PSIR Power 50 – Day 12 Capsule: WPT- (Part-1/3) + Practice Qs
Hello everyone,
Today it’s the First part of Western Political thought–Plato, Aristotle and Machiavelli. UPSC has asked 2 ten-mark, 5 fifteen-mark, and 5 twenty-mark questions in total in last 12 years.
1.Plato (428/7-347 BCE
| Block / Cluster | Core Content (concepts, arguments, devices) | Principal Text-anchors & Historical Markers | Influences, Interlocutors & Critics |
| 1. Space & Time | Athens; Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE) • Rule of Thirty Tyrants → democratic restoration; execution of Socrates shapes Plato’s anti-democratic turn. | Formation years 404-399 BCE • Academy founded 387 BCE | |
| 2. Intellectual Lineage | Pythagoras – harmony of spheres, transmigration, math order • Heraclitus – flux, logos • Parmenides – distrust senses, changeless reality • Socrates – eudaimonism, unity of virtues, elenchus. | — | Mentions of Pythagorean brotherhood; Socratic dialogues Apology, Crito. |
| 3. Methodological Arsenal | Dialectic (Socratic questioning) • Deductive—from idea to application • Teleology (purpose-oriented analysis) • Analogy (Sun, Cave, Divided-Line). | Meno (dialectic) • Republic Bk VI (Sun / Line) • Republic Bk VII (Cave). | |
| 4. School / Perspective | Political Idealism: empirical polis is defective; real polity = Form of the Good incarnate. | — | |
| 5. Canon of Works | Republic • Apology • Crito • Statesman • Laws (+ early “Socratic” dialogues). | c. 399-347 BCE | |
| 6. Ontology & Epistemology | Theory of Forms – two realms (Ideas vs. Matter) • Knowledge = apprehension of immutable Forms; sensory world = opinion. | Sun-Line-Cave trio. | Nietzsche (ideal vs real) • Whitehead (“footnotes to Plato”). |
| 7. Virtue = Knowledge | Happiness (eudaimonia) via intellectual apprehension; virtues unified; wrong-doing = ignorance. | Early dialogues (Protagoras, Gorgias). | Socratic heritage; contrasts Sophists (relativism, rhetoric). |
| 8. Justice Theory | Justice = each part doing its own work; city-soul analogy. Class virtues: Wisdom (Rulers), Courage (Guardians), Temperance (Producers). | Republic Bks I-IV; Myth of Metals. | Refutes Cephalus, Polemarchus, Thrasymachus, Glaucon; later critics Popper, Nietzsche. |
| 9. Education Scheme | State-funded, gender-neutral, staged (0-6 ethics, 7-18 music/gym, 18-20 military, 20-30 math/science, 30-35 dialectic, 35-50 practicum → Philosopher) | Republic Bks II-VII. | Spartan & Athenian models blended; praised by Barker, criticised by Russell (authoritarian, abstract), Aristotle (expense, rigidity). |
| 10. Communism of Family & Property | Guardians share property & wives; eugenic mating festivals; purpose = remove greed, nepotism. | Republic Bks V-VI. | Aristotle (common neglect, “worse than disease”); Popper (utopian); comparison with Marx (class/property distinctions, revolution vs education). |
| 11. Philosopher-King / Queen | Only those who know the Good should rule; knowledge > law; rulers live communally, no wealth/family. | Republic Bks VI-VII. | Later expanded by Statesman (law-bound statesman) & Laws (second-best law-bound mixed regime). Critics: Popper (closed society), Russell (over-trust in wisdom), abuse-of-power lacuna. |
| 12. Statesman & Laws | Typology: lawful vs lawless; six regimes (monarchy/tyranny, aristocracy/oligarchy, moderate/extreme democracy). Laws builds mixed constitution: rule of law, private property with ceilings, population control, detailed education. | Statesman • Laws (last work). | Adopted by Aristotle (polity classification). |
| 13. Gender Equality | Same education & military training for women; possibility of Philosopher-Queen; biological “deformity” removable via learning. | Republic V. | Early “feminist” note; rare in Greek thought. |
| 14. Democracy Critique & Relevance | Unlimited freedom → anarchy → demagogue → tyranny; ignorance of expertise. | Republic VIII-IX; reference to Athens’ fall. | Modern echoes: Freedom House 2022; Hitler example; but rebutted via Mandela, Wałęsa, strong constitutional democracies. |
| 15. Open vs Closed Society Debate | Karl Popper: Plato = enemy of open society, blueprint for totalitarianism. Rebuttal: guardians renounce luxury, equal educational ladder, no secret police; idealist physician not tyrant. | Popper’s Open Society and Its Enemies (1945). | Other detractors: Chapman, Fite, Crossman; defenders cite holistic reform aim. |
| 16. Legacy Labels | “Father of Political Philosophy & Political Idealism” (tradition) • Guiding star (Vivekananda); “Plato is philosophy” (Emerson). | Western canon; Academy lineage. | A. N. Whitehead, W.K.C. Guthrie, A.E. Taylor, E. Barker validate depth; Churchill quote on democracy used to test relevance. |
2.Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
| Block / Cluster | Core Content (concepts, arguments, devices) | Text / Empirical Anchor | Influences / Interlocutors / Critics |
| 1 Setting & Persona | Stagira → Academy pupil → Lyceum founder • Father of Political Science & Political Realism • “Dear is Plato, but dearer is truth.” | Life span overlaps late Classical polis, Macedonian ascendancy. | Plato (idealism foil); cited by Coleridge, Ebenstein, Will Durant. |
| 2 Methodological Arsenal | Scientific (systematic causality) • Empirical/Observational (158 constitutions) • Induction & Deduction blend • Historical & Comparative study • Teleology (“Nature does nothing in vain”). | Politics I-III; Nicomachean Ethics; Constitution-programme. | Methodology praised by Barker; contrast to Platonic deductivism. |
| 3 Contrast with Plato | Ideas inhere in matter; seeks Golden Mean; unity-in-diversity vs Platonic monism; polis organic not engineered. | Politics II critiques Republic. | Plato-Aristotle polarity (Coleridge maxim). |
| 4 Theory of State | Natural, evolutionary “association of associations” → family → village → polis; state prior to individual teleologically; provides eudaimonia. | Politics I. | Modern critics: state-over-individual tension. |
| 5 “Man a Political Animal” | Logos (reason/speech) ⇒ social bonds (philia, trust); political life essential for virtue. | Politics I. | |
| 6 Most Practical / Best Achievable State | Small self-sufficient polis; mixed class (middle-class polity) ; moderate wealth; trust-based. | Politics IV-VI. | Realism praised; size criterion deemed archaic for modern nations. |
| 7 Citizenship Theory | Citizen = one who rules and is ruled; participation in deliberative & judicial offices; needs leisure & property; non-essentials: descent, residence. Excludes women, children, elders, slaves, aliens. | Politics III. | Critiqued for elitism; contrasted with Mill (gender equality). |
| 8 Slavery & Freedom | “Natural slaves” lack deliberative soul; slavery useful to both parties; anticipates emancipation & mechanisation. Freedom = self-rule + restraint; property/leisure prerequisite. | Politics I; Ethics V. | Condemned by Kant (ends-in-themselves), MacIntyre, Martha Nussbaum, Charles Taylor, Bernard Williams. |
| 9 Family & Women | Family (oikos) primary socialisation; spousal philia ethical base. Patriarchal: man active, woman passive, lacking deliberative virtue. | Politics I-II; Economics. | Critiqued by modern feminists; contrasted with Plato’s guardian women. |
| 10 Property Doctrine | Prefers private ownership / common use; rejects communism (neglect, quarrels); condemns usury & excess wealth. | Politics II. | Positive by Barker; common-ownership critique cites tragedy-of-commons. |
| 11 Justice Typology | General (complete virtue toward others) • Particular: ■ Rectificatory (correct wrongs) ■ Distributive (geometric equality by merit/virtue). | Ethics V; Politics III. | Blend of oligarchic & democratic elements noted. |
| 12 Rule of Law & Constitutionalism | Law = reason without passion; collective wisdom > individual wisdom; advocates isonomia. | Politics III. | Foundations for modern constitutionalism. |
| 13 Constitutional Classification & Cycle | Law-abiding vs lawless; • One: Monarchy / Tyranny • Few: Aristocracy / Oligarchy • Many: Polity (mixed) / Democracy. Degenerative cycle. | Politics III-VI; 158-constitution study. | Modern critique: confuses “state” & “government”. |
| 14 Theory of Revolution | (briefly referenced) Revolts arise from inequality & faction; remedy via middle class & rule of law. | Politics V. | |
| 15 Relevance & Legacy | Seeds of constitutional rule, mixed government, middle-class polity, virtue ethics; empirical template for comparative politics. | Cited by modern constitutional democracies. | Influence spans Aquinas, Locke, MacIntyre; realist lineage. |
| 16 Global Critique Ledger | – Exclusionary citizenship, patriarchy, slavery. – Small-polis model obsolete. – Property criteria elitist. + Empirical rigour, rule-of-law doctrine enduring. | Critics list: Kant, MacIntyre, Nussbaum, Taylor, Williams; feminist & egalitarian schools; modern state theorists. |
3.Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
| Block / Theme | Sub-points & Key Ideas | Texts / Empirical Anchors | Influences · Interlocutors · Critics |
| 1 Space & Time | Florence Republic; diplomatic career 1498-1512; Medici coup, exile (1513) → writing phase | Letters; Autobiographical fragments | Italian city-state anarchy; France/Spain intrusions |
| 2 Renaissance Matrix | • “New Age” break with medieval • Humanism, individualism, glorification of Nuovo Uomo • Commerce, banking, money economy • Printing press (ideas diffusion) • Geographic discoveries (knowledge explosion) | — | Harold Laski (“whole Renaissance in him”); Dunning (borderline of ages) |
| 3 Italy’s Fragmentation | Florence–Milan–Venice–Naples rivalries; papal politics; foreign invasions → need for unità | Dispatches; History of Florence | |
| 4 Methodology | Historical (Roman & Italian precedents) • Empirical/observational • Realist (facts > ideals) • “Enlighten present through past” • Rejects scholastic/juridical abstractions | The Prince ch. 1-8; Discourses Preface | Parallel to Aristotle (induction), but pragmatic not normative; Dunning: art of government ≠ theory of state |
| 5 School | Classical Realism: “ends justify means” · “necessity knows no law” · “might is right” | – | Seeds of realist tradition in IR |
| 6 Fundamental Premises | Moral indifference (amoral stance) • Universal egoism (“men ungrateful, fickle, deceitful…”) • Autonomy of politics (la ragion di Stato) • Secularism (religion tool, not compass) | Prince ch. 15-19; Discourses I-12 | Leo Strauss (“teacher of evil”) |
| 7 Key Works | The Prince (1513; pub. 1532) — manual for new prince Discourses on Livy (c. 1517) — republican manifesto History of Florence; Art of War; Mandragola (satire) | — | |
| 8 Advice to the Prince | • Reality ≫ ideal (“how men live vs ought to”) • Traits: lion’s courage + fox’s cunning; be feared > loved (but avoid hatred); cold-blooded opportunism • State survival = supreme law; expansion or perish; neighbors = natural enemies • Maintain nationalised citizen army, not mercenaries • Grand enterprises, low taxes, hands-off property & women | Prince ch. 3-10, 17-19, 21 | |
| 9 Virtù, Potere & Fortuna | Virtù = adaptive strategic excellence; situational ethics; mastery of power Fortuna = capricious woman/nature; must be “beaten & dominated” by impetuous actors Virtù is preparation to duel with Fortuna | Prince ch. 6, 25; Disc. II.29 | Contrast to Aristotle’s teleological virtue & Socratic ethics |
| 10 Religion | Utilitarian; disciplinary force; church should not rule state; precursor of modern secularism; Italian corruption traced to papacy | Disc. I.12; Prince ch. 11 | Indian “one-way separation” analogue |
| 11 Grandi vs Popolo | Two humours: nobles seek domination, people desire non-oppression; interests irreconcilable Prince: ruler restrains Grandi, courts Popolo Discourses: republican institutions channel conflict (tribunes, mixed constitution) | Disc. I.4, I.37 | |
| 12 Roman Republican Model | Rome great because nobles allowed masses political share; collective virtue in common danger; republican liberty ultimate goal | Disc. Book I-III | |
| 13 Monarch-Republic Dialectic | Prince = emergency handbook for unifier; Discourses = long-run mixed republic → “monarchy as transitory phase”; humanism the common thread | Sabine notes dual admiration; scholars defend coherence | |
| 14 Machiavellianism (term) | Popular misuse = ruthless cynicism; genuine doctrine = realist prudence for civic greatness; human agency central | — | |
| 15 Evaluation / Critique | Sabine: parochial, dated, blind to religion’s future, pessimistic human view L. Strauss: norm-shattering evil Laski: epitome of Renaissance Limits: no systematic psychology (cf. Hobbes); medieval vs modern state distinctions. Merits: anticipates sovereign centralised state, national army, secular politics, pragmatic “political science,” rescued thought from scholasticism. |
Scholars Index
A. N. Whitehead | A. E. Taylor | Alasdair MacIntyre | Aristotle | Bernard Williams | Bertrand Russell | Cephalus | Chapman | Charles Taylor | Coleridge | Crossman | Dunning | Ebenstein | Emerson | Ernest Barker | Fite | Friedrich Nietzsche | George H. Sabine | Glaucon | Harold Laski | Heraclitus | Immanuel Kant | John Stuart Mill | Karl Marx | Karl Popper | Lech Wałęsa | Leo Strauss | Martha Nussbaum | Nelson Mandela | Niccolò Machiavelli | Parmenides | Plato | Polemarchus | Pythagoras | Socrates | Swami Vivekananda | Thomas Aquinas | Thomas Hobbes | Thrasymachus | W. K. C. Guthrie | Will Durant | Winston Churchill
Practice Questions (Write before 4 p.m.)
Question 1. Comment on Machiavelli’s secularism. [2020/10m]
Question 2. Critically examine Plato’s theory of Forms. [2024/15m]
Question 3. Explain the Aristotelian view of politics. To what extent do you think it has contributed to the development of modern-day constitutional democracies? [2024/20m]
📌 Model answers drop this evening on the Telegram channel: https://t.me/psirbyamitpratap – keep notifications on.
See you tomorrow on Day 13. Keep practicing!
—Amit Pratap Singh & Team
A quick note on submissions of copies and mentorship
- 2025 Mains writers: Cohort 1 of O-AWFG starts on 12 June and ATS on 15 June. The above practice set will serve as your revision tool, just do not miss booking your mentorship sessions for personalised feedback especially for starting tests. Come with your evaluated test copies.
- 2026 Mains writers – keep uploading through your usual dashboard. Act on the feedback and improve consistently.
- Alternate between mini-tests (O-AWFG) and full mocks (ATS) has been designed to tackle speed, content depth, and structured revision—line-by-line evaluation pinpoints your weaknesses and errors. Follow your PSIR O-AWFG & ATS schedule and use the model answers to enrich your content, as rankers recommended based on their own success.
