Early Greek Politics & Democracy

That sense had its manifestation as much in practice as in theory; and it issued into action in the shape of a practical conception of free citizenship of a self-governing community--a conception which forms the essence of the Greek city-state. Whatever may be said of the "sacrifice" of the individual to the State in Greek politics or in Greek theory, the fact remains that in Greece, as contrasted with the rest of the ancient world, man was less sacrificed to the whole to which he belonged than he was elsewhere (Barker 2).

The classical features of Greek democratic tradition was an emphasis on disbursing political power among all citizens, and the participation of all citizens was seen as essential both to the well-being of the state and the citizen himself. This tradition is embodied in aspects of the political philosophies of Plato and Aristotle, as will be indicated

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e able to do this if he lies by agreeing that he should be punished. He will do nothing to hinder the cause of justice. In addition, as he has noted, he has been charged by God with the task of speaking out and of looking into the souls of his fellow man. He cannot thus stop his activities as he has been asked because to do so would be to go against a divine command. ARISTOTLE ON JUSTICE AND THE INDIVIDUAL Aristotle also addresses issues of justice and the relationship of the individual to the state. Aristotle presented in his works a compendium of the knowledge of his time and examined issues and facts to discover how things worked, what was believed about them, and also to separate this knowledge into categories. He did not do this simply as a compiler but filtered what he found through his own sensibilities and philosophical thought. He examined the different Greek states and the way these states were structured and how they operated, and from this he determined what sort of government would work best. To a degree, Plato is more a prescriber, while Aristotle is more a describer. However, Aristotle undertook his analysis based on his view of what the proper goal of a state should be. His major interest was in ethical
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Approximate Word count = 3334
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

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