrupt. It is hard to govern rightly. Political theory is about power and justice (Plato - philosopher king). Plato in his book attempts to refute that justice is only what the powerful want it to be (Marxism).

• Imperical political theory is based on evidence/science. it describes and explains what is happening.
• Normative political theory is justificatory and prescriptive. it theorises. it studies causes the rationale behind something.

Political science is the name of an academic subject. political philosophy looks at philosophers while political theorists look at science. There are 3 types of philosophy:

• Ontology - theory of existence
• Epistemology - theory of knowledge - how do we know things are true?
• Ethics - theory of right action

Why we should understand political history:

• political theory today refers to its history and its is a requirement to understand it
• We use a lot of political concepts and need to be discussed (democracy, freedom, etc)
• People assume about human nature if we have not studied politics.

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