POLI 231 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Polynices, Political Philosophy, Haemon
17 May 2018
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Poli231: Introduction to Political Theory
Lecture 1 – 9 January 2018
Why study political theory? To take a more critical stance on our own values
• We study questions of reconciliation, for example, why should Indigenous people be
reconciled to the Canadian system
- What is required to reconcile them?
- What would Canada look like with Indigenous people who are self-determining?
- These are aspirational questions which political philosophy helps us decide
Lecture 2 – 11 January 2018
Ancient Greek Tragedy: guiding questions
1. Why study the Ancients?
2. Why read Antigone in political theory?
3. What is tragedy as a genre?
4. What makes a tragic plot?
5. What is the relationship between tragedy and political theory?
6. Why study tragedy? What does it teach us?
Antigone: Background
• There is not yet a concept of the “West”
We read it so that we can decide if it is worth reading. A contemporary concern about reading it
is that we romanticize subjects, have misguided nostalgia and look for secret truths because it is
ancient text, even though there are problematic characteristics (like the subordination of women,
etc). Another contemporary concern is that the problems that society faces today are different-
that there is a big gap between the ancient polis and modern society → do we gain that much
from reading it, or should we decide to move on from the ancients? To some contemporary
theorists, we are not as much like the Ancient Greeks as we might like to believe, and we might
use the ancients to validate some aspects of contemporary society.
There is not just one perspective of what truth is in Antigone. Studying the ancients may allow us
a critical distance – sometimes we are too locked in to our contemporary context (due to
socialization and dominant frameworks). In literature and philosophy, there is a fundamental
project of knowing one’s self.
Why read Sophocles? Why a play? Why in political theory?
Think about the relationship between playwriting and philosophy. In approx. 500 BCE,
boundaries between disciplines were non-existent. For example, Thucydides did not consider
himself a historian – he writes a great epic. Categories of the aesthetic are less disciplinarily
distinguished. Part of the representation of plays was to affect emotions of the audience. Plays
were part of religious festivals and the audience was a combination of citizens, some non-
citizens and maybe some women.
The Greek Gods wee not benevolent. They were basically beings with human traits that are
maxed out. It is never the case that Gods force humans to do things, however there are contexts
of necessity.
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• For example: Creon’s first son is sacrificed for success in the civil war, as a result of
prophecy. The Gods placed a necessity and so people (usually men) perform the required
action
• We still have judgment of characters, based on how they carry the action out
• Are Gods a source of moral authority? There may be Gods on opposing sides of conflict
For Ancient Greeks, tragedy did not always have to have a grim ending, however there is always
the worry of a grim ending. The humans may strive and catastrophe may be averted. Usually, the
plot involves a tragic reversal in plot. The characters are usually good people, with whom we can
identify. They are not usually evil or corrupt in the beginning – if they start evil and are
punished, this would be an instance of justice, rather than tragedy. In the tragedy, the people are
not so condemnable, but the tragic reversal of plot plunges them in suffering, so we have pity.
Catastrophe may be the result of forces beyond human control → being good does not mean that
humans can avoid catastrophe. Philosophers don’t really like to place the source of catastrophe
outside of human control, as it implies that we do not master tragedy → tragedy masters us.
A basic question of political philosophy: How do we change ourselves?
Aristotle: In tragedy, the best plots inspire pity and fear
• Pity: recognition of suffering and of people as undeserving of the suffering
• Fear: we fear for our lives. Why? Because we cannot always control how things work out
- What if conflicts in our own society are not reconcilable?
- What if rulers won’t bend?
- Antigone: a reminder of what can go wrong – the play should create fear in those with
ambitions of political power
When reading tragedy, we want to think, why did this happen? What kind of tragedy is it?
• Often, there is some blameworthiness of characters
• Characters are often born from social context and position
Certain tragedies can be thought of as ethical dilemmas, meaning a tragedy in which morals
clash. In these, we have the sense that there is nothing that characters can do. Characters
represent competing ethical systems – the characters cannot do right. So, we ask: how can we
reconcile these systems? It motivates us to think about the ways we consider conflict. As we
think, we are moved away from resignation → why be motivated to do good if there is still
catastrophe? Many political theorists ask what the tragedians are educating the people about
• Tragedy’s role: to stimulate reflection of virtue, etc., without answering the questions.
Maybe we gain humility, illumination, or look at different perspectives
Sophocles’s Antigone: Should Thebes bury Polyneices? Why is this a political question?
Why not:
1. Polyneices threatened the polis – he is a traitor. Why protect him when he was the
invader? He is an enemy of the political community
2. Creon burying Polyneices is a statement that what Polyneices did is acceptable
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3. Creon needs to create post-war stability. He must show strong leadership and say that
citizens cannot do what Polyneices did. Those who tried to destroy the city should not be
recognized
4. Creon is usually read as the head of law and order. However, if we look as him as only
human, we see that he had to sacrifice a son to win the civil war – this is what Polyneices
has taken from him. This is a human reason for why Creon might not want to bury
Polyneices. However, this is in the background, and Creon makes his reason about the
public
Why bury Polyneices?
1. Polyneices was still a Theban (part of the political community)
2. According to religious beliefs, his soul can’t move on without burial
3. For Antigone: family relation transcends political conflict… But, Creon also had this
family relation
4. Post-war stability: Creon wanted to show how enemies are treated. But, why not bury
him without glory, just to end divisiveness? Basic burial is a form of humanism.
- A question that is controversial in contemporary politics: can we mourn certain war
leaders? For example, Japanese people were executed for war crimes and visiting their
places of burial can create offence
- Contemporary issue: Muslims couldn’t bury their dead in Quebec city
- Burial is a political issue
All works of art are open to interpretation. Writers seem divinely inspired to produce the works,
but are unsure how to comment on it.
Why not listen to Antigone in the play?
• Woman
- She does not have the right to bury the dead
- She does not have the right to tell rulers to do things
- Creon calls her “bad woman”
- Who is a good woman? Ismene, because she says she knows her place
• Feminists have called Antigone a work of misogyny
- Creon tells Haemon there are “other fields to plow”
• Creon’s mindset
- Tells his son he is misbehaving when he tries to advise him
- Obsessed with being the representative of the public
- Says he must be obeyed no matter what, so that there is stability
- We must remember his context: there was just a civil war. If he lets everything go, he has
fear there will be anarchy (this is what Hobbes argues as well)
Lecture 3 – 16 January 2018
Completing Antigone:
We see groups with different interests trying to live together. A potential message for the ruler is
that there is a need for compromise. Is there a message for the public?
• There is value in frank speech
• Collective decision-making helps us to avoid problems (can also create problems)
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Document Summary
To take a more critical stance on our own values: we study questions of reconciliation, for example, why should indigenous people be reconciled to the canadian system. These are aspirational questions which political philosophy helps us decide. Antigone: background: there is not yet a concept of the west . We read it so that we can decide if it is worth reading. A contemporary concern about reading it is that we romanticize subjects, have misguided nostalgia and look for secret truths because it is ancient text, even though there are problematic characteristics (like the subordination of women, etc). To some contemporary theorists, we are not as much like the ancient greeks as we might like to believe, and we might use the ancients to validate some aspects of contemporary society. There is not just one perspective of what truth is in antigone.
