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Ch 1 Sec 1 The Greek Roots of Democracy Solon • Made many needed reforms • Opened offices to more citizens • Gave Athenian assembly more say in decisions • Reforms provided greater fairness & justice Pisistratus • Seized power by force 546 B.C. • Gave farmers & poor citizens a greater voice • Weakened the aristocracy Cleisthenes • Broadened the role of ordinary citizens in gov. • Set up the Council of 500 • Made the assembly a genuine legislature (a lawmaking body) Pericles • Led a thriving economy & more democratic gov. • Believed all male citizens-regardless of wealth or social class-should take part in gov. • Stressed the rights & duties of individuals as citizens of a democracy • Expressed the earliest & greatest democratic ideals in his “Funeral Oration” Socrates • Questioned his fellow citizens about their beliefs • Used a process called “Socratic method” – examine questions to answers • “What is the greatest good” • Believed the unexamined life was not worth living http://www.biography.com/people/ socrates-9488126 Plato • • • • Student of Socrates Set up his own school in Athens Believed reason led to genuine knowledge Described his vision of an ideal state in “The Republic” • Rejected Athenian democracy • Believed the state should regulate citizens’ lives »Believed “philosopher kings” should » control the government (BM ?) http://www.cloudbiograp hy.com/bios/plato.html Aristotle http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeJJpbDrVRM • • • • Was Plato’s most famous student Tutor to Alexander the Great Favored a constitutional gov. ruled by the middle class Believed good conduct meant pursuing the “golden mean” (living in the middle?) • Promoted reason as the guiding force for learning • Set up a school for the study of all branches of knowledge (politics, ethics, logic, biology, etc) – (Individual achievement, dignity & worth are key concept for Western political thought today from Athens) BM? • “He who trusts any man with supreme power gives it to a wild beast, for such his appetite sometimes makes him: passion influences those in power, even the best of men, but law is reason without desire” Aristotle Which feature of modern Western democratic government reflects Aristotle’s views as given above? 1. The direct election of members of the legislature 2. The power of the courts to review the laws 3. The granting of emergency powers to the chief leader 4. The requirement that government actions must adhere to the law http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCsph5Pykv k horrible histories the thinkers Answer 4. The requirement that government actions must adhere to the law CH 1 section1 Review ?’s 1.Sparta stressed this system vs Athens that glorified this duty… 2.Who was eligible to take part in Athenian government during the Age of Pericles? 3.What was the major result of the Peloponnesian War. 4.To determine why things happened, Greek philosophers uses these 2 items… 5.What was Alexander's most important contribution to the world? Answers Each answer is worth 4 pts /20 1. Stern discipline, glorified the individual 2. All male citizens, regardless of social class 3. Sparta replaced Athens as Greece’s leading city-state 4. Reason & observation (know this, BM?) 5. He preserved and spread Greek values