Classical and Medieval

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Classical and Medieval Body Politic 1 Classical and Medieval Body Politic Daelyn Phillips GOVT 490 D01
Classical and Medieval Body Politic 2 Classical and Medieval Body Politic The body politic is a concept of thought that relates a government to the human body to understand the organization of politics. This idea was foundational to the Classical and Medieval government systems. There are several key similarities and differences between these two eras. In the Classical body politic, the main visionaries were Plato and Aristotle. The analogy of the body politic was first discussed in the Republic and the Laws written by Plato and later revised by Aristotle. "The polis is prior in the order of nature to the family and the individual. The reason for this is that the whole is necessarily prior [in nature] to the part. If the whole body be destroyed, there will not be a foot or a hand” (Sherman, 1995). Plato envisioned the governmental system as a representation of a person’s soul with the individual in charge representing wisdom and reason. “Wisdom cannot rule in a state if the rulers are not wise. Nor could it rule if the auxiliaries did not have right opinions on matters where the rulers have full knowledge… Wisdom cannot rule where the ordinary citizens do not have enough understanding of what is at stake to be able to make correct decisions on at least the important issues” (Martin, 1981). Plato creates analogies between an individual's state and soul where reason rules over spirit. “The same analogy is found in the Republic: Socrates develops an analogy between the city and man, and more precisely between the three classes of citizens and man’s tripartite soul. The working class corresponds to the desiring part of man, the class of guardians corresponds to the courageous part of the soul, and the philosopher-king is comparable to the rational part that must be king of the soul and produce harmony and justice within man” (Boulet, 2013). Plato’s views on how essential knowledge is in ruling a government and the individual parts that are needed to properly function demonstrates the beginning of the classical body politic.
Classical and Medieval Body Politic 3 Aristotle was a student of Plato’s who continued to build upon his ideas and develop a more practical approach to politics in his book Politics . Aristotle discusses different forms of government like monarchy, aristocracy, and polity as the ideal forms while rejecting tyranny, democracy, and oligarchy as corrupt. “A constitution based on the middle class is the mean between the extremes of oligarchy (rule by the rich) and democracy (rule by the poor). ‘That the middle [constitution] is best is evident, for it is the freest from faction: where the middle class is numerous, there least occur factions and divisions among citizens’” (Miller, 1998). Both Plato and Aristotle emphasize the importance of leaders who seek the well-being of society through knowledge and reason. Aristotle created a list of the best forms of government that benefited both the people and the state, while Plato created the ideal foundation upon which each government should stand. The overall focus of the classical body politic was on rational decision-making and forming the ideal government that would withstand the tests of time. This politics, however, was not without its faults. During the classical times, a majority of citizens were not allowed to participate in society. These included women and slaves. The support and structure of the state were the main focus for Plato, leaving little room for the individual rights and freedom of the citizens within the state. Aristotle shifted his focus towards balancing the interests of the different social classes, but still focused heavily on the functions of the state. The Medieval body politic had heavy influences from Christian teachings and theology. St. Augustine was a Catholic bishop who became one of the first Christian philosophers. He rooted his political theories on biblical viewpoints and founded much of Western civilization. “Thus, the quarrel that arose between Remus and Romulus demonstrated the division of the earthly city against itself; while the conflict between Cain and Abel displayed the hostility between the two cities themselves, the City of God and the city of men” (Augustine, 2015). In
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