ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

V SEMESTER CORE COURSE

BA POLITICAL SCIENCE

(2011 Admission)

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

Calicut university P.O, Malappuram Kerala, India 673 635.

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UNIVERSITY OF CALICUT

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

STUDY MATERIAL

Core Course BA POLITICAL SCIENCE V Semester

ANCIENT & MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

Prepared by: Scrutinized by:

Sri. John Mathai, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, St. Marys College, Sulthan Bathery.

Dr. G. Sadanandan , Associate Professor , PG Department of Political Science, Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur.

Layout:

Computer Section, SDE

Ancient & Medieval Political Thought

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Contents

Page No.

MODULE I

GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT

5

MODULE II

ANCIENT ROMAN POLITICAL THOUGHT

20

MODULE III

ANCIENT HINDU POLITICAL THOUGHT

31

MODULE IV MEDIEVAL POLITICAL THOUGHT

43

MODULE V

MACHIAVELLI

54

Ancient & Medieval Political Thought

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Ancient & Medieval Political Thought

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INTRODUCTION

Political Thought is nothing but Political Philosophy. It is the thought or philosophy about various aspects of the State. It is about various concepts like State, Liberty, and Equality etc.

Philosophy existed all throughout the period of history. Philosophy existed in the ancient period (roughly between 500 BC to 500 AD), in the medieval period (about 500 AD to 1500 AD) as well as modern period (about 1500 AD to modern period) It existed in almost all parts of the world. It existed in India, China, Europe or America.

The following Modules are about Political Philosophy in the ancient and medieval India and Europe. It consists of modules on ancient Greek Political Thought, Roman Political Thought, ancient Indian Political Thought, and medieval Political Thought in Europe.

The ancient Greek Political Thought consists of sections on Plato and Aristotle. Ancient Roman Political Thought consists of sections on Roman contributions including Polybius and Cicero. Ancient Hindu Political Thought consists of sections on Hindu concept of State as well as Kautilya. Medieval European Political Thought consists of sections on St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante. The Modules end with Machiavelli.

What is the content of Political Thought? The content of Political thought is about State. Through Political Thought one can learn about the evolution of the concept of State and Government. It is about the various concepts in Political Science like Justice, Liberty, and Equality etc. While studying Political Thought, one studies about the various concepts as proposed by the major Political thinkers like Plato or Kautilya. We are not concerned about whether they are true or false. We are concerned about only one thing: the thoughts of political thinkers from time to time.

MODULE - I

GREEK POLITICAL THOUGHT

Introduction:

Greece was the centre of political philosophy in ancient Europe. Greece is situated in the southern tip of Europe. People of Greece lived in City States. A City State was not a city. It was not a state also. It was a community of people living together. The people of Greek based their political concepts around the City States. They believed that a City State should be small so that it can be fully viewed from the roof top of every house. They thought that the population should

Ancient & Medieval Political Thought

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