ABSTRACT
In some respects political philosophy may be seen as a part of ethics, asking questions about the principles that should guide the behavior of states and of individuals acting in the context of those states: Should a state guarantee that its citizens enjoy certain liberties, such as the freedom to choose one’s own lifestyle? How, if at all, should a state intervene in the distribution of material goods among its citizens? Is it morally wrong for a citizen to disobey a law? If it is morally wrong, why is it wrong? Would humans individually or collectively be better off if there were no states? These and other, related questions have engaged political philosophers for over 2,400 years, from Plato in Ancient Greece up until the present. In Plato’s most infl uential work of political philosophy, The Republic , he presents a utopian state and argues that it is superior. As we shall see, the ideal state he describes bears many features in common with the states depicted in this chapter’s two focus fi lms; however, unlike Plato, the fi lms implicitly argue that these common features are morally unacceptable. In addition to Plato, we will also consider the positions offered by several later political philosophers and will fi nd that their views align more closely with those presented in the fi lms.
