A definition of political philosophy:
Political philosophy is the study of social organization and human nature.
Political philosophers are considering the following questions:
- What is the ideal form of government? Is it aristocracy, monarchy, theocracy, democracy, a mixture of different systems, or the government of all ?
- What is the best economic system? The capitalist system, socialist, or a mixture of both?
- How did they men before the advent of the state? Does the state of nature can be considered as a pre-political paradise?
- How to cure society of its ills?
Main Political Philosophers:
In the early days, political philosophy was a branch of philosophy, practiced by philosophers key-on (Plato, Aristotle) before specializing in modern times (Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rawls, … ):
– Plato: Plato is the first political philosopher. Almost all of his dialogues have a political dimension. These include The Republic and The Laws as political works of Plato.
– Aristotle: Politics is at the heart of Aristotle’s thought. Politics and the Nicomachean Ethics put politics at the heart of society. Aristotle assigns to the politic make citizens happy.
– St. Tomas Aquinas: God made his entry into politics with Thomas Aquinas. He advocates a theocratic regime, a divine right monarchy. Somme against the Gentiles expose most political theories of Thomism.
– Machiavelli: The Prince of Machiavelli is an enormous contribution to political philosophy. Political modernity invented by Machiavelli in that it separates God from politics, and introduces realism.
– Hobbes: The English philosopher invented the concept of sovereignty in Leviathan. He also conceptualized the social contract, agreement among members to abandon part of their will, in exchange for their safety.
– Locke: Other English philosopher, founder of political liberalism. According to John Locke, we compiled quotations major modern states must be based on the law and not arbitrary or force His political work is the Treatise of Civil Government.
– Montesquieu: Montesquieu is the thinker of the moderation of power, based on the separation of powers. His book The Spirit of the Laws invented the tripartite division between the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. “Everywhere, the power to stop the power” can be summarized his political thought.
– Rousseau: contractualist, Rousseau is a descendant of Hobbes. In the Social Contract, he invented the concept of the general will as the touchstone of democracy (direct democracy).
– Kant: His political thinking is focused on the issue of peace and the relationship between states. Wanting to leave states in the war of all against all, the perpetual peace project, political utopia, inspired the tradition of cosmopolitanism.
– Marx: Marx has a philosophy based on denunciation of the modern state as an instrument of domination of the propertied classes of the proletarian classes. His political thinking is to eliminate all forms of inequality (socialism and communism) and is a guide for the revolution of the people against the ruling classes.
– Bakunin : thinker of anarchism.
– Rawls : Rawls is the thinker of social democracy. He sought, in A Theory of Justice, to reconcile liberalism of our societies with the law, to make compatible economic efficiency and social justice
– Habermas: Marxist thinker early career and liberal retirement. His theory of the public sphere is one of the greatest contributions to contemporary political philosophy.
Our papers :
Spy, Democracy and Politics
Does secrets ruined democracy? The question of intelligence Each election, each political issue always refers to the place of secrecy in the public sphere, which is always opposes transparency, become the absolute political virtue. To answer the question “Should the secret partake in a democracy? “Back on the position of the secret agent whose existence is proving to be a symbol of the ambiguity of democracy …
Rousseau: Discourse on Inequality (Summary)
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men by Jean Jacques Rousseau : The story of the mankind Rousseau’s Discourse on Inequality is one of the strongest critics of modernity ever written. Rousseau describes the ravages of modernity on human nature and civilization
Equality of What by Amartya Sen (Summary)
Sen vs Rawls The work of the economist Amartya Sen, sanctioned in 1998 by Nobel laureate, held in the global intellectual landscape, a place certainly atypical. By advocating an ethical dimension to economics, refuting the assumptions
Mary Wollstonecraft and Rights of Women (Summary)
Wollstonecraft’s life : A Feminist Muse fighting for rights of women Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759 in London. When she was young, she learned to be independent in a household where the father is wasting a small fortune in horses and drink. Regularly she must defend her mother against …
Nozick & Distributive Justice
Nozick: Anarchy, State and Utopia as a critique of the Rawls distributive justice theory: Here is a paper on the major work of political philosophy of Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia. This book presents itself as a libertarian critique of the Theory of Justice by John Rawls. For Nozick
Arendt:The Human Condition (Analysis)
The Human Condition is a work by Hannah Arendt published in 1958. Hannah Arendt studies the vita activa for itself, regardless of the vita contemplativa: this leads to re-establish the hierarchy among the various activities of the vita activa, and more specifically to reaffirm the priority of the action on the work
Robespierre and the Reign of Terror
Robespierre and The conspiracy theory: We will try to show that the french revolutionary terror is indeed based on a conspiracy theory that leads to a theory and a practice of an ideology of transparency, which in turn leads to death of politics. Terror, which began in September 1792 and ended in July 1794
Machiavelli : The Prince (Summary)
Machiavelli‘s Prince is subject to uncountable reviews . We do not claim to revolutionize the practice of commentary on the Prince. But we will try to get back to the essence of Machiavelli‘s thought
Baudrillard: The Consumer Society
The consumer society by Baudrillard : A sociological approach to capitalism Consumer society, by Jean Baudrillard, is a major contribution to contemporary sociology and philosophy, at the height of the Division of Labor
Thomas Aquinas VS Saint Augustine
Saint Augustine: politics as City of God (theocracy) What is the majeur change brought by St. Augustine‘s political thought since to the revelation? Simple answer is: Introducing God as the foundation of politics, as its foreground. The Start of onto-theology of Augustine is: men are equal
Godwin and Anarchism
William Godwin, a political thinker of Anarchism William Godwin ia a political theorist, essayist and novelist. In both early and late lige, Godwin was regarded as a hack of no great distinction, but in the 1790s he achived wide proeminence
Hegel’s Philosophy Summary
Hegel, the philosopher of the System Hegel is a German philosopher who built a vast system ordering all knowledge of his time. Among his main works: – The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) – Philosophical Propaedeutics (1809-1816) – Science of Logic (1812-1816)