Questions tagged [political-philosophy]
Describing questions about the philosophy of politics and society which investigate concerns like liberty, justice and equality.
454
questions
2
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1answer
105 views
What is the philosophical idea concerning knowledge behind the project of Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is a human project done collectively in a global scale. What is the philosophy or epistemology underlying this project? Has the idea been to establish sort of a "democratic" source ...
0
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2answers
58 views
Papers on whether or not college is a basic human right
It seems to be a fairly popular mantra in many contemporary left-of-center political circles that a college education is a basic human right. What does academia have to say about this? Are there any ...
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1answer
36 views
Do democratic voting statistics create an upper entity?
Votations are in fact statistics abouta law or a citizen (election). If the people vote about a law could we say the law system is an anonymous statistical freak, since it is not stored who voted what,...
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2answers
88 views
Can liberalism be proven logically [closed]
Can modern, Democrat Liberal ideology be proven logically, ie, does it extend rationally from logical axioms, or does it have other means of axiomatization.
0
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0answers
70 views
Has the phenomenon of equating two different ideas been studied?
While reading Henry Kissinger's book, Diplomacy, I came across several examples of thinkers conveniently, but constructively (meaning with good intentions), equating one concept with another. The ...
0
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1answer
101 views
Do some philosophies hold there are limits to free speech?
Imagine many philosophers believe that the right to freedom of speech of everyone in the world should be ensured without exception.
Now think about a situation where a huge number of citizens in a ...
2
votes
1answer
55 views
Would Hannah Arendt classify raking leaves each autumn as labour or work?
Hannah Arendt was a Holocaust survivor and philosopher. In her work, The Human Condition, she takes an interest in the understanding of human activities. From WP:
The Human Condition,1 first ...
2
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1answer
60 views
Arguments against forcing insurance of any kind by a state
Some states force their residents to pay for a broad insurance service often named "national insurance" or "social security"; it doesn't even matter if the subject has private ...
-1
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1answer
81 views
Rousseau Experts, Assemble! (to identify a quote)
I know this is a long shot, but I am looking for a quote from Rousseau. I heard it a long time ago and have looked for it many times, but I have not been able to find it.
In the quote (only about 1-to-...
0
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1answer
21 views
Looking for term from distributive justice theory "distribuenda"
In distributive just theory the term "distribuenda" refers to the thing that is to be distributed and has an analogue to the term "equalisandum", which refers to the thing that is ...
0
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0answers
45 views
is it possible for anarchist to hold contracts?
I have been listening to a popular podcast where one of the guest promotes anarchy. I know little about anarchy and I am curious.
My question is how could two anarchists ever come to an agreement &...
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1answer
58 views
Who acts in Arendt's Human Condition?
In Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition, she categorises the active life as Labor, Work and Action where labor is performed by animal laborans and work by homo faber. To my knowledge, Arendt does not ...
0
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1answer
61 views
Is there any agreement about how many people are required to create a state?
What is the minimal number of beings (humans on earth or X on Y for that matter) to actually run anything we would call a "state"?
Perhaps a better question would be about how many people ...
1
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2answers
83 views
Is there any agreement on what makes a state "state"?
Is there any agreement on what makes a state "state"?
Is it de facto tax collection (especially, customs)?
Is it the number of general-residents ("permanent-residents") in a given ...
2
votes
2answers
128 views
Paradox of resolving discrimination
I live in India, here at birth we are assigned something called 'caste' based on our genealogy. For a long time in India, it was often that certain castes had access to much more resources than other ...
1
vote
1answer
84 views
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 "...
1
vote
2answers
110 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 ...
2
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3answers
271 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 ...
1
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0answers
48 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 ...
0
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0answers
49 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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0answers
63 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 ...
1
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2answers
78 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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votes
1answer
58 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 ...
1
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3answers
113 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 ...
2
votes
2answers
118 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
84 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
...
4
votes
5answers
335 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, ...
2
votes
2answers
180 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
732 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 ...
1
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0answers
61 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
50 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.
0
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4answers
187 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 ...
0
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1answer
73 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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0answers
30 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 ...
0
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1answer
173 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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votes
2answers
109 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. ...
4
votes
3answers
539 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 ...
0
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3answers
186 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
115 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
207 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 ...
1
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1answer
46 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 ...
0
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1answer
280 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 ...
1
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1answer
149 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 ...
4
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2answers
235 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 ...
1
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4answers
179 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 ...
0
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0answers
183 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
122 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 ...
0
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1answer
263 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 ...
0
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1answer
105 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.
2
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2answers
103 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 ...
