Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Philosophy - Essay Example Although it is not possible to say he describes the absolute truth in his works, the lens he uses to look at history—realism—is one of the most valuable and significant. What was Thucydides’ political philosophy? Simply put, people are not perfect and rarely have the best intentions of the human race in mind when they act, in particular if they are leaders of various countries. Thucydides looked at the characters and conflicts and his time and tried to understand why events happened the way they did. He didn’t act in a hardcore ideological way and he did let his curiosity motivate him, but he had decided views about politics. Although he admired Pericles, he hated demagogues who would rile up the masses and force the country and its leaders to act out of the basest of instincts. All of the issues and problems of politics that this great man came up with and first observed thousands of years ago are with us to this day. We can see the philosophical legacy of Thucydides present in today’s world amongst analysts who look at the world from a position of realism. These people would look, for example, at Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, and they would say that Russia’s motives in invading Afghanistan were rooted in self-interests, vested interests, the desire to perpetrate the communist ideology in the whole world, the amassing of more powers that would tilt the balance of power in its favor and against the interests of its Cold War adversary, the United States. To the realist and to Thucydides, expansion of power is often a nation or person’s motivating force and ambition. States and people compete for economic resources and the highest degree of security possible. States value military and economic strength and they are stopped in its tracks only when the level of power of opposing claimants are stronger or just as equal. When analyzing a war—Thucydides