Political Thought From Plato To Present Pdf Free Download

[Nhyiraba Valentin]

TheMedici Bank of Florence at its inception is the result of the demise of the city of Siena as the financial and banking centre of Italy. The European banking and finance sector in the pre and post-renaissance period cannot be known entirely without understanding the crucial underlying ideologies underpinning the financial and banking sector through the social doctrines of the Roman Church.

The history of the Medici Bank is quite clear that their loans to the royalty, traders, nobles, etc. were purely based on interest or usury. How did the Medici Bank keep the sin of usury away from its massive wealth accumulation by charging interests not only on its wealth but also on the wealth that it held for the Roman Church itself ?

While there are competing arguments for and against the approach to study ancient political theory through the study of the political canon, it remains undisputed[35] hat the study of political canon is the best way to define and comprehend the human evolution of political thought. The other criticism against the political canon is that it does not consider non-European political thought based on ancient Greek texts. This argument is based on the fact that the later translators of Latin and Greek canons chose to ignore the fact[36] that the basis of their work was the Arabic translations of the ancient Greek text themselves.

It was simply a matter of creating a historical narrative that would gloss over the influence of Eastern scholars on political canons themselves. In short, if the political canons are considered to be uniquely European, then it remains to be seen what the Eastern scholars have to say about the political thought based on ancient Greek philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. This study does not go any further than the two Islamic scholars Avicenna and Averroes. Both scholars remain solidly pivotal in the re-introduction of Platonian and Aristotelian Greek philosophies during the European Renaissance[37]. The fallacy of the current historical narrative of the political canons being Western or European would fall apart also if one is to consider Averroism as a core philosophical concept amongst the leading scholars of political thought in the late 13th century Europe. However, if the political canons that are considered to be purely European accept the profound influence by the Islamic scholars such as Averroes, then it is a different story altogether. This defence of the proposition is beyond the scope of this paper. A most brilliant and comprehensive study on the topic has been conducted by Bullock[38] .

It would be not easy to defend the historic position offered by the linear narrative of the history of political thought explained above if one is to consider the massive body of scholarly work that exists on Plato and Aristotle in the Arabic text of the medieval and classic areas[43]. The political canons would not be able to sustain the claim of exclusivity to Plato and Aristotle in the light of even the single works of Averroes. The Christian Roman Empire destroyed the academies of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy by 3rd century AD with the exception of Athens and Alexandria[44]. By the middle of 6th century AD, the Christian version of the Aristotelian academy survived in Alexandria alone. While the libraries of Athens and Alexandria were destroyed by the Roman Church, Baghdad and Damascus emerged as the centre for scholarship in all domains of knowledge that included the flocking of fleeing Greek scholars of Plato and Aristotle, who had fled the wrath of the Roman Church. It was between the period of 6th century AD and 9th century AD that all the ancient Greek texts, including Plato and Aristotle, were successfully translated into Arabic[45]. The Arabic language scholarship on political thought based on philosophy, including Plato and Aristotle, created a comprehensive corpus philosophic that ultimately found its way back in Europe during the Italian Renaissance.

The earliest known Latin works of Plato and Aristotle are the 12th century Arabic to Latin translations completed in Toledo by Dominic Gundisalvi[46]. Dag Nikolaus Hasse[47] in his seminal paper on Arabic-Hebrew-Latin translation sheds important light on the understanding of the social settings for the purposes of a meaningful review of the Arabic text translations in the medieval and Renaissance Europe. He proposes that the first wave of Renaissance translations from Arabic to Hebrew and Latin were focused on Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). The Padua University was the focal point for the first wave of Arabic to Hebrew and Latin translations of Avicenna and Averroes[48] .

Italian Renaissance scholars such as Pico Della Mirandola and Giordano Bruno chose to shun the Christian Canon and pursued the ancient Greek philosophies of Plato and Aristotle based on the works of Averroes. The fullest work of Averroes in Latin can be found in the 16th century Juntine Edition[53].

The history of Europe from 200 AD to 1360 AD was intentionally left out. The reason is that the general narrative of European political history takes the position of inert detente of political thought. The narrative proposes that the re-emergence of the Platonian and Aristotelian ancient Greek philosophy in 13th century Europe is marked by the Italian statesman and political philosopher Machiavelli. This baffling gap of 1500 years is yet unexplained.

The study has already given a brief overview of the existing standard linear historical narrative about the history of political thought in Europe and the use of political canon and the contemporary western linear view of its history. The stagnation of European political thought from 22 BC till Machiavelli (1469-1532 AD) is considered without a blink of an eye. Cicero, Roman Stoics, and even Aquinas are considered to be outside the scope of the standard narrative.

The role of Islamic scholars such as Ibn Rushd has been minimised as mere scribes who for reasons unknown took upon themselves to preserve the Greek text in Arabic while the Christian Church was busy burning the libraries of Alexandria and burning alive Platonic and Aristotelian scholars who fled to the Islamic Learning Centres of Baghdad and Cordoba. This inert preservation and further transmission of the Greek texts in Arabic translations does not rhyme with the western view of Islam as being back-ward, rigid and based on ideologies that are divine revelations and not logical.

The contributions of the Medici family are often minimised for their role as the wealthiest family of Europe at the peak of their rule in Florence and the Medici Bank only. What needs further research is the patronage that the Medici family provided to scholars and artists whose work reflects the deep intellectual links with the Islamic world at the time and the political transformation of Europe.

The present altered narrative of the history of political thought and western philosophies is deficient as to the 800 years gap between philosophical thoughts of Aristotle and Machiavelli. This narrow and linear narration of the history of the political thought based on the ancient Greek works of Plato and Aristotle deprives the present and future generations of scholars from the rich alternative corpus politic left by the Islamic scholars like Ibn Rushd in Arabic literature. There is a need for an unbiased and comprehensive joint study of the Medici rulers that can reflect the parallel critical analysis of the scholarship and art during their time. The Medici Bank was not just a financial institution formed by a dynasty of wealthy rulers, and it was an institution understanding human nature in body of society through providing patronage for scholarship and providing patronage for scholarship and art.

Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.[a]

The sources of Diogenes Laertius account for this by claiming his wrestling coach, Ariston of Argos, dubbed him "broad" on account of his chest and shoulders, or that Plato derived his name from the breadth of his eloquence, or his wide forehead.[10][11] Philodemus, in extracts from the Herculaneum papyri, corroborates the claim that Plato was named for his "broad forehead".[12]

While recalling a moral lesson about frugal living, Seneca mentions the meaning of Plato's name: "His very name was given him because of his broad chest."[13] According to Diogenes Laertius,[14] his birth name was Aristocles (Ἀριστοκλῆς), meaning 'best reputation'.[d]

Plato may have travelled to Italy, Sicily, Egypt, and Cyrene.[28] At 40, he founded a school of philosophy, the Academy. It was located in Athens, on a plot of land in the Grove of Hecademus or Academus,[29] named after an Attic hero in Greek mythology. The Academy operated until it was destroyed by Sulla in 84 BC. Many philosophers studied at the Academy, the most prominent being Aristotle.[30][31]

According to Diogenes Laertius, throughout his later life, Plato became entangled with the politics of the city of Syracuse, where he attempted to replace the tyrant Dionysius,[32] with Dionysius's brother-in-law, Dion of Syracuse, whom Plato had recruited as one of his followers, but the tyrant himself turned against Plato. Plato almost faced death, but was sold into slavery. Anniceris, a Cyrenaic philosopher, bought Plato's freedom for twenty minas,[33] and sent him home. Philodemus however states that Plato was sold as a slave as early as in 404 BC, when the Spartans conquered Aegina, or, alternatively, in 399 BC, immediately after the death of Socrates.[34] After Dionysius's death, according to Plato's Seventh Letter, Dion requested Plato return to Syracuse to tutor Dionysius II, who seemed to accept Plato's teachings, but eventually became suspicious of their motives, expelling Dion and holding Plato against his will. Eventually Plato left Syracuse and Dion would return to overthrow Dionysius and rule Syracuse, before being usurped by Callippus, a fellow disciple of Plato.

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