Questions tagged [political-philosophy]
Describing questions about the philosophy of politics and society which investigate concerns like liberty, justice and equality.
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Has the concept of bodily integrity been discussed in the context of the human-nature relationship?
Human rights and many constitutions protect humans' bodily integrity. The concept is regularly linked to personal autonomy, freedom of movement and choice (Wikipedia).
The idea that the origin and ...
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1answer
21 views
How do Aquinas and Aristotle's mixed regime differ?
Both Aristotle and Aquinas seem to subscribe to the idea of a mixed constitution as the form of government best disposed to the common good. By "mixed constitution", I mean mixing between ...
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2answers
77 views
What relationship should we have with people in power?
I'm not sure if this is more fit for here or philosophy stackexchange, but I'll shoot anyway.
Suppose there is a village of a hundred people, and the hundred people democratically elect a leader X. ...
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3answers
520 views
Could a State be considered as a huge famlly?
The members of a State are alledgedly supposed to form a national community, to have a shared identity. The ancient generations of a nation are referred to as the " fathers". A patriot is ...
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3answers
129 views
Is profiting from stock ownership moral?
When you buy shares of a company, you become its co-owner and are entitled to dividends proportional to your investment. From what I understand, co-ownership is offered simply because it has to be to ...
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1answer
57 views
What did Judith Butler mean by “differential axis of domination” in Gender Trouble?
Can anyone explain the meaning of the following from Judith Butler's Gender Trouble:
Juridical notions of power appear to regulate political life in purely negative terms—that is, through the ...
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1answer
119 views
Why is Nietzche's “Amor Fati” descibed as the “key to fascism”?
I am trying to understand fascism (in its various forms) in philosophical/ideological terms. From what I've understood so far, it seems that (considered on its own terms) fascist ideology points ...
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1answer
35 views
Essentialism as Philosophical Substrate of Realpolitik? [closed]
I was reading a political science paper, in a foreign language so there is no point in sharing, which described realpolitik as having a philosophical substrate of essentialism. The statement was ...
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40 views
Why does Derrida rarely use the word “exploitation”?
I was reading Antonio Negri's article on Derrida's controversial book the spectre of marx and in this article he points out Derrida rarely use the word "exploitation" and suppose this ...
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23 views
What does Foucault mean by relations of truth?
I am reading 'Society must be defended' and I am currently on the 3rd lecture but am still quite confused about what Foucault means by 'truth' and relations of truth.
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1answer
150 views
How shall I understand Wittgenstein's comment on Russell's work?
Ludwig Wittgenstein said
Russell’s books should be bound in two colours…those dealing with mathematical logic in red – and all students of philosophy should read them; those dealing with ethics and ...
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In what ways does Dante's argument in the Monarchy differ from the one made by John of Paris in 'On royal and papal power?'
John is taking the middle ground whereas Dante is pro-monarchy. How do their arguments differ? Like, for example, Dante is taking an Aristotelian idea and justifying his claims based on Aristotle's ...
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1answer
92 views
Kant's disjunctive judgement and neoliberalism
Using the definition of neoliberalism (will not paste here), and Kan't third category being of relation, primarily his disjunctive judgement, hence community, and its application to the notion of ...
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2answers
168 views
Are there philosophically serious moral arguments against eugenics?
First, I'm sure there are, but I have yet to read much in this area. It seems that most moral arguments are or quickly become historical arguments about violent or judicial racism, which may then ...
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4answers
158 views
Why can community benefit if its individuals be free to act selfishly?
I never studied philosophy. Can someone kindly explain like I'm 5 the emboldened sentences below? What does "the defendant may benefit from considerations such as the effect on the community if ...
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56 views
Questions about Marx's second, third, and fourth thesis in ''Theses on Feuerbach''
The question whether objective truth can be attributed to human thinking is not a question of theory but is a practical question.
a. What does Marx mean here by ”objective truth,” what is he alluding ...
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1answer
103 views
Is political equality meaningfully achievable as a political goal? [closed]
In a recently closed post Is equality as a political goal meaningless?, the OP posed this question [as edited by me]: Is the concept of political equality, itself, meaningless, without referencing ...
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1answer
76 views
Question about Marx´s book (German Ideology)
In 'The German Ideology' Marx claims that in his materialist conception of history 'ascends from earth to heaven', unlike the German philosophy of the time that 'descends from heaven to earth'. What ...
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1answer
83 views
Under what conditions is work alienated?
Why, for Marx, is alienation a condition of work under capitalism? I´ve been reading Marx's texts and I don't understand why.
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Looking for references to political/moral philosophy literature on communal child-rearing and the institution of the family
[Note: this question was previously closed under the reason "needs to be more focused". I subsequently edited the question to make it more focused and then hoped it would be reopened, but no ...
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31 views
Dialectics and Machiavelli
What is the relation between Marxist dialectics and Machiavelli's philosophy? I have read Lefort, and he seems good, but I was unsure if he was an academic playing games.
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3answers
95 views
Are social crises good for the bourgeoisie, according to Marx?
Are social crises good for the bourgeoisie, according to Marx?
Clearly social crises can be bad for the working class. For example, the world wars were bad and count as 'social crises', but they may ...
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1answer
93 views
Is there any second-hand, open-source literature on Georges Bataille's essay “The Psychological Structure of Fascism”?
A while ago, I read Bataille's essay “The Psychological Structure of Fascism”, translated into English by Carl Lovitt. As I haven't followed any philosophy courses at a university (I'm mostly a self-...
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1answer
59 views
Who does 'men of letters' refer to?
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his discourse on the origin of inequality and discourse on the arts and sciences, mentioned the 'men of letters', men he associated with negative connotations. However, who ...
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3answers
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Paradox: if people are too immoral to be left free in their choice, then why is democracy the solution?
I am asking if there are noted philosophers that have thought about the following paradox before, or something resembling it.
Democracy is seen here as a system in which a nation is governed by a ...
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15 views
Why does Hayek refer to French 'individualism' as the “Cartesian” school?
I am reading Frederick Hayek right now and saw that he refers to the French liberal tradition, what he calls French "individualism (vs the English liberal tradition of Smith, Ferguson, Burke, etc.) ...
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3answers
161 views
Is political correctness a result of a more rational society?
Yes, I am aware of the insanity in the question. However, that is precisely why I am asking. The insanity stems from the popular idea, especially amongst academics or the type of people you might find ...
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1answer
120 views
Is anarcho-socialism an oxymoron?
I have regularly heard debate between anarcho-socialists and anarcho-capitalists about which one is the true oxymoron.
If we take anarcho-socialism to mean no government and economic equality (+ ...
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1answer
153 views
Is it possible that Israel - despite being a self-named Jewish state is not a Jewish state at all? [closed]
An aunt of mine, when she arrived in Britain, once jeered at me, calling me a Christian, mostly because she thought of Britain as being Christian. These were the only categories of thought she had.
I,...
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Current academics exponents of (classical) liberalism
First of all, I don't want to cause polemic with the question. I know it's a delicate issue and I don't want to touch personal susceptibilities. My question is more on ignorance since I am from ...
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3answers
108 views
Should we place our own good before our nation's good? [closed]
I'm currently writing a screenplay, and one of the philosophical themes arises out of a very specific conflict, with I call:
INDIVIDUAL BENEFIT vs STATE BENEFIT.
One of the characters sacrifices ...
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1answer
52 views
What does it mean for someone to “found a state/government”? And why can they do it? [closed]
What does it mean for someone to "found a state/government"? And why can they do it?
E.g.
George Washington is referred to as the "founder" of American republic.
Intuitively it's ...
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2answers
126 views
Who writes the natural laws of a constitution?
If we say that the natural law of a constitution in a democratic government has to protect the minority from the majority, by whom is it written?
If the majority writes it, it might not protect the ...
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2answers
371 views
Are state secrets compatible with Democracy?
In some western countries some government agencies and intelligence services withdraw information from the general public on the pretext of "national security" or "public safety".
eg. 1: The American ...
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2answers
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How do Burkean conservatives respond to the accusation of cultural relativism?
I sincerely hope that this is the right StackExchange to ask this question. Politics deals with pragmatics and History seldom deals with more abstract questions.
As far as I can gather, Burkean ...
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3answers
128 views
Why does Arendt say that the 'absence of continuity' is an outstanding characteristic of the totalitarian mind?
Hannah Arendt writes in her book The Origins of Totalitarianism:
Stalin's successors attempted to do without concessions to
the name of their predecessor, even though Stalin had thirty years' ...
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2answers
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Who was the first philosopher of property?
I assume that the idea of property already existed in ancient Greece, else there would be no slaves -- at least no privately owned slaves. Yes, I know that litte about the Greeks.
Who was the first ...
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185 views
Is the term 'Quantum Supremacy' symptomatic of the sick state of quantum physics today?
I overheard the following dialogue recently:
Letitia: Quantum what?
Josef: Quantum supremacy!
Letitia: Is that a game quantum theorists play to show who is supreme in quantum mechanics?
Josef: No, ...
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4answers
166 views
What causes the binary (left/right) division in politics?
In many places we can see that people cluster into specifically two groups, politically. Of dozens of prominent unresolved societal issues, we can predict one's stance on many issues by knowing their ...
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Continuing Political Philosophy Study
A little over a year ago, I took a political philosophy course, and am currently reviewing some notes and the texts. Keeping in mind that I have no other background in philosophy, I wondered if anyone ...
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Is gaslighting a totalitarian measure?
The term gas-lighting means:
manipulate (someone) by psychological means into doubting their own sanity.
This is given in individual terms; by this, I mean that gaslighting is done by some-one to ...
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55 views
Who said, “a parliament with no opposition should be dissolved”?
I've found a reference in a Jewish text from the mid-19th century to a "gentile sage" (an expression usually referring to a Greek philosopher, but it could be any non-Jewish person really) who said ...
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2answers
136 views
Maximizing freedom in a society
A friend and I were trying to come up with the most basic rule that, if followed, would lead to a functional (and preferably good) society.
He said: "People should be free to do whatever they want, ...
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I'm being drafted to the military but I have the option to refuse (legally), would it be immoral for me to serve? [closed]
I’m set to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces but I have the option to exempt from the military if I wish to. So I’m in a big moral dilemma on whether I should serve or not, I’m currently leaning ...
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2answers
79 views
In the philosophy of Josiah Royce, is there a tension between the individual and society?
I'm reading through Josiah Royce's view on the self and this is what I think he believes the tension to be between the individual and society:
"The tension between the individual and society is ...
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2answers
186 views
Is freedom from discrimination a positive or a negative right?
Because of the recent controversy regarding pronouns on Meta, I started thinking about this question. In general, is freedom from discrimination as protected in most modern liberal states a positive ...
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Is fascism intrinsically violent?
Has every group or nation that is generally considered to be fascist, descended from the nationalist ideology of Mussolini (I don't mean 'fascism' in the sense of just any right wing demagogy), ...
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2answers
267 views
Was Bertrand Russell correct in characterising the United States as 'a Nazi State'? [closed]
In his book, War Crimes in Vietnam, published in 1967 Russell several times calls the United States a Nazi State:
The United States government is conducting a war of annihilation in the Vietnam. ...
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Difference between the ensemble of organizations in an anarchy and a state?
Even an anarchy needs organizations to provide security, legal judgment, roads, etc. and to prepare large-scale plans and arrangements. Probably, for the sake of efficiency and harmony, there should ...
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Philosophers on alternatives to capitalism and communism
Philosopher Karl Marx envisioned an economic system called communism to fight the abuses suffered by working class people during the industrial era. The exploration of man by man
and the excessive ...
