Module 05 Course Project - Final Draft

Thesis statement

Plato and Karl Marx are great philosophers who lived in different historical times. They have different but close political thoughts that needs to be analyzed. This paper will examine their views on ideal state and communism.

Outline

I. Political thoughts

a) They have contrasting views in what ideal state should be like

b) The two philosophers presented ideas on communism

i. The lack of communism and its source as proposed by Plato

ii. The role of communism as presented by Marx

II. Characteristics of an ideal state

a) Plato said that an ideal state is based on justice

i. He viewed that Monarchy is the best form of government

ii. He based his concept of ideal state on communism

iii. He proposed the structure of consciousness and the formation of government

iv. Different social classes from an ideal state

b) Marx also presented his concepts on an ideal state

i. The material basis of an ideal state is the relative scarcity

ii. He said that the state is controlled by the dominant class

iii. The ideal state should be part of the society

iv. It also depends on the various modes of production

III. Communism according to Plato and Marx

a) Plato recognized different social classes

i. Justice is a vital concept in Plato’s ideas of communism

ii. He said that it is a political moral rather than an economic strive

b) Communism of property and family according to Plato

i. Plato pleads for the common renunciation of property

ii. This will prevent competition for political power

iii. The ruling class has a system of ownership of women.

IV. Communism views by Marx

a) Division of labor and communism

i. Communism will bring an end to division of labor

ii. He proposed that the division of labor was as a result of desire for private property

iii. The source of challenges is due to division of labor

b) Capitalism built the foundation of communism and socialism

i. He used communism and socialism interchangeably

ii. His first set of communism is where the working class takes control of government and economy

iii. Fully realized communism refers to one that lacks divisions into class or government

V. Conclusions

a) They had contrasting views on ideal state

b) Each philosophy differ on their concept of communism

References

Vatai, F. (2014). Intellectuals in Politics in the Greek World (Routledge Revivals): From Early Times to the Hellenistic Age. Routledge.

Goodin, R. E., Pettit, P., & Pogge, T. W. (2012). A companion to contemporary political philosophy (Vol. 105). John Wiley & Sons.

Mukherjee, S., & Ramaswamy, S. (2011). A history of political thought: Plato to Marx. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Ebenstein, W., & Ebenstein, A. O. (2000). Great political thinkers: Plato to the present. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Barker, E. (2012). The political thought of Plato and Aristotle. Courier Corporation.

Annotated bibliography

Barker, E. (2012). The political thought of Plato and Aristotle. Courier Corporation.

This book offers a clear and accurate description of Greek political ideas and thought through the discussion of the works of Plato and Aristotle. The book further critically analyzes the Plato’s dialogues in the Greek politics and how it has influenced the western politics. It puts into consideration the origin of Plato’s ideas and the way it was influenced by the Greek political experience. This is book is reliable because it presents the chronological orders of the Greek political ideas and presented by Plato and Aristotle. These were great philosophers and their political thoughts have been documented in various books hence creating the reliability. This source is also related to the other sources in that it presents the political ideas of Plato. It is also relevant to my research topic since it presents the ideas of one of the philosophers I am investigating.

Ebenstein, W., & Ebenstein, A. O. (2000). Great political thinkers: Plato to the present. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

The authors present insightful and well thought political concepts of various philosophers from Plato to the present one. They describe Plato and Marx as having almost similar ideas but during different historical times. In addition, it describes the ideas of Plato and Marx regarding the ideal state and communism in their original forms. They present the ideas of various political philosophers during their difference historical times. The fact that this book presents the excerpts from the original texts makes it very reliable since it contains the original concepts of the philosophers. It has also been reviewed several times hence having political ideas as they were during those historical time. The book is related to the other sources since it is a great resource book for obtaining information regarding political science in the eyes of great thinkers and philosophers. It is relevant to the topic under study since it expresses the ideas of Plato and Marx.

Mukherjee, S., & Ramaswamy, S. (2011). A history of political thought: Plato to Marx. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

This book focuses the discussion on the present interpretation of the classis texts of the political philosophers. It outlines in details the thoughts and beliefs of the great thinkers, political philosophers including Plato, Aristotle and Marx and revives the classic political theory. Universalism, localism and the ideal state are some of the central ideas presented in the book and how Marx and Plato influenced the modern politics. This source is reliable in that it has the central ideas of all the political philosophers from Plato to Marx. It is related to the other sources because it discusses the Plato’s and Marx’s contrasting ideas on ideal state. I selected this source because it will be a great resource book for referring to in writing the final project.

Goodin, R. E., Pettit, P., & Pogge, T. W. (2012). A companion to contemporary political philosophy (Vol. 105). John Wiley & Sons.

The authors examine the different ideas on the political philosophy from the perspective of different philosophers. Plato and Marx are presented and discussed in this copy of the companion with a focus on how their ideas on ideal state and communism has shaped the contemporary politics. In the past three decades political philosophy has become an area of focus and is now actively being researched. The source is reliable since the editors considered the broad view of the many issues that are significant to political philosophy. Additionally, it is related to the other sources by discussing the ideas of political philosophy.

Vatai, F. (2014). Intellectuals in Politics in the Greek World (Routledge Revivals): From Early Times to the Hellenistic Age. Routledge.

This book discusses the political ideas and concepts by various philosophers that have brought an influence on social change. It evaluates the role of each philosopher and social scientist in the daily political life. It also examines the success of some of the political philosophers with a highlight on the failures of philosophers like Plato in political ideas. These philosophers tried to change the society in by providing insights to the political ideas and thoughts. The book is reliable since it presents a documentation of the various chronological ideas for the political philosophers. Also relevant to the research topic in that it analyzes the political thought of various intellectuals and philosophers like Plato.

Outline and Annotated Bibliography

Rodney Wheeler

Rasmussen College

Author Note

This paper is being submitted on March 4, 2018 for Hamid Kazeroony’s G440/POT4001 Section

02 Political Thought - Online Plus - 2018 Winter Mid-Quarter