2. Considering the three Sophists we read in class (Protagoras, Critias, and Thrasymachus), answer the following: Is there anything at all that humans ought to do—in other words, should we willingly place any restraint on our conduct, no matter how powerful we are? Discuss what the Athenians in the Thucydides excerpt should have done given their enormous power.
--If you believe they should have restrained themselves, is this not a sign that you yourself are relatively powerless and weak, and that you're simply trying to enslave the strong with your naïve view of fairness?
--If you believe they behaved correctly, is this not a sign that you would not complain if someone bigger than you punched you in the stomach each day to get your lunch money? The powerful are always right, right?
Something else to consider (optional): Some people think that we are free to do whatever we wish as long as we don’t hurt someone else doing it. Is this a good rule for what makes an action moral and right?
POST DUE: Thursday, Nov. 4 by start of class.
2 RESPONSES TO POSTS DUE: Tuesday, Nov. 9 by the start of class.
I believe that there should ALWAYS be some level of restraint in concerns of the amounts of power given to those in authoritative positions. I believe that there should be a restraint on the level of power, because if not, most countries/towns/cities would end up being governed by dictators, taking away the only rights human are naturally born with, free will. If free will is taken away, life in my opinion would be pointless. A lack of free will would take away independence that is vital for our physical/mental health and efficiency of a properly run country/town/city.
ReplyDeleteEven though it was clearly shown that the Athenians had more power than the Melians, I do not believe the Athenians should have used that as a reason for overtaking Melia. In this excerpt, the Athenians felt that as the stronger group they had the god given right to over through the Melians. It is in instances like this especially that I believe there should be strong restraints on authoritative power. I believe that overtaking a country/town simply because of their lack of power is morally wrong. All people have the right to govern themselves democratically, and therefore that right should not be taken away by overthrowing their government. However, there are instances where I believe overthrowing a government is the proper thing to do. Some of these instance include, when the government in charge denies the population right of free will, or when government is physically/mentally abusing citizens for not following country/town/city customs.
I do not believe that my view of the Athenians is a sign that I am relatively powerless and weak. I have chosen my positions on authoritative rule, because I believe that allowing people the right to free will is the best way to ensure a fair, properly run and efficient government.
I do not believe that we should be able to do whatever we please as long as it doesn’t hurt others. I have this opinion, because in the example of illegal drugs, though you may think you are only harming yourself by taking a certain illegal drug, the production of illegal drug in itself help aid to the forced destruction of property(e.g. homes used for meth labs must be destroyed due to amount of illegal ingredients contained within the walls of homes) and cause an significant increase in the amount of pollution. I also have this view, because I believe all of our actions in some way or another impact the world. Though it may not be easy to see at first, our actions still have a huge impact.
I do believe that there should be a certain level of restraint of power that a country, city or empire has because the world would be full of chaos and only powerful countries would control a majority of the world instead of having a wide variety of different countries govern themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn the Peloponnesian War Excerpt by Thucydides the Athenians obvious are more powerful than the Melians but instead of using their strength they try and negotiate with the islands nobles but also felt that it was their god given right to be able to conquer the Melians because they are much stronger than them. I don't think that just because at first the Athenians didn't overthrow the Melians it makes them weaker, sometimes it could be seen as strength because they don't have to continuously use power to make a statement.