Sunday, January 5, 2020
An Analysis Of Euripides The Suppliants - 1372 Words
In The Suppliants, Euripides wrote, ââ¬Å"The people cannot form proper judgements and therefore cannot rightly direct a stateâ⬠. Euripides is living in the midst of democracy in Athens; therefore his quote is a critique of what is happening around him. In his quote, he is taking an anti-democratic stance towards the question of who is fit to rule. Euripides believes only one or few people should rule a state, as not all are qualified or have the ââ¬Ëproper judgementââ¬â¢ to do so. However, people do rule the state, without having to meet any arbitrary requirements to be fit to rule. The term ââ¬Ëproper judgementââ¬â¢ is highly subjective and the notion that only a few have the ability to rule is simply paternalistic. The relative success of ancient Athenian and contemporary Swiss direct democracy show that people do have the ability to form proper judgments. It was Aristotle who once said ââ¬Å"man is a political animalâ⬠, so it is in human nature to be polit ically involved. In opposition, Plato describes the grave consequences of placing the power into the one or the few in his ideal yet authoritarian state. There are many issues with Euripidesââ¬â¢ quote. Firstly, the term ââ¬Ëproper judgmentââ¬â¢ is extremely abstract. For instance, Machiavelli and Kant would have very different ideas on what ââ¬Ëproper judgmentââ¬â¢ may be, but both are thought to be notable political philosophers. The decisions rulers make will always be criticized by one group of people, so it is difficult to say for certain if someone meets
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