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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Do historians have responsibility in how they decide to depict something?
Do historians have responsibility in how they decide to depict something?
Isn't it possible that historical interpretations could be utilized for rationalizing e.g. war?
Presumably there's also "...
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97 views
What is the rationale of making a big deal of the distinction between positive and negative liberty?
In political philosophy, Isaiah Berlin's distinction between positive and negative liberties is very influential. Many took this distinction and went on to argue that a political system should, first ...
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3answers
231 views
Who was the first philosopher to build a comprehensive philosophy around the concept of power?
Friedrich Nietzsche seems to have written extensively about power but there seem to be much earlier philosophers who wrote extensively about power like Spinoza.
Who was the first philosopher to build ...
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44 views
How Biases and Prejudices Deviate the Philosophy of Peace in round table meeting of world politics
Why do politically strengthened nations deviate from the ideal of peace building and misuse power through bias, prejudice, and subjugation of others towards "peace," but not actual, absolute ...
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32 views
Difference between “formal justice” and “formal equality”
Formal justice, according to Rawls (1999, p. 51) is the
... impartial and consistent administration of laws and institutions, whatever their substantive principles ... If we think of justice as ...
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62 views
What does 'language' mean in Political Philosophy?
This practical and critical objective is achieved in two steps. The first is a critical survey of the languages and practices in which the struggles arise, and various theoretical solutions are ...
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73 views
Is a nation state morally obliged at all times to put its own citizens' interests before every other person's?
Is a nation state morally obliged at all times to put its own citizens' interests before every other person's?
it may sound odd to ask about obligation as it applies to a state, as they themselves ...
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1answer
53 views
Is there any meaning to political criticism by people who are not in the government? [closed]
There are all sorts of people who criticize the government for various good or bad decisions.
It could be meaningful if they have studied it to great depth and give constructive criticism, but, that's ...
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3answers
98 views
Is anarchism a self-refuting proposition?
My thinking: Anarchists want to forbid the existence of the State.
However, in a society with no state, someone can achieve such a predominance over their peers that they can forbid anyone else from ...
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2answers
115 views
How to convince an anti-rawlsian of the pertinence of the “veil of ignorance” condition?
My question is not about the contractarian methodology adopted by Rawls, but specfically about the "veil of ignorance" condition.
How to articulate precisely the moral intuition that is ...
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1answer
77 views
Which distribution is allowed by Rawls's difference principle?
Let's say we have the following different distributions of monetary wealth possible for a society. Here, LAG := Least Advantaged Group, OG := Ordinary group, MAG := Most Advantaged Group.
Type
LAG
OG
...
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5answers
301 views
Why does poverty still exist in the world that discovered advanced technologies? [closed]
For example some individuals may say 'a poor life of an individual is because that he doesn't work enough'.
The world advanced as much as inventing many advanced technologies such as gun, calculator, ...
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163 views
Why is the Hobbesian leviathan less fearful than the state of nature?
In Leviathan, Hobbes argues the importance of self-preservation and the fearful condition of the state of nature, which leads to the formation of a sovereign power that compromises natural liberties ...
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719 views
Do social media such as Facebook enhance democratic values? [closed]
It might seem impossible to imagine the public sphere without digital platforms as today's social media. The number of Facebook's users is about third of the world's population - that points to an ...
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0answers
56 views
What's the use of extreme examples? [closed]
Let me make the question more specific. In the open course <Justice: what's the right thing to do?> a lot of extreme examples have been discussed. For example:
the trolley car problem: to kill ...
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1answer
44 views
Who first said that he who cannot govern himself cannot govern others?
What philosopher said that he who cannot govern himself cannot govern others?
I heard that Foucault said something similar, but surely Aristotle or even King Solomon may have said something similar.
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159 views
What is bourgeois liberalism (as associated with Rorty)?
In his SEP-article on Richard Rorty, Bjorn Ramberg on two occasions mentions bourgeois liberalism without offering any details of what Rorty or others mean by it. I have never come across this ...
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1answer
67 views
What type of logical fallacy happens here?
This has been going on a lot lately in my country. Usually, in a discussion where some antisocial behavior of an organization is being criticized, a supporter of the organization, usually a member of ...
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25 views
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
111 views
How do Aquinas' and Aristotle's mixed regimes 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
105 views
What relationship should we have with people in power? [closed]
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
535 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
151 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
87 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
171 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
40 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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27 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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217 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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15 views
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
125 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
207 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
165 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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136 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
114 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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179 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
97 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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2answers
98 views
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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1answer
77 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
110 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
99 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
64 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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220 views
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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19 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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4answers
213 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
237 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
182 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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67 views
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
137 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
93 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
127 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 ...
