Ethical & Political Theory Dialogue

This dialogue will cover ethical and political theory as described by Plato, Aristotle, Moses Maimonides, Zeno (a Stoic), and myself, focusing on the relationship between morality, politics, and the good life.

PLATO: First, I believe we all agree that the good life is the life ruled by reason, and that, in fact, there is no meaningful division between ethics and politics in terms of their leading to that good life. That is, the individual who lives the good life will be happy because his soul is ordered according to reason, which leads to moral behavior. This good or moral life cannot be developed outside of the individual's relationship to the political system in which he lives. "Every society inevitably acts as a teacher of its members, and for this reason its values will become the values of individuals" (Stumpf 69).

ZENO: I for one agree only in part. Certainly the political environment influences one's moral thought and behavior, but it is up to the individual to free himself from the material things which his unquenchable desire drives him to acquire, and which will never bring him the good life he believes they will bring. The good life is the life of the individual who has freed himself from his desires. The "ascetic impulse" of the individual can be cultivated under any political system. In fact, the individual's interest in political theory will more likely lead to his entanglement in acquiring not only power but the material things that that society holds in h

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ss. ARISTOTLE: Reason plays no part in your morality, then, Maimonides, only this thing called "faith" by you mystical religionists? MAIMONIDES: Absolutely not. You know I admire your explication of the role of reason in the moral life of humanity, Aristotle (Wulf 305). I honor reason, but reason can only go so far in enlightening the individual with respect to morality and the good life. Reason and faith, the latter bolstered by the word of God in the Old Testament, are not enemies, but merely deal with different aspects of the truth of human existence. PLATO: We;re not going to get off on a tangent about the existence of God, are we? MAIMONIDES: No. I won't address that question, aside from pointing out that my "proof" is based on the argument for the first mover and other precepts drawn from our friend Aristotle's Physics and Metaphysics. I believe in God and deal with Jews who also believe, but who mistakenly represent God in anthropomorphic ways which lead not to the good life based on God's ways, but to the miserable and perplexed life in which God is seen not as God but as man. The good life is based on a knowledge of God, or rather of what God is not rather than what He is. Man is special not only because he has

Category: Philosophy - E