Class Ideology And Ancient Political Theory: Socrates, Plato And Aristotle In Social Context

E L L E N M E I K S I N S W OO D And NEAL WOOD Class Ideology and Ancient Political Theory Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in Social Context © B asil Blackwell ig y B All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of Basil Blackwell & Mott Limited. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Wood, Ellen Meiksins Class ideology and ancient political theory. - (Blackwell’s classical studies). i. Political science 2. Greece - Politics and government - to 146 B.C. I. Title II. Wood, Neal 320'.0938 JC 7 3 ISBN O - 631 - 1837O -I Film sct in Monophoto Ehrhardt by Northumberland Press Ltd ., Gateshead, T yn e and Wear Printed in G reat Britain by Richard Clay (T he Chaucer Press) L td ., Bungay, Suffolk For our York University Students Contents Preface I Introduction: Perspective and Problems 1. The Ideology of a Declining Aristocracy 2. The Charge of Historicism 3. The Poverty of Philosophy Notes i i 5 10 12 II T h e Nature o f the Polis 1. The Emergence of the Polis 2. The Reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes 3. The ‘Essence' of the Polis: An ‘ Association Against a Subjected Producing Class'? 4. Class in the Democratic Polis 5. The Aristocratic Myth of the Polis Notes 13 15 21 25 41 64 74 III Socrates: Saint o f Counter-Revolution 1. Life and Associates Reconsidered 2. The Intellectual World of the Sophists 3. Anti-Democratic Political Ideology 4. Philosophic Recommendations: Definition, Knowledge, and Psyche 5. The Case for Athens Notes 81 83 87 94 103 111 115 IV Plato: A rchitect o f the A n ti-P o lis 1. Life and Outlook 119 121 viii Contents 2. The Protagoras: A Preface to Plato's PoliticalDoctrine 3. The Republic: A Redefinition of the Polis 4. The Social Conditions of Virtue and the ‘Philosophic Nature' 5. An Idealized Aristocratic Code 6. The Priority of Political Doctrine in The Theory of the Soul 7. The Statesman: A Bridge between the Republic and the Laws 8. The Laws: Subversion of the Athenian Constitution 9. The Meaning of the Rule of Law 10. The Role of Philosophy^ Notes 128 137 *43 1 54 17 1 183 193 200 202 V Aristotle: Tactician o f Conservatism 1. Biographical Speculations 2. Social Values and Attitudes 3. The Aristocratic Ideal 4. Oikos and Polis 5. Justice, Stasis, 'Polity', and Utopia 6. Principles in Practice: The Despotism of Demetrius of Phalerum Notes 209 210 214 223 227 237 249 253 VI Conclusion: The Socratics Against Athens Notes Index 258 265 267 Preface T h is book has been written prim arily from the standpoint o f political theory rather than as a work o f classical scholarship. We look upon the book as a study o f the founding texts in the long tradition o f W estern political thought, and as a statement on the nature o f political theory. O ur view is that the classics o f political theory are fundam entally ideological, and that to be understood and appreciated as fully as possible, they must be much more closely and systematically related to their social contexts than they often have been in the past. In the case o f Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle no analysis o f the kind we have attempted has been done. W hile A. D . W inspear’s ground-breaking studies have certainly helped to place Plato (and much less successfully Socrates) in socio-historical perspective, our book approaches the prob­ lem somewhat differently. Our point o f departure is a particular con­ ception o f the Greek polis and its significance in the development o f Western social organization, an interpretation that departs