Politics is using philosophy to investigate the origin of goodness in nature and society. The classical body politic took this approach to mend the ailments of society; the Mediæval body politic saw monarchal theocracy as the Grecian goal. Augustine of Hippos and Thomas Aquinas believed Plato and Socrates were limited by the pluralist theocracy of their time. Had they applied philosophy to investigate the nature of theism, they would have been sentenced to death. Plato attributed the condition of the body of people to a body politic, whose disease remained unresolved, ultimately leading to its death and the fall of Ancient Greece (Moots, G.A., p. 52). Plato’s political analysis predicted the nation’s demise, but during its time, raised important questions, facilitating deeper civic engagement in the interests of the state (Ryan, A. p. 170). Pythagoras initiated this investigative philosophical approach, yet the lineage of scholars Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander the Great all utilized these principles with application to governing the body of people with an awareness of its condition (Augustine, p. 2642). Early church fathers preserved this awareness, yet attributed its condition to the obedience of God’s divine order; though their efforts advocated a totalitarian theocratic state, it instituted an objective basis for political theory (Tuininga, M.J., p.227).
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The Mediæval Body Politic
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Politics is using philosophy to investigate the origin of goodness in nature and society. The classical body politic took this approach to mend the ailments of society; the Mediæval body politic saw monarchal theocracy as the Grecian goal. Augustine of Hippos and Thomas Aquinas believed Plato and Socrates were limited by the pluralist theocracy of their time. Had they applied philosophy to investigate the nature of theism, they would have been sentenced to death. Plato attributed the condition of the body of people to a body politic, whose disease remained unresolved, ultimately leading to its death and the fall of Ancient Greece (Moots, G.A., p. 52). Plato’s political analysis predicted the nation’s demise, but during its time, raised important questions, facilitating deeper civic engagement in the interests of the state (Ryan, A. p. 170). Pythagoras initiated this investigative philosophical approach, yet the lineage of scholars Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander the Great all utilized these principles with application to governing the body of people with an awareness of its condition (Augustine, p. 2642). Early church fathers preserved this awareness, yet attributed its condition to the obedience of God’s divine order; though their efforts advocated a totalitarian theocratic state, it instituted an objective basis for political theory (Tuininga, M.J., p.227).