INTRODUCTION

Political thought is concerned with the organisation, nature, and purpose of the state. As a basis for
its continuation, there isn't much explanation of the recurrence of State. Western political thinking is
primarily concerned with the history of the West and various difficulties that it faces. Political
thinking is really important. Political institutions and social practises make up this system. It reflects
how we might best adjust in our common lives. A political philosopher's goal is to identify ways to
emphasise the fundamental concepts that underpin the justification of a certain system of
government.

Political thinking is the presentation of ideas, ideals, and suggestions with the goal of influencing
policy, changing it, and significantly amending it in order to start over. The foregoing propositions
are addressed in a number of ways throughout the classical tradition of western political thought.

With the Greeks, political thinking spread throughout the world. The Greeks were constructing city
states in and around the Mediterranean region a thousand years before Christ's birth. As a result,
Greek intellectuals gave the building of an ideal state, its rulers, and the institutional institutions
needed to manage it a high priority. Socrates, his disciple Plato, and Plato's disciple Aristotle were
three great intellectuals who gave rise to organised political theory and laid the foundation for
contemporary political science in the 4th century BC.

From origin to end, political philosophy is the description of a variety of political philosophers'
political beliefs. It is the full total of views articulated by philosophers on issues of politics, state, and
governance. Western political thinking evolves and revolves on libertarian, democratic, and
democratic tradition values, as well as equality and egalitarian values.

It is hard to envision Western political philosophy (or any culture for that matter) without history.
Political thought is linked to politics, but history is what gives political thought its foundation.
Because it is described as history, it is historical in nature. Comprehending political philosophy in the
framework of history is, in reality, understanding political thought in its true sense. In the age of the
philosopher breaths, a political philosopher's political philosophy arises. Indeed, his political thought
is a response to the circumstances in which he lives. His thinking is inextricably linked to the history
of his period. Plato, despite being an idealist, could not be isolated from his surroundings. His
classification of states reflected the classification in use at the time, and his philosophy of education
was highly influenced by what was available in Athens and Sparta at the time. Machiavelli's entire
methods reflected his historical debt. The contractualists, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau, based their
social contract theory on history. Karl Marx went to great lengths to promote a materialistic view of
history. The objective conditions of history have always provided the grounds for political
philosophers' thought. A contextual analysis is always a safer technique to comprehend a text. A
structure without a foundation is a text without a context. In the setting of the Renaissance,
Machiavelli is better understood. With their poles as far apart as the north and south poles, Hobbes
and Locke can be better understood in the context of the English civil war. Marx must be seen in the
context of European/Western society's rising capitalism.
The importance of western political thinking resides in political philosophers' attempts to identify
political challenges and give solutions, thus providing political thought a sense of purpose and vision.
Sheldon Wolin puts a point, saying, "the designation of certain activities and arrangements as
political, the characteristic way that we think about them, and the concepts we employ to
communicate our observations and reactions ... none of these are written in the nature of things but
are the legacy accruing from the historical activity of political philosophers". ' He states these
political' issues: the power relations between government and subject, the nature ' of political
authority, the problems created by social conflicts, purposes and objectives of political activity, and
the character and utility of political knowledge.

Political philosophers write works on political philosophy from time to time, and while they are tied
to a specific era, they are timeless. They are timeless because they exist in all eras and exist outside
of their own. They are timeless because they are applicable to people of all ages, past, present, and
future. They are timeless because they emphasise issues that will continue to be issues in the future:
corruption in politics was a problem in Plato's time, and it is still a problem now. The writings are
ageless because they address issues that affect people of all ages. They are ageless because the
themes they address are universal in nature.

Plato lived between 427 and 347 BC and was a well-known philosopher and political researcher. He
was a student of Socrates and later founded the Academy, the first recorded "university." The
Republic is his best work, and the Theory of Forms is his most well-known notion. He had a
significant impact on Western philosophy. He was also the perfect political philosopher, whose ideas
influenced subsequent political theory in a serious way. He had the largest influence on Aristotle,
although he influenced Western political thinking in a variety of ways. Plato's philosophy is
characterised by the use of dialectic, a form of conversation involving ever more insightful insights
into the nature of reality, and cognitive optimism, a conviction in the human mind's ability to attain
the truth and employ it for the coherent and righteous ordering of human affairs. Plato believed that
the competing interests of various sectors of society could be reconciled. He advocates the best,
rational, and righteous political structure, which leads to a peaceful agreement of society and allows
each of its elements to grow without harming others. Plato, the originator of Western political
philosophy, provided some of the earliest extant analyses of political concerns from a philosophical
standpoint in his Republic and Laws, among other dialogues. When it comes to Plato's contribution
to politics, no other thinker in the history of political thinking has elicited the same level of
admiration and criticism. Plato is widely considered as the founder of philosophical idealism, owing
to his belief that there is a universal notion in the universe of everlasting existence beyond the
senses. He was the first to express and clarify political beliefs within the context of a greater
philosophical concept of Good.

Aristotle was a notable political thinker in ancient Greece. He was a disciple of Plato and is regarded
as the "gem" of political philosophy because political views are mostly founded on his fundamental
concepts. He also made contributions in a variety of scientific domains. He is regarded as the
founder of political science. His political philosophy is a synthesis of political aspirations and political
realities. His political books II, III, and VIII deal with political concepts, whereas books IV, V, and VI
deal with political events. Aristotle definitely felt the influence of Plato's laws rather than his
Republic in his portrayal of his ideal state. According to Sabine, Aristotle's ideal condition is always
Plato's second-best state. Before discussing Aristotle's ideal condition, it should be recognised that
he was not an absolutist like Plato. Monarchy, for example, would be an ideal government if a
community had a single great person with predominate virtue. If it has a few good men, aristocracy
is the best form of government. He shared important details about his political philosophy, including
how he was influenced by Plato, his views on the state, and how the state evolved from the family to
meet the wants and desires of the people. Individuals can only achieve self-sufficiency through
changing their state. He also asserted, how state must work for the cause of society and the
functions of the state. He placed a strong emphasis on the constitution and classified the various
constitutions. He spoke about slaves and defended his position on three grounds: natural, utilitarian,
and expedient. Slaves have less capability, he claims, and he must obey the master because he
knows more than the slave. For his views on slavery, he was chastised. His views on citizenship have
a conservative slant to them; he claims that only those who participate in the administration of
justice and legislation as members of the deliberative assembly are citizens. Modern political
theorists chastised him.