Limits of Greek Democracy
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Socrates (469-399 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE), two of the most influential of the ancient Greek philosophers, were suspicious of the idea of equality. Socrates did not care for the idea in general, and Aristotle thought it could, within a state, yield new forms of abuse of power. Equality, as they conceived of it, was very different from modern Western conceptions of the principle of the universal, inalienable rights of all individuals. And, although ancient Greece is often regarded as the birthplace of democracy, this form of government was very different from the way the modern industrialized world thinks of it. The concept of equality that was one basis of Greek ideas of democracy assumed that all citizens were equal. But, since foreigners, women, and slaves were not allowed to become citizens, democracy meant equality among those who--usually by birth--were entitled to be citizens of a particular place. And, among this limited number of persons who were considered equal--or whose equality was even the subject of debate, there were also significant differences between the realities of political, social, and economic equality. Even within these limitations, however, neither Socrates (who hated the idea) nor Aristotle (who admitted some of its principles) was committed to the idea of democracy. Greek democracy was not put into practice anywhere other than Athens and, even there, it was very short-lived. The Athenian democracy flourished between 480 and 431 and
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in the city and the household" (O'Connor 23). The little that is known about him makes it clear that he made philosophy the central activity of his life. He was married to a woman named Xanthippe, had children, served his time in Athens' army, and "participated as a normal citizen in the city's political life" (O'Connor 23). Despite being an antidemocrat, Socrates was not wealthy. His mother was a midwife and his father was a stonecutter, which placed him in the middle class--between the laborers and the wealthy aristocrats. His service in the army, where each person paid his own way, was at the level of hoplite--a "heavy-armed foot-soldier"--and "only the middle class of craftsmen and merchants could afford" the required armor and equipment of this rank (Stone 119). Since he had a family, lived to 70, and never seems to have had a job, it is assumed that he inherited a small amount of money from his father. Socrates mocked the Sophists, who were paid by their pupils, and "prided himself on never asking a fee from his own disciples" (Stone 118). His income must have been small, but he was depicted by Xenophon as arguing that his income could not really be considered small since, "because his wants are so few," that income
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2654
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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