General Instructions – Replies

Select 2 of your classmates’ threads and interact with the thoughts and ideas. The content of your reply must reflect an excellent knowledge of the reading assignments and must interact with both the thread and the reading assignments. Your replies must also expand on the thread and relate issues to Scripture, biblical principles, and pertinent personal experience. Each reply must meet the required word count of 200 words, contain at least Finally, each reply must provide citations to the sources of, or support for, your ideas as well as any quoted materials and/or borrowed ideas.

Through ancient and modern political science there are several similarities and differences. In this first paragraph, I am going to be addressing the similarities of both. In ancient political science, we have many Greek philosophers that were present, including; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. In modern political science there are many philosophers, including; Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke. In the introduction section of the textbook it states, “Many of the questions raised by these early Greek thinkers are still hotly debated today: What is the purpose of life?, how can we find happiness?, which skills should our political leaders possess?, what is the ideal form of government?, why is it important to be ethical?” (Why Politics Matters: An Introduction to Political Science 2nd Edition, Dooley, Kevin L., Joseph N., Section 2-1, 2015) These types of questions are similar to what is still thought of in the modern political theorists thinking. These questions are still analyzed by political theorists.

When comparing ancient and modern political theorists, there are many differences between ancient and modern. In Hobbes versus the Greeks, it is stated that, “The ancient Greeks believed that the primary purpose of government is to promote social harmony. Political power for the Greeks was merely a means to promote the ends of justice. For Hobbes, political power was not viewed as a means to promote social justice, but rather a means toward the more limited aim of preventing chaos and warfare.” (Why Politics Matters: An Introduction to Political Science 2nd Edition, Dooley, Kevin L., Joseph N., Section 3-3a, 2015). This thinking is different in the aspect of modern thinking compared to the mindset of the Greek philosophers.

As a Christian, I cannot agree with either or side of the evaluation. I am saying this because the evaluations both give off so much valuable information and through a Christian Worldview, I need to be more open to different thoughts and opinions. Through a Christian Worldview I believe that both ancient and modern political science have both made a huge impact on the system that we have today. In closing, “And Jesus said to him, “Why so you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (Luke 18:19, New Testament). This Bible verse helps support my analysis of being open to thoughts and opinions of others because nobody is perfect except for God.

Bibliography:

Dooley, Kevin L., Joseph N. 2015. Why politics matters: An introduction to political science. Published: Stamford, CT. From:

https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?eISBN=9780357040690&nbId=813059&snapshotId=813059&