Approaches to the Study of Political Philosophy & Problems and Challenges of Interpretation *Notes compiled from David Boucher & Paul Kelly’s ‘Introduction’ in Political Thinkers: From Socrates to the Present‚ and Terence Ball’s ‘History and the Interpretation of Texts’* Political thought is thought about the State‚ its structure‚ nature and purpose. It is concerned with the moral elements of human behaviour in a society. Differentiating between the purpose of political life and life itself is difficult
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The Modern Era of political philosophy is best characterized as a revolt against the traditional constraints of the time. Machiavelli believed that politics should be separate and distinct from ethics‚ morality‚ and religion. Protestant reformers such as Luther and Calvin went head to head with the Catholic Church‚ paving the way for religious individualism and incorporating various political revisions. Hobbes called for a major overhaul in England concerning not only political and religious issues
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relations. Principles of Justice and Gender Among the many substantial contributions to the field of modern philosophy made by John Rawls‚ there is one particular aspect of his most memorable work that has been a subject of notable controversy among feminists and other critics of gender-based injustices. Rawls is widely regarded as having revolutionized the modern field of political philosophy by “breaking the intuitionism-utilitarianism deadlock” (Kymlicka‚ 2002‚ p.55). However‚ according to critics
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understanding of yourself and the world‚ and of the life that is best for you‚ then philosophy is most likely worth a few hours of your time. Philosophy is concerned with the justification of our most basic beliefs and the analysis of the concepts making up these beliefs. Some of these beliefs are highly relevant not just to how we understand ourselves and the world around us‚ but also to how we should act in this world. Philosophy pursues questions rather than answers. What is the justification of the government’s
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(The Social Contract Theory) Social contract theory dictates the fact that there must be agreements within a group of people who decide to live together‚ based on moral notions and judgments. In most cases‚ the social contract has a ruler or some form of ruling organization‚ to which people agree to obey in all matters in return for a guarantee of peace and securities. These are lacking in the "state of nature”. The “state of nature”‚ is a state of human interaction which exists before any social
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From my own perspective I feel that the major ideas of the political philosophy of the constitution are to mandate non-partisan redistricting for elections to enhance electoral competition. For example: To reduce the role that legislative politics might play‚ five states (Arizona‚ Hawaii‚ Idaho‚ New Jersey and Washington)‚ carry out congressional redistricting by an independent or bipartisan commission. Two states‚ Iowa and Maine‚ give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting
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Hume and Locke’s conflicting views on the existence of personal identity stem from a fundamental disagreement in regard to memory. According to Hume we have an impermanent personal identity as a result of our constantly changing stream of perceptions. These mental experiences are usually triggered by impressions‚ or perceptions that involve a sense experience. These constantly changing streams of perception form the false identity. On the other hand John Locke proposes this concept that says X
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purpose of a state in ancient Greek philosophy and Machiavelli’s political thought Introduction What is a state? In different times in different places different people understood the meaning of this word in a different way. Definition for this term was being gathered for ages modifying and evaluating as the times went by (already since the times of Ancient Greece (beginning ~1000 BC)). It can be explained by differences in level of knowledge people had‚ political situation‚ and “moods” which privileged
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There was a period in the late 17th to 18th century known as the Enlightenment where there were countless new notorious philosophical ideas on the government and politics. Some of these concepts that have arisen are typical in the government and political practice in the present. Many of the major French Enlightenment thinkers‚ or philosophes‚ were born in the years after the Glorious Revolution. The philosophes‚ while varying in style and area of specific concern‚ generally stressed the power of
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St. Augustine is a fourth century philosopher whose groundbreaking philosophy infused Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism. He is famous for being an inimitable Catholic theologian and for his agnostic contributions to Western philosophy. He argues that skeptics have no basis for claiming to know that there is no knowledge. In a proof for existence similar to one later made famous by René Descartes‚ Augustine says‚ “[Even] If I am mistaken‚ I am.” He is the first Western philosopher to promote
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