great thinkers, great ideas

130 Political Theory: The Relationship of Man and the State

person’s soul, the body as the temple of the soul, and all men as

brothers was a religious egalitarianism.

The modem roots of egalitarianism are:

4) The English, French, and American revolutions: Each of

these revolutions attacked hereditary rights, monarchy, class

privilege, and other elitist concepts.

5) Suffrage in England and America: The extension of voting

rights through laws which eliminated property qualifications

(wealth), through constitutional amendments (race), (sex), (age),

all served to advance egalitarian notions.

Monism vs Pluralism

As with all the great issues, the problem of monism vs
pluralism deals with premises and goals. If, indeed, the premise
and goal of one was clearly superior to the other, the issue would
not really exist. The problem arises because each has advantages
as well as disadvantages, each goal is worthy, yet each attempt
to achieve it is beset with pitfalls. The goal of the monist is unity,
while the pluralist values diversity. The problem is that one is
often achieved at the expense of the other. How should the many
different social groups in the state function, as one or separately?
The monist sees unity as the high goal. The advantages of
harmony and order, the ability to easily set and clarify goals and
to determine priorities and work together toward them, are just
some of the advantages of monism. Monists see progress as the
result of a stable society, unified in purpose, with minimal
internal conflict. The family, religion, and economic theory are
often the basis for monism.
In ancient Greece the concept of the city-state was the out­
growth of the kinship theory, a monist position. All social groups
came under the umbrella of the state, as members of the family
came under the paternal leadership of the father. Little weight
was given to the idea that social groups could work against the
goals of the state or in contradiction to the city’s stated purposes.
Socrates was tried, in part, for undermining the unity of the state.
The pluralist values diversity. Independent social, political,