首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The Classical Sense of Good Government Politics plays an extremely important role in human society. Political philosophers s
The Classical Sense of Good Government Politics plays an extremely important role in human society. Political philosophers s
admin
2013-05-20
43
问题
The Classical Sense of Good Government
Politics plays an extremely important role in human society. Political philosophers started to discuss the quality of good government thousands of years ago Among the forerunners are Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli.
Ⅰ. Plato’s Political Proposal
A. It is an irony for Plato to discuss good government because he 1 politics. 【1】______.
B. Plato believed that political freedom could not be helpful. In fact, they usually led
to uncertainty and dangerous changes.
C. Plato feared 2 because other disciplines are very orderly and predictable.【2】______.
D. In Plato’s opinion, justice consisted of everybody doing what he or
she 3 by natural talent. 【3】______.
Ⅱ. Aristotle’s Political Proposal
A. Aristotle believed that every state is a kind of 4 . 【4】______.
B. Aristotle believed that people in a state would be rather similar, and did not foresee
the ethnic and cultural diversity of modern states.
C. Aristotle believed that polls, or 5 , is the highest state of 【5】______.
human social and political development; and can ensure good life for everybody.
D. According to Aristotle, in order to achieve the best quality of life,
people must try to 6 【6】______.
Ⅲ. Stoicism and Machiavelli
A. Stoicism means 7 one lives in. 【7】______.
B. Stoicism believes that the world is made up of virtue and vice, and the world
is a difficult and disorderly place where happiness is unusual
C. Plato and Aristotle presented what politics 8 , but Machiavelli discussed 【8】______.
what politics 9 and how it actually functions. 【9】______.
D. Machiavelli believed that just being 10 does not promise 【10】______.
good leadership.
【7】
The Classical Sense of Good Government
Good morning, and welcome to our introductory lectures to politics. For thousands of years, people have speculated about government; What is the purpose of government? How much government is good for us? And, perhaps most importantly, if we don’t like our government’s policies, how can we change or get rid of them? More than 2,000 years ago, people started to think about these questions. Today, we are going to look at some of the classical sense about good government. I’ll tell you something about three ancient political philosophers. They are Plato, Aristotle and stoicism represented by Machiavelli.
The first figure on my list is Plato, a political philosopher living in the 400s 13. C. Some people think it is an irony that one of the first meaningful statements of good government was written by Plato because he held strong dislike of and contempt for politics. Plato did not believe that the free political freedom could produce useful results or solve disputes. He thought that in politics the decision-making process is frequently based less on reason than on what seems to be a good idea at the moment. Moreover, the problem with politics has much to do with what politics finally produces--namely uncertain and dangerous changes.
Plato feared and hated changes because he was aware that other disciplines, such as mathematics, are quite orderly and predictable. The correct sum of two numbers added together never changes. The fact that such a discipline is changeless, orderly, and predictable led Plato to conclude that the same sort of view ought to be applied to human society. So he preferred a harmonious society that needs no change. In order to achieve this, people must define justice properly in their society. In Plato’s most famous work, The Republic, justice consisted of each citizen doing what he or she does best by natural talent.
The second figure is Aristotle, who is said to be a student of Plato. Early in his most famous work, Politics, Aristotle wrote that; Every state is as we see a sort of partnership, and every partnership is formed with a view to some good since all the actions of all mankind are done with a view to what they think to be good.
Of course, Aristotle believed that population in this kind of state was relatively homogeneous; he did not foresee the ethnic and cultural diversity of most modern states. But he did fully understand that any state has to be a reflection of common interests and is the natural outcome of human association.
Aristotle viewed the polls, or city-state, as the highest stage of human social and political development, and it can allow its citizens to find and live the good life. For Aristotle, the polis is the only place where the good life is possible, the only place where the individual can make a good life for hat’ or himself. Aristotle believed that self-respecting people would not consider living anywhere else but within the confines of political society. In his eyes, human beings are basically a gregarious species "and so even when men have no need of assistance from each other they still desire to live together."
Once one is within the confines of the state, the critical question is how the best quality of life can be achieved. Aristotle’s formula is avoiding extremes. In a healthy society, each of us should know how much is too much to be good for us. Neither coward nor rash people can rule a state successfully. It is those who are moderate who are actually best fit to govern and be governed. Besides, extremes of wealth and poverty, Aristotle believed are probably inevitable but should be kept minimal. He recommended a large and broadly based middle class as a recipe for political stability.
So much for Plato and Aristotle. Next we need to move on to the third figure, Machiavelli. Aristotle’s lifetime coincided with the collapse of the city state system, because the city-states could not resist the strength of the empires. By the time the Roman Empire was fully established two to three centuries later, it was becoming obvious that political philosophy must take into account a huge political entity that included a heterogeneous population as large as tens of millions. At this time Stoicism came into being.
Stoicism means accepting whatever the situation is like. Politically, this trend viewed the world as tom between virtue and vice, and considered the world a difficult and disorderly place where personal security and happiness was unusual eases. Stoicism held that social or political rank is arbitrary and temporary, and often even a matter of luck, therefore, one Should accept one’s status, whether high or low, and do the best one Could in the role one was assigned. The same principle applies to government and governing. If it is one’s destiny to govern, one should do so without complaint. But Stoicism did provide a prescription for proper governance; a ruler should reject all temptations to pursue or enhance personal glory and wealth. Rather, the purpose of rulership is to provide service for the benefit of the entire society.
In the sixteenth century, Nicolo Machiavelli produced The Prince. Plato and Aristotle had suggested what they believed political society should be; Machiavelli explained how political science really is and how it actually functions. He argued that no capable leader could do well by being morally good. To secure his own leadership, for example, a prince shouldn’t hesitate to wipe out both his opponent and his opponent’s family, since children who are fond of their parents may seek revenge later.
OK, to sum up, we’ve reviewed ideas from three important political philosophers in ancient times. Plato proposed happy and changeless society, Aristotle proposed happy city-states, and Machiavelli sadly persuade people to accept their situation. These varied ideas were just the beginning of the long exploration of the nature of politics. Next time, we’ll going on to look at some other political beliefs. Thank you.
选项
答案
accepting one’s situation/accepting the situation/accepting political situation
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/aX4O777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
WithallthefussoverObamaandRomney’sduellingspeechesabouttheeconomyinOhioyesterday,anintriguingpoliticalyarnha
TheEuropeanCentralBankleftitsmaininterestrateunchangedWednesday,choosingtoputtheonusonpoliticalleaderstoaddr
Whileearlyliteracyskillsareimportantforachild’sgrowth,therearesomewhoquestionwhetherweareforcingourkidstor
TheexecutivepoweroftheBritishgovernmentisinthehandsof______.
WhatisAmerica’smostimportantfoodcrop?
Irelandisdividedintotwopoliticalparts:______.
______doesNOTbelongtoPercyByssheShelley’spoliticallyrics.
WhichofthefollowingisnotapoliticaldivisionontheislandofGreatBritain?
随机试题
利率风脸
男性,28岁,半小时前被车撞伤,后被送入急诊室。查体:血压60/30mmHg,神志清楚,呼吸困难,面色苍白,四肢发凉,脉搏细速。左胸部压痛,胸壁塌陷,可闻及骨擦音及反常呼吸征,左侧呼吸音消失,右侧呼吸音降低。根据病历摘要在急诊应优先申请哪些辅助检查
维生素D缺乏性手足搐搦症发生惊厥时首选的处理方法为
肺心病、心力衰竭的治疗中最主要的是
下列哪一种情况下,善意第三人不能依据善意取得制度取得相应物权?()
内燃机和机动车制造企业应当按照国家规定的内燃机和机动车(),采用节油技术,减少石油产品消耗量。
在社会主义初级阶段,所有制形式具有多元化的特点,这是因为()。
填入下列横线处的词语,最恰当的一组是()。①你______在这里住一宿,明天再回去。②这场电影______放映了三个小时。③你比他只是______差一点,其实两人不相上下。
汉朝监察京师附近州县和百官的监察机构是()。
•Readthearticleaboutpackagingandlabeling.•ChoosethebestwordtofilleachgapfromA,B,CorDthatfollow.•Forea
最新回复
(
0
)