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WA4. Personal world view

Statement

  • Present a 4-page paper on your worldview of family, society, and political philosophy looking at it through the lens of the philosophers we have discussed this week.
  • Remember, your personal philosophy is right for you, you do not have to agree with these scholars or anyone in the class. Please respect yourself enough to state your case, and others enough to allow them to state theirs.
  • Sample questions you may discuss (but you can come up with your own):
    • How do I see Plato’s philosophy in The Republic in the society where I live?
    • I think Aristotle/Plato/St. Aquinas most represents my town/family because…
    • Explain, compare, and contrast your personal philosophy with that of one of these men.
    • St. Thomas was wrong because… (same for Plato and Aristotle)
    • Summarize each of the three philosophers’ positions and explain how you see each of them around you in different ways.
    • Create your own topic based on one, two, or all of these men. Do not simply write a biography paper. The purpose is for you, as a college student, to dive deeper than a biography.

Answer

This text will compare the author’s personal philosophy with that of Plato, Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas in the context of family, society, and political philosophy.

When it comes to family, Plato’s view of the family according to (Rosenberg, 2023) is that it is not needed; Plato sees that rulers should decide on couples according to rank and physical traits, where the aim is to produce good citizens; all children are children of the state and should be raised in state facilities and nurseries. Aristotle’s view considered the family as the basic unit for the further development of the individual and then the state; he sees the family as a provider for natural needs such as food, shelter, reproduction, etc (TheTruthsAboutLife, 2020). St. Thomas Aquinas sees the family as a unit that unifies men and women in the sacred contract of marriage, where the family is the place where everything starts (TheTruthsAboutLife, 2020).

My view on family is a mixture of all of the mentioned views; I think family is the most important unit in society. I see men and women both have equal rights and duties in this institution, as opposed to Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas, who think that women are inferior to men. I see the privacy and system of the family as a matter of the family itself, and the state should not interfere unless something goes horribly wrong; in this case, the state should take responsibility for the children and make sure that they are raised in a good environment.

When it comes to society, Plato’s view is that society should be divided into three classes: the rulers, the auxiliaries, and the producers; the rulers should be the philosophers, the auxiliaries should be the warriors or guardians of the society, and the producers should be the workers and farmers (Brown, 2017). Aristotle’s view is that society is an aggregation of families and individuals, rather than a self-sufficient entity; he also sees that society should be divided into three classes: the rich, the middle class, and the poor; where a healthy society has most of its citizens in the middle class (Yezzi, 2020). St. Thomas Aquinas’s views are largely influenced by Christianity and Aristotle’s views; where he sees God as the ultimate ruler and society should work to achieve the common good (UTM, 2024).

My view on society is very different from each of the above views; I see society as a place of equal rights, duties, and opportunities while preserving the right of individual creativity and freedom. I see society as a collection of families, rather than individuals, as the family is the smallest unit in society, and individuals who live separately from families and did not start a family of their own are considered unproductive.

When it comes to political philosophy, Plato’s view promotes idealism where concepts have a universal idea and form; he sees the individual as more important than society. Aristotle’s view promotes empiricism where each instance of an object or a concept has to be analyzed on its own (Diffen, 2024). St. Thomas Aquinas sees the government’s role as helping everyone work for the common good, which can be summarized as protecting life, preserving the state, and promoting peace (TeachDemocracy, 2023).

My view on political philosophy is that the government should be serving the people, and the government should have red lines that can not be crossed when it comes to individual privacy and freedom; everyone should have the right to vote and express their opinion in choosing the ruler, although I suggest that only people who pass a certain level of intelligence and education should be allowed to vote so that the results of elections are not skewed towards the opinion of the less-informed.

I largely agree with Aquinas’s views on natural and human law; however, the last God’s message is from a long time ago, and it may not be compatible with the modern world; so I suggest that human law be the default law; however, people should have the option to use the natural or God’s law if they want to. We see this in some Middle Eastern countries in matters of marriage and inheritance, where people can opt into the religious law if they want to, or they can use the state law.

To conclude, the views that we saw are mostly outdated and do not suit modern societies; however, studying them is important to understand the evolution of families, societies, and states to the place that we see today. I give the family the most importance, it takes precedence over society, the state, and the individual himself; I see society as a collection of families, and the state as a collection of societies. I see the democratic system as the most useful, where rulers are chosen by elections, and the government as a function of society, not the other way around.

References

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