The birth of political science (Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides).

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This thesis seeks to uncover the roots of political science in ancient political thought, specifically in Plato, Aristotle and Thucydides. The thesis defines political science as the account of the rule of reason given by those who consider the universe to be nothing more than matter in motion and therefore devoid of objective standards for the adjudication of claims to rule among human beings. The argument of the thesis is that the ancient account of political science anticipates most of the central developments typically held to be innovations in modern political science, with specific reference to the theory of human subjectivity, the nature of citizenship and civic virtue, the logic and limits of foreign policy realism, and the importance for modern democratic theory of such innovations as representation, human rights and administrative governance. As the ancient thinkers developed their account of political science through the study of democracy, which was believed to be the regime that most resembles the political-scientific account of political life, the thesis is also a study of the relevance of ancient democracy for the theory and practice of modern democracy.