Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 , Assistant Professor, Department of Political Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Ph.D. Student, Department of Approximation of Religions, University of Religions and Religions, Qom, Iran
Abstract
Introduction
Any attempt at reviewing the history of philosophical thought inevitably starts from ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt is the cradle of political thought and as such, has an impeccable role in the history of political thought. Therefore, the attempt to scrutinize political thought in ancient Egypt continues to be an attractive field for historians of political thought. A critical issue in ancient Greece's political thought is its evolution and the elements involved in the procedure. Historians of political thought argue that various elements such as governance systems, culture, and geography as predictors of political thought in ancient Greece. Understanding these issues can lead us into deeper layers of political thought in ancient Egypt in particular, and the political thought of the West in general. For that aim, the purpose of this study is “the analysis of the role and place of the polis system in the evolution of political thought in ancient Greece”. The major question of the study is “What impacts has the emergence of the polis system had on the formation of the foundations of thought in ancient Greece?”. The hypothesis is that “the emergence of the polis system in the form of a dominant discourse not only determined the daily political relations in ancient Greece but also had an undeniable role in the maturation of political thought as a field of knowledge. In other words, political thought as historical knowledge follows the norms of discourse formation and transformation. The current study analyses the polis discourse in juxtaposition to the monarchy discourse; in effect, it presents several transitory stages from monarchy to polis. The first stage is the emergence of the crisis in the hegemon monarch discourse. The second stage is the emergence and consolidation of polis discourse as the new hegemon discourse. The third and last stage is the structuration of the discursive elements of political thought around a central sign (i.e. polis).
Materials and Methods
The authors utilize discourse analysis methodology to elucidate the research issue, namely the logic behind the formation of political thought in ancient Greece.
Results and Discussion
Based on the methodology of the research, the thoughts of every era are under the influence of the dominant discourse. In effect, in monarch discourses, the mythical thought that is influenced by dominant values and norms in its turn provides the grounds for a special kind of thought known as “mythical thought”. The monarch discourse constructs methods and models of thinking that reproduce the dominant discourse. With the passage from the monarch discourse to the polis discourse, it is not only the political order that changes but also the totality of the Greek social/political life. Beyond the living models and styles, a novel form of thinking takes form in the polis discourse. In this novel form of thinking, the passage from the monarch discourse to the polis discourse entails the replacement of rational thought for mythical thought. This replacement and the resulting emphasis on the rational aspect of humanity as against his instinctual and national one gives way to transformations in political institutions’ relations. As a result, the foundations of political legitimacy and stability change from metaphysical and mythical legitimacy to earthly or citizen-oriented legitimacy.
Conclusion
With the transition from the discourse of monarchy to the discourse of the city-state, not only has the political order changed, but the entirety of the social/political life of the Greek individual is transformed. Beyond biological patterns, a new form of thinking is constructed within the discourse of the city-state. In this new way of thinking, by the shift from the discourse of monarchy to that of the city-state, rational thought gradually replaces mythical thinking, and the result of this rationalism is the emergence of political thought.
Keywords
Main Subjects
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