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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What was Plato's purpose behind Atlantis?
I've heard that Atlantis is simply a story about hubris. But since Plato was interested in political philosophy I would be surprised if there weren't anything along those lines to Atlantis.
So my ...
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What is meant by: "Human rights were discovered (not invented!)"?
I recently encountered the claim that "Human rights were discovered (not invented!) during the French Revolution" by a person who appears to be quite a Hegel fan (this might make the question easier ...
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Burke on the social contract
What did Burke say about the social contract in Reflections on the Revolution in France or elsewhere, and how much did he develop his idea of a 'social contract for the ages'? How does this fit within ...
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Thoughts Regarding a Hypothetical Ethics Dilemma [closed]
I'm not a philosopher, so I apologize if this is a generally stupid question, but I was curious to hear what people thought.
Scenario: Consider a "Star Trek" like future, with a technological ...
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In order for politics to be "scientific", what does it require? Are there existing scientific political ideologues (measurement et al)?
In order for politics to be "scientific", what does it require? Are there existing scientific political ideologues (measurement et al)?
Particularly, because I still feel that a lot around politics ...
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The social aspect of epistemology
Though not an issue in the debates surrounding rigorous, theoretical epistemology, in practice culture and trust in authorities plays an enormous role for most of our beliefs outside of our expertise.
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Russell on freedom of realm of thought from public control
In Political Ideals (1917), Bertrand Russell wrote
The whole realm of thought and opinion is utterly unsuited to public control; it ought to be as free, and as spontaneous as is possible to those ...
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How can land and natural resources become “private property”?
I’ve been trying to understand how an anarchic society would be initiated, but the two main ideas- anarcho-communism and anarcho-capitalism- not only contradict each other, but seem to be riddled with ...
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How journalism's rationale to tell facts feasible? How objectivity may be achieved if at all by journalists?
On background of some recent events - that regarding Jerusalem's status (the US step of moving their embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem) and the clash between IDF and Hamas and Palestinians in the ...
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How can we stop power abuse without anarchy? [closed]
One of my arguments for anarchy is that power abuse can only be eliminated by eliminating power "on paper" itself.
But maybe I am wrong and there exist other ways to prevent power abuse without ...
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Pendulum Theory / Cyclical Theory in Philosophy?
In political science, the Cyclical Theory states that societal attitudes (Liberal-Conservative spectrum) move like a pendulum moving from one extreme to the other.
Are there any philosophers who ...
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What does Hannah Arendt mean by 'Alienation from the World?'
In the introduction to Arendts book the Human Condition is the following:
In a development Arendt traces to "alienation from the world," modern, automated societies engrossed by ever more efficient ...
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What branch of philosophy studies 'clouds' of concepts that spread as intellectual templates?
I am currently reading Andreas Wimmer's Waves of War, he makes an argument that I found interesting and I was wondering if anyone knew of what Philosophical Theory that style of reasoning would be ...
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Why didn't Kant end up in anarchy?
Let us assume the proposition: one might take leader role. Then we apply universalization: if everyone takes leader role, no one is the leader. Thus, we proved that taking leader role is useless ...
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For a political ruler is it better to be loved or feared?
Let's suppose the title question applies especially (but not exclusively) in the context of a leadership role (where the goal is to sustain power) and for simplicity let's say the choice is strictly ...
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An alternative foundation for political philosophy?
The pragmatic revolution (postmodern revolution) is thought to have significantly/completely changed philosophy and its vocabulary. However with regard to politics, we still seem to be using Platonic ...
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How does it make sense to talk about meritocracy?
To talk about meritocracy to me sounds a bit meaningless.
If we have a system S and a person P within system S who is capable of actions A and those actions lead to rewards R, then we may define ...
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What is a political mind? [closed]
The one which can manipulate the emotions of someone and can crave the frontier as per its choice.
I exactly want to know its specialities and how it differ from a scientific mind.
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Why did Marx criticise Hegel?
While Marx accepted Hegel's dialectic process, he denied Hegel's conclusion that this dialectic ends in freedom that develops at the level of society in the form of Spirit.
What is Marx's argument ...
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Liberty and equality have become antagonist?
From French revolution we got equality and liberty concept.in practical life it's seems two opposite pole .How will you satisfy this argument that both can be achieved simultaneously....As liberty ...
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Fringe Modes of Governance?
Back in the days of the ancient Greeks, the dominant form of rule was hereditary autocracy. The “fringe” or “cutting edge” theory was democracy. This happened again during the Renaissance, and again ...
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School/branch of philosophy based on freedom
New to the exchange, please be gentle.
Are there any branches of philosophy that hold freedom as something that is intrinsically good? I think that libertarianism and various versions comprise one ...
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What's wrong with meritocracy?
What's wrong with meritocracy?
Particularly, because I perceive that meritocracy can have a bad reputation, possibly, because it may be associated with "historical", "old" politics, which often were ...
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Can a living being claim themselves as a sovereign nation? [closed]
note: this question was first asked on Worldbuilding.SE, then on Politics.SE. The basic premises are the same, but you should go look at them, too.
Sovreign nations are, typically, plots of land ...
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Couple of questions on Bernard Bolzano's philosophy of state
I read a summary of Bolzano's political views and his philosophy of the "best" state, and I have 3 questions -
A) was Bolzano heavily influenced by the USA? His line of thought for some of his ideas ...
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Freedom of speech
Is freedom of speech desired? According to the first amendment in US, there is an implied meaning that the individual has the right to say anything he wants without the need to worry about the ...
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Why do different people have different opinions about life?
Philosophy is looking for reason but why philosophers have different prospective about life and....if there were be a rational reason for something all of them must accept it. Am I wrong?
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Update-How might we perceive our relations with the environment?
With an excessively growing population, human might be increasingly conflicting with the environment. How might we perceive our relations with the environment? Our advancement in civilization might ...
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Is fake news the same as propaganda?
Fake news is a term that has become current in the last few years. An older term that appears to have some family resemblence to this is propaganda. Are they in fact the same - if not, what are the ...
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Dictatorship, communism or democracy
Could anyone highlight the main difference between these 3? Also, i remember reading about the concept of communism which is very beautiful, however i do not really understand why there has been no ...
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What's the problem with the gender gap?
Hypothesis:
the ratio of unemployed men to women is 1:1
on average the earning power of employed men to women is 1:1 (not true, but let's assume)
there is no difference in performance based on gender
...
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What are the main concrete conceptualisations of social/societal good and a good society? [closed]
My main objective is to see how a particular technology instantiates or doesn't instantiate particular ideas of "socially/societally good". I'm more of a technologist, so it would help if someone ...
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How can political philosophy and moral philosophy differ in the context of moral limits on the market?
When I ask this question, I'm specifically referencing ideas posited by theorists like Michael Sandel (The Tanner Lectures - What Money Can't Buy), Elizabeth Anderson (The Ethical Limitations of the ...
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How did Dewey envisage participatory democracy?
According to Chomskys Requiem for an American Dream:
John Dewey, the leading social philosopher in the late 20C argued that until all institutions - production, commerce, media - are under ...
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Where does Aristotle mention inequality and his solution to this?
In this interview with Noam Chomsky on a book Requiem for an American Dream based upon a documentary that he did, he is asked:
Let's go to your next point about 'shaping of ideology'. You talk ...
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What is the difference between "Continental liberalism", "English liberalism", and "Old Whiggism"?
In an essay entitled "Why I am not a Conservative", Hayek distances himself from both "Continental liberalism" and "English liberalism", while calling himself an "Old Whig":
I have already ...
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Are drugs and addiction in general bad, a priori?
From day-to-day experience we generally agree that drugs and addictive behavior are harmful for the individual. We know that drugs are harmful for society. But how do we justify banning a drug, ...
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Chomsky-- On Language and the Essential Chomsky
I have taken an interest in the philosophy of language and have studied on my own the equivalent of a undergrad course in the philosophy of language.
I want to know if Chomsky's On Language is ...
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Axiomatic politics
Is there a formalized version of politics out there? I think political debates on TV today are just like spewing junk. We really need to formalize and logically analyze politics (in my opinion). ...
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Is being a pacifist and being a police officer a contradiction?
A friend of mine considers himself a pacifist and he soon begins his training as a police officer.
The Wikipedia article about pacifism says:
Pacifism covers a spectrum of views, including the ...
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What are the relations between Neoliberalism and Postmodernism?
The following passage surprised me, not only because it has neoliberals in place of postmodernists, but also because it describes everything I see as a consequence of so-called "Postmodernism" (or ...
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Authors that compare nationalism to religion
If people didn't choose their birth place nor their parents why do people feel proud or ashamed of their country? Why do they feel somehow responsible for the actions people take in the present or ...
user22051
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Who said postmodernism is a Right-wing philosophy?
The vast majority of texts I've read (probably all of them) link postmodernism with the Left-wing in politics. However, postmodernism attacks modern science, which was/is the main force against ...
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Who still defends the concept of "end of history"?
Some years ago, there have been a dispute between two totally different philosophies:
1) The concept of "End of history", proposed by Francis Fukuyama, meaning that western liberal democracies are ...
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Are there arguments against the Argument to Moderation? [closed]
I came across a reference to an Argument to Moderation that makes the point that the middle ground between truth and falsehood represents merely another type of falsehood. I'm looking for critiques ...
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It is possible agree with ideas(that make up an ideology) without being part of it?
For example, feminism. If they ask ten questions and say: "if you answer yes to all of them, you are feminist." So, if i agree with these ideas, then i am feminist.
It is possible understand and ...
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Had the Second World War an underlying philosophical issue? [closed]
Was WWII a fight between different serious interpretations of the world, apart from the usual superficial descriptions of military fights between countries?
Does there exist some philosophical secret ...
user26880
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Socrates as a foot soldier and his political philosophy
Socrates is well known for his participation of several wars during his life span (for almost 30 years). It is believed that he was 48 at his final participation in a war. As an armed foot soldier, ...
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"Reality is a social construct" -- fair characterization or not?
This is something else I've wondered about. There seem to be these fierce online debates and movements that center around various questions of the validity of so called "social justice" issues which ...
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What would Nietzsche have said about moral relativism in leftwing politics?
The concept of superman or übermensch is someone that overcomes nihilism and learns to see above what's considered right or wrong.
The latter is a leftist's trait, because right-wing mentality has ...
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