Morality and Politics Essay -- History, Philosophy, Plato, St. Augusti

Morality and politics have always been closely linked; even in present day politics, morality often has a part to play. Morality within politics has always been a controversial and highly debated topic by many leading political thinkers. There have been many key thinkers on the subject; however, Plato and Augustine have both an interesting and highly debated view on the argument of whether politics should be focused on morality. Both Plato and Augustine had differing views on the ideas of politics and the role that morality plays within this. These two political thinkers were around in very different times and this is reflected in their views of morality and politics. Plato was born in 429BC and came from a distinguished Athenian family, heavily involved in Athenian Politics. As a pupil of Socrates it was inevitable that Plato would be influenced by Socrates and inspired to go into politics. At the time that Plato wrote, Greece was beset by instability and Plato’s focus was to stabilise the â€Å"Polis†, meaning ‘city-state’ and mainly involving Athens and Sparta, which results in an interesting view on morality and politics. Augustine was born in 354AD, in a Rome dominated culture, and had strong Christian beliefs, which heavily influenced his views on morality and politics. This essay will examine both Plato’s and St. Augustine’s view of morality and politics, and whether or not politics should be focused on morality, before coming to a reasoned judgement. Both Plato and Augustine examine whether or not politics should be focused on morality, however, their approach to study and the outcome of their thought leads to very different results. The theory behind these two political thinkers is complex and will therefore need to be examin... ...this Augustine attempts to keep morality and politics separate, however, a closer look reveals that Augustine attempts to remain apolitical due to the immorality surrounding politics, this immediately makes politics focused on politics, even if it is the immorality in politics. Politics should, therefore, be focused on morality. Morality has had an important role to play in the explanation and justification of many political events over the years. It is almost impossible to separate politics from morality therefore a focus of politics on morality can only serve to enhance the understanding of various political systems. Politics has been focused on morality from the era that Plato was writing through to Augustine and even in the present day, it was and remains to be important for politics to be focused on morality; therefore politics should be focused on morality.