Essay Sample on Philosophical Issues

Plato, .(2000). The Republic. Cambridge University Press.

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Plato's book, "The Republic," is one of the most influential books of philosophy in olden Greece. The central theme explored in this book is justice. Plato tries to examine what justice truly means. It seems complex to understand. To discern the meaning of the term justice, Plato approaches from two perspectives including the political or societal justice and individual justice. According to Plato (2000), political justice refers to the harmony in a structured political body. He notes that the society consists of three different classes of people which he identifies as the guardians, auxiliaries, and producers. The guardians are the rulers who set up policies and determine the will of the society. The auxiliaries consist of the warriors whose function is to uphold the convictions of rulers. The producers consist of farmers, blacksmiths, painters, among others whose function is to use whatever skills nature grants them to cause sustenance to the society. Based on these three classes, Plato observes that justice can be realized through specialization whereby, each member fulfills their role in the society as enabled by nature. Plato also examined individual justice using the same societal approach whereby, he divided the human soul into three distinct structures which are analogous to the three classes of the society (Plato, 2000). Three structures of a human soul include a rational part which seeks for the truth and responsible for the philosophical inclinations. The second part of the soul is the spirited part which looks for honor and carries the feelings of anger and indignation. The third part of the human soul is the appetitive part which contains all sorts of lusts such as lust for money. Based on this category, Plato defined a just individual as one whose soul aims at achieving the desires of the rational part. Plato likened this rational part of the soul to the guardians in the society which consist of the rulers. Just as the just individual's soul follows the desires of the rational part of the soul, so do the entire community aim at achieving the will of the rulers. Appetitive part of the soul is likened with the producers who are driven by their lusts for money and pleasure. Lastly, the spirited part of the soul is compared to the warriors in the community who have the spirit of courage to defend the community (Plato, 2000).

Philosophical Issues and Their Relationship to the Current Real-World Event

The philosophical issues in this book are as follows. First, Plato believes that the guardians consisting of rulers or philosopher kings are the most just persons in the society full of knowledge, intelligence, wisdom, and self-control and are the best suited to make decisions for the community (Plato, 2000). Second, Plato points out that both producers and auxiliaries should work to fulfill the will of the rulers (Plato, 2000). However, this is not in agreement with today's democratic society where the people have the power and the will to make decisions and determine how society runs. Democracy as a government by the people is the most famous ruling system in many countries today.

Machiavelli, N. (1988). The Prince. Cambridge University Press.

Machiavelli's book, "The Prince," is a practical guide to the ruling. In this book, Machiavelli examines various themes such as statesmanship and warcraft, goodwill and hatred, free will, virtue, and human nature. On statesmanship and warcraft, Machiavelli believes that the presence of a sound military is an indication of the existence of rational laws. On this, he argues that all states are built on the very foundation of successful war. According to Machiavelli (1988), a successful war is the foundation of freedom and ensuring this determines the statesmanship of the prince. For that reason, the prince, according to Machiavelli should ensure that the state successfully wins every battle to retain the power and authority over the people. Concerning the theme of goodwill and hatred, Machiavelli notes that as the prince rules, he should ensure that he has the goodwill of the people to remain in power. Machiavelli warns that the prince should avoid doing things that may cause hatred among the people since this would result in his downfall. However, the prince should not necessarily be loved by his people. Instead, he should be feared. On the theme of free will, Machiavelli points out that the prince's success or failure lies on his own free will (Machiavelli, 1988). To prove this, Machiavelli considers the shortcomings of the past Italian princes. He argues that by making good use of the prowess and fortune, the prince would always remain in power. Concerning the theme of virtue, Machiavelli urges the prince to embrace the qualities that are valued by people such as generosity and love. However, he cautions the prince not to forget using cruelty where applicable for the benefit of the whole state. The theme of human nature comes out plainly in this book where Machiavelli describes people as generally self-interested. He points noted that people can change with situations such as being trustworthy in times of prosperity, and selfish in times of adversity. On this, Machiavelli notes that loyalty can be won and lost and goodwill is never absolute given the ever-changing nature of human beings (Machiavelli, 1988).

Philosophical Issues and Their Relationship to the Current Real-World Event

The philosophical issues in this book include the following. First, Machiavelli argues that good laws in a country naturally follow an excellent military. Second, Machiavelli argues that the prince should inflict fear on his people to be respected. Considering the modern world, the leaders applying these two Machiavelli's philosophies can be best described as dictators. Machiavelli wrote that the prince should not necessarily be loved but instead be feared and respected. In light of this statement, dictatorship in the modern world does not bring respect to the people. Instead, it causes insurrection, Saddam Hussein and Robert Mugabe can attest it.

Locke, J. (1980). Second Treatise of Government. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

John Locke's "Second Treatise of Government" asserts that the sovereignty is in the hands of the people. Locke observed that in the state of nature where people live free from the outside rule, they are all equal and invested with natural rights. The people have the right to execute this natural law against anyone who infringes into it. According to Locke (1980), people have the power to exchange some of their fundamental rights to co-exist with others in the society so that they might enjoy the protection of the prevailing laws and the executive power enforcing these laws. Locke noted that people needed the executive power to defend their liberty and protect their property. Locke also describes the state with separate executive, legislative, and judicial branch in which he argues that the legislative branch is the most significant of the three since it determines laws of the community. Despite having given some of the rights to the government, Locke (1980) observes that the people retain the power to dissolve it any time if it fails to represent their interests.

Philosophical Issues and Their Relationship to the Current Real-World Event

The major philosophical issues in this book are as follows. First, Locke asserts that the sovereignty of any state belongs to the people. Second, the government has power over the people for as long as it preserves and protects their welfare apart from which the people may overthrow it at will. These philosophies are in the direct agreement with the modern democracy where people have the power to elect in or out the government of their choice.

Marx, K. (1994). Selected Writings. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. UK ed. Edition.Summary

Karl Marx explored various political issues such as materialism, exploitation, alienation, and revolution. According to Marx (1994), the economic structure and the distribution of wealth give rise to such ideas as who should lead or who should earn what they earn. Concerning the exploitation, Marx believes that capitalism exploits workers of their benefits. According to Karl Marx, capitalists pay laborers less than what they are worth receiving. By doing so, the capitalists earn profits from the extra labor of the labors which they failed to pay. Marx notes that the capitalists also force laborers to produce surplus labor in the unfavorable working environment. On alienation, Marx identifies four ways through which workers get alienated including the alienation from the act of producing, product, themselves, and others. Marx notes that the effect of such alienation of workers by the capitalists is that the workers do not live as they could naturally (Marx, 1994). Workers do not live their life according to how they would naturally. Marx believed that when workers unite, they will overthrow the capitalist ruling class. According to Marx, the bourgeois-capitalist structure would trigger a revolution by workers to replace the order with a fairer system.

Philosophical Issues and Their Relationship to the Current Real-World Event

The major philosophical issues here are as follows. First, social and political change is driven by class struggle. Second, Marx believes that when workers unite together, they obtain a greater power to overthrow the capitalist ruling class and replace it with a more fair system. Marxist philosophies resonate with the current state of labor in the world where workers unite to form labor unions to advocate for their rights. The labor unions have been very effective in producing a more fair system that was dominated by the exploitation of the capitalist employers. Labor unions advocate for fair wages, salaries, benefits, and favorable working conditions for the workers.

References

Locke, J. (1980). Second Treatise of Government. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Machiavelli, N. (1988). The Prince. Cambridge University Press.Marx, K. (1994). Selected Writings. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. UK ed. Edition.Plato, .(2000). The Republic. Cambridge University Press.