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A tyrant (from Ancient Greek τύραννος (túrannos) 'absolute ruler'), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to repressive means.[1][2] The original Greek term meant an absolute sovereign who came to power without constitutional right,[3] yet the word had a neutral connotation during the Archaic and early Classical periods.[4] However, Greek philosopher Plato saw tyrannos as a negative form of government, and on account of the decisive influence of philosophy on politics, deemed tyranny the "fourth and worst disorder of a state."[5]
Tyrants lack "the very faculty that is the instrument of judgment"—reason. The tyrannical man is enslaved because the best part of him (reason) is enslaved, and likewise, the tyrannical state is enslaved, because it too lacks reason and order.[6]
The philosophers Plato and Aristotle defined a tyrant as a person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others.[7][8] The Encyclopédie defined the term as a usurper of sovereign power who makes "his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws".[9] In the late fifth and fourth centuries BC, a new kind of tyrant, one who had the support of the military, arose – specifically in Sicily.
One can apply accusations of tyranny to a variety of types of government:
- to government by one individual (in an autocracy)
- to government by a minority (in an oligarchy, tyranny of the minority)
- to government by a majority (in a democracy, tyranny of the majority)
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 548.: "TYRANT (Gr. τύραννος, master, ruler), a term applied in modern times to a ruler of a cruel and oppressive character."
- ^ Compare: "Tyrant". Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert – Collaborative Translation Project. 2009-11-06. Retrieved 2015-04-01.
[...] today by tyrant one understands, not only a usurper of sovereign power, but even a legitimate sovereign who abuses his power in order to violate the law, to oppress his people, and to make his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws.
- ^ "tyrant". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-10-13.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kaganwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Plato, The Republic Book VIII
- ^ Plato, The Republic Book VIII
- ^ "Politics by Aristotle". classics.mit.edu. Retrieved 2019-05-21 – via Internet Classics Archive, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- ^ "The Republic, by Plato". Retrieved 2019-05-21 – via Project Gutenberg.
- ^ Compare: "Tyrant". The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Thomas Zemanek. Ann Arbor: Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009 (Translation of "Tyran", Encyclopédie Ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts et des Métiers, Vol. 16. Paris, 1765). 6 November 2009. hdl:2027/spo.did2222.0001.238.
[...] today by tyrant one understands, not only a usurper of sovereign power, but even a legitimate sovereign who abuses his power in order to violate the law, to oppress his people, and to make his subjects the victims of his passions and unjust desires, which he substitutes for laws.