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Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and commercial institutions. The concept of civil society in its pre-modern classical republican understanding is usually connected to the period of Enlightenment in the 18th century. However, it has much older history in the realm of political thought. In the classical period, the concept was used as a synonym to good society, and seen as indistinguishable from the state. Generally, civil society has been referred to a political association governing social conflict through the imposition of rules that restrained citizens from harming one another (Edwards 20046). For instance, Socrates admonished that conflicts within society should be resolved through public argument using ‘dialectic’, a form of rational dialogue to uncover truth. According to Socrates, public argument through ‘dialectic’ was imperative to ensure ‘civility’ in the polis and ‘good life’ of the people (O’Brien 1999). For Plato, the ideal state was a just society in which people dedicate themselves to the common good, practice civic virtues of wisdom, courage, moderation and justice, and perform the occupational role to which they were best suited. It was the duty of the ‘Philosopher King’ to look after people in civility (Ibid). As far as Aristotle was concerned, polis was an ‘association of associations’ that enables citizens to share in the virtuous task of ruling and being ruled (Edwards 20046). His koinonia politike as political community was preceding societas civilis introduced later by Cicero. If we analyze the political discourse in the classical period, we can see the importance of a ‘good society’ in ensuring peace and order among the people. The philosophers in the classical period did not make any distinction between state and society. Rather they held that state represented the civil form of society and ‘civility’ represented the requirement of good citizenship (Ibid). Moreover, they held that human beings are inherently rational so that they can collectively shape the nature of society they belong to. In addition to that, the human beings have the capacity to voluntarily gather for the common cause and maintain peace in society. By holding this view, we can say that the classical political thinkers had endorsed the genesis of civil society in its original sense.
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