American Government Review

1. American Government Review

2. The problem of Government. • But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.

3. Key concepts in Madison’s quote • Control of man and government imply that ethics (the study of the good) is the foundation of all governments. • Man and his principles of self-government are the primary requisite of a good society and the primary control on the abuses of government. • Due to the weakness of man, auxiliary precautions are necessary. These auxiliary precautions come from the structure of the government (division of power, checks etc.)

4. American Government • American government is a grand experiment on the ethics of the soul and the structure (form) of the government.

5. American Government • To understand this experiment we must enter the conversation on ethics and government beginning with Socrates and follow its development though history.

6. Plato’s Republic • According to Plato, real things are eternal and unchangeable. Thus physical things are never real, but are objects by which one can see reality as one uses reason contemplate them. For example, Sally or Dick are not real but the concepts of human, gender, age, magnitude and multitude are real. The realities can be seen through reason based on careful observation of Sally and Dick. Reality exists only in true ideas (eidos).

7. Plato’s Republic • From the eidos, decreasing levels of reality include the physical, and the types and shadows of the physical, i.e. drawings, paintings, sculpture etc.

8. Plato’s Republic • The purpose of government is to seek justice in the city and the soul through the perfect form (eidos). It will never exists in the physical world unless chance or divinity bring it to pass.

9. Plato’s Republic • The way the soul is governed determines the way city is governed. Another way to say this is that the ruling principle that governs the soul creates the form (eidos) of the soul. This same principles when aggregated into a community of souls (The City), determines the form of the city. Creating ideal souls is the only way to create an ideal city.

10. Plato’s Republic • Virtue is excellence of anything in being that thing. • Socrates’ cardinal virtues, are temperance (moderation), courage, wisdom, and justice correct.

11. Plato’s Republic • Justice of the city is when the best (philosopher kings) govern the people though the auxiliaries. • Justice of the soul is when reason governs the desires though the passions.

12. Plato’s Republic • Aristocracy of the soul and the city degrades to timocracy, to oligarchy, to democracy to tyranny. • Aristocracy is the rule of the best; virtue is its ruling principle. • Timocracy is the rule of the nobles (not kalon); honor is its ruling principle.

13. Plato • Oligarchy is the rule of wealth; love of money is its ruling principle. • Democracy is the rule of the majority of people; equality is its ruling principle. • Tyranny is the enslavement of the people for the sake of the ruler; desire (represented by eros) is its ruling principle.

14. Plato • The education of the philosopher king follows the divided line. Types and shadows are the most important step and must occur first; the imagination is the faculty. This forms the character of the young child through the study of music (all 9 muses) and the development of the body though gymnastics.

15. Plato • A general knowledge of the physical world and its facts and history come second; faith (pistis) is the faculty by which it is known. Knowledge of mathematic objects is next; logic (dionia) is the faculty. Knowledge of the good, the true, and the beautiful though the dialectic comes last; gnosis is the faculty is the faculty by which they are known.

16. Plato • Plato like other Classical Greek saw no divisions of society. He saw only the city, not the city divided into government and society. • Plato’s ideal government was limited in size; it could not be too small or too large. To control the size, Socrates controls population growth, through control of marriage and child birth. • Plato controls factions by attempting to abolish them, giving all rulers the same desires and opinions. He does this by a strict control of education (removing the child from it mother in infancy), having all husbands and wives in common, and having all property in common among the rulers.

17. Aristotle • The final end (goal) of man is happiness • While not complete, virtue is required for happiness. • Virtue can only be obtained though hexis (active work developing into habit). • Virtue is a mean condition, never an extreme.

18. Aristotle • One never knows a thing until one knows its cause. • 4 causes interact to cause a thing • Material • Effective • Formal • Final • Think of an artists creation and apply to all nature—if you came upon a house already built could you determine the 4 causes

19. Aristotle • The purpose of the city (role of government) create an environment where man could most effectively develop the virtues necessary to be happy. • These virtues include: justice, magnanimity, courage, liberality, friendliness, proper ambition, quick wittedness, contemplativeness etc.

20. Aristotle • Size matters. • If a city is too small it is deficient in developing the virtues. • If it is too large it is excessive in developing them. • Like Plato, only the City State could accomplish this. • Like Plato, there was no division between society and government.

21. Aristotle • Bad regimes allow one man or faction to rule for their own advantage. • Good regimes require rule according to law, not to the advantage of any man or group (faction).

22. Bad Forms of Government • Tyranny—one • Oligarchy—few • Democracy—many

23. Good Forms of Government • Monarchy—one • Aristocracy—few • Polity—a mixed form that seeks to balance faction. • Plato’s attempt to get rid of faction though unifying men’s desires is and excess and thus not virtuous. One must live with some faction but balance and control them.

24. Aristotle • Many forms of government may be good depending on the disposition of the people. • A polity combining oligarchy with democracy balances the two faction and should last longest with justice if tempered with aristocracy. • This creates a middle class that moderates the two factions.

25. Aristotle • A classical leadership education, somewhat like Plato without the destruction of family, is necessary.

26. Francis Bacon • Man, being the servant and interpreter of Nature, can do and understand so much and so much only as he has observed in fact or in thought of the course of nature. Beyond this he neither knows anything nor can do anything. • Empiricism replaces reason as the primary epistemology. • This method applies to all knowledge not just science.

27. Epistemology: how one Knows • Authority • Reason • Empiricism • Pragmatism • Intuition • Estheticism

28. Bacon Keeps Material cause Keeps Effective cause Formal cause = laws of nature There is no final cause Knowledge is power. The purpose of knowledge is to rule nature.

29. Thomas Hobbes • Bacon’s student • Performs a thought experiment on the origin of society. • State of Nature is a State of War • Self Preservation is the only law of nature. • You can to anything to preserve your life.

30. Hobbes • Man is so tired of War that he relinquishes his right to self preservation to create society governed by a will so powerful that it forces men to live in peace. This is called the Leviathan. • Nations live in a state of nature. • Only a world Leviathan can create world peace.