TABLE OF CONTENTS
                                   Title                                          Author              Page
                        UNIT I     PLATO (421 BC – 347 BC)                                            3-40
                                   1.1 Concept of Justice: Prevalent Theories of                      5
                                       Justice and Plato’s Concept of Justice     Perminder Kour
                                   1.2 Concept of Education: Education in Ancient                     14
                                       Greece and Platonic Concept of Education   Diwakar Singh
                                   1.3 Concept of Communism: Communism of                             22
                                       Wives and Children and Property            Diwakar Singh
                                   1.4 Concept of Ideal State and Philosopher King Diwakar Singh      33
                        UNIT II    ARISTOTLE (348 BC – 322 BC)                                        41-91
                                   2.1 Aristotle as Father of Political Science: A                    43
                                       Shift from Political Philosophy to Political
                                       Science                                    Mukesh Sharma
                                   2.2 Aristotle’s Views on Household: Criticism                      49
                                       of Plato’s Concept of Communism and
                                       Aristotle’s Concept of Slavery             A. Lalitha
                                   2.3 Aristotle’s Classification of Government                       64
                                       and Concept of Revolution                  V. Nagendra Rao
                                   2.4 Aristotle’s Best Practicable State:                            78
                                       Concept and Characteristics                V. Nagendra Rao
                        UNIT III MACHIAVELLI (1469 – 1527 AD)                                         92-135
                                   3.1 Renaissance and its Impact on Machiavelli  Sushma Mahajan 95
                                   3.2 Machiavelli’s Views on Human Nature and                        101
                                       Motives – Implications and Evaluation      Diwakar Singh
                                   3.3 Machiavelli’s Views on Relationship                            109
                                       between Ethics and Politics                Diwakar Singh
                                   3.4 Machiavelli’s Views Regarding Preservation                     121
                                       and Extension of State Power               V. Nagendra Rao
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                UNIT IV JOHN STUART MILL (1806 – 1873 AD)                    136-173
                         4.1 Concept of Liberty, Thought,      Amit Kumar    137
                            Expression and Action              Sharma
                         4.2 Mill’s Views on Women Equality    Amit Kumar    145
                                                               Sharma
                         4.3 Mill’s Views on Representative Government:      154
                            Proportional Representation and Plural
                            Voting                             Mukesh Kumar
                         4.4 Relevance of Mill’s Ideas on Modern State       162
                            and Government                     V. Nagendra Rao
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                       UNIT I: PLATO
             In the entire history of political thought no thinker evoked the admiration,
          reverence and criticism that Plato (428/27-347 BC) did.  This outstanding Greek
          philosopher has left behind many important works, out of which three, the Republic,
          the Statesman, and the Laws were of perennial interest to all those interested in the
          history of political ideas.  Plato has been generally regarded as the founder of
          philosophical idealism by virtue of his conviction that there is a universal idea in the
          world of eternal reality beyond the world of the senses.  He was the first to formulate
          and define political ideas within a larger framework of a philosophical idea of Good.
           Plato was born in 428/27 BC in Athens in a distinguished, aristocratic, though
          not an affluent, family.  Plato met Socrates in 407 BC at the age of 20 and since then
          was under his “hypnotic spell”.  He was so influenced by Socrates; it was natural
          that the trial and execution of Socrates in 399 BC proved to be a turning point in
          Plato’s life.
           In 386 BC Plato established his Academy in Athens, which became a seat of
          higher learning and intellectual pursuits in Greece for the next one hundred years.
          By including Mathematics, Geography Philosophy and other disciplines as areas of
          study, the academy concretised the possibility of a science of knowledge with which
          one could reform the world.  Plato saw in the academy a training school for future
          philosophic rulers and Aristotle was one of the products of this academy.  Teaching
          in the academy was imparted through lectures, Socratic dialectics and problem-
          solving situations.  For Plato, the search for truth was not through mere instruction
          and theoretical knowledge, but with the guidance of an advanced mind.  Through
          the academy, Plato kept alive the Socratic legacy.  In course of time the academy
          also became the prototype for subsequent universities and institutions of higher
          learning. He died in 347 BC while attending the wedding feast of one of his students.
           Plato perceived political philosophy as an architectonic science of society, and
          like Socrates and the Sophists, distinguished the political from the other dimensions
          of life.  Within the European intellectual tradition he conceptualised the disorders
          and crises of the actual world and presented to his readers a vision of a desirable
          political order, which till today has fascinated his admirers and detractors.  He has
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        been described as a poet of ideas, a philosopher of beauty and the true founder of the
        cult of harmonious living.
          Plato, along with his disciple Aristotle, has been credited for laying the foundation
        of Greek political theory on which the Western political tradition rests.  These two
        versatile thinkers between themselves have explored, stated, analysed and covered
        a wide range of philosophical perspectives and issues.  A most fitting tribute has
        been paid by Whitehead who stated that the entire European philosophical tradition
        is nothing but a set of footnotes to Plato and Aristotle.
          While Plato’s admirers have been numerous, he has had his share of critics too,
        beginning with Aristotle.  Most of his recent critics have been in the twentieth century
        within the liberal tradition.  They assailed Plato for his hostility towards progressive,
        humanitarian and democratic ideals, and regarded him as the philosophical forerunner
        of modern day totalitarianism, which itself is a twentieth century phenomenon.
        Paradoxically, the liberals in the nineteenth century were more appreciative of Plato,
        claiming him to be a liberal of that period.
          This entire Unit covers various facets of Plato’s philosophy and his concepts.
        In the first lesson you will study Plato’s concept of Justice, in the second you will
        comprehend Plato’s concept of Education, the third will explain you Plato’s notions
        about Communism and the fourth will elaborate Plato’s concept of Philosopher King
        and Ideal State.
        SUGGESTED READING FOR THIS UNIT
        Dunning, W. A., A History of Political Theories (Allahabad: Central Book Depot,
        1976).
        Foster, Michael B., Masters of Political Thought, vol. I, Plato to Machiavelli (Delhi:
        Oxford University Press, 1971).
        Sabine, George H., A History of Political Theory (New Delhi: Oxford and IBH
        1973).
        Suda, J. P., History of Political Thought (Meerut: K. Nath & Co., 1975).
        Subrata Mukherjee and Sushila Ramashwamy, A History of Political thought. Plato
        to Marx. Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2007.
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