examen 3 sem Flashcards
one of the founders of political philosophy and student of socrates
plato
influence on christian, conservative and communist thought
plato
had his own academy and was a teacher of aristotle
plato
political works of plato
the republic
the statesmen
the laws
(p) platonism believes in
essentialism and that knowledge is a virtue
(p) belief in existence of objective thruth of the essence of things, this essence existed in the “realm of perfect ideas”
essentialism
(p) the objective good (perfect ideas) exists, and knowledge of this good is good
knowledge is virtue
(p) in democracy or oligarchy rulers are often
ignorat
(p) true political knowledge is not based on study of politics but…
the study of ideal state/democracy
(p) politics are often chaotic because of…
factional disagreement, infighting, power struggle, etc
(p) core problem is conflict between those who
have property and those who dont, rich and poor
(p) radical solution to inequality
eliminate both positions by redistribution and create more economic equality
(p) what is the goal of plato?
not to improve the broken system, the goal is to reach the perfect system, he says ideal state exists and is universal
(p) the ideal state follows this logic
- nobody is self sufficient
- society is system of services and goods
- man’s most important aspect is his role in society
- we are most useful when dping what we do best
- best = talent, but mostly training (knowledge)
- we dont always want what we are best at
- it is our duty to train our specific role
- its the duty of the state to organize this
(p) talent plays a role, 3 prime talents:
production, guarding and governing
(p) 3 classes
craftsman, officials and philosopher-ruler
(p) all are equally important based on different kinds of knowledge, but craftsman should not be concerned with politics
semi-elitist
(p) society is when
everyone is realizing their best potential
(p) when each person is given a place in society where they can contribute maximally, so society functions best
justice
giving everybody a place
inclusion
if you contribute, society rewards
reciprocity
(p) radical measures against corruption
leaders can have no private property and cant have a family
(p) first objective of the state
education
(p) the republic was
radical and utopian
(p) rule of law:
state operates under existing rules
(p) law is frozen wisdom:
the best rule in our experience
(p) lawful forms of state
popular monarchy
aristocracy
controlled democracy
(p) unlawful forms of state
tyranny
oligarchy
radical democracy
(p) in the mixed state, excess of freedom or power allows
both democracies and tyrannies to be ruined
in the mixed state it is possible to balance
some rule of the best in democracy and some form of participation in aristocracy
British philosopher of the early enlightenment, founding thinker of the empirical school
John Locke
social contract philosopher with later influence on liberalism and conservatism
John Locke
(JL) truth is first of all based in our observations and experience of reality
empirical school
Locke stressed the importance of
experience and facts as a source of knowledge
(JL) Man has no innate ideas or conceptions that drives him, instead his mind is an unwritten tablet that gets filled with experience
Idea of Tabula Rasa
(JL) state of nature is one of
peace, good will, mutual assistance and preservation
against hobbes: people empirically exist as a
(JL) community independent of the government and have their own moral standards regardless of the rules
Locke stood in old tradition or natural laws, which according to him
included certain individual rights which people had to respect
(JL) 3 individual rights of
life, liberty and estate
(JL) right of estate
in state of nature, everybody has right to use what nature offers
(JL) goal of civil society is
enforcing laws protecting the rights of individuals in it
(JL) government had to be separated into
executive branch (king and minister carrying out laws) and legislative branch (parliament charged with formulating general laws enforcing rights
(JL) the catch:
the legislatuve power represent the people in abstract
Locke involved himself in real political events such as
replacing the english king during the glorious revolution and writting a constitution for california
defender of religious tolerance and separation of church and state
John Locke
Locke was not a
true modern democrat, inlike marx or rousseau
locke justifies and invested in
slave trade saying that one can lose freedom and become property by being captured in just wars
was the philosopher of the rising capitalist class
locke
locke formulated various ideas that were later better formulated by other like:
individual rights - J.S. Mill
Natural harmony of individual interests - Adam smith
Democracy - J.J. Rousseau
Separation of power - Montesquieu
Born in Geneva, spend much time in france, lived during height of french enlightenment philosophy
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
searched for knowledge and reasons as the main path for human civilization
Jean-Jaques Rousseau
Major works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
discours sur les sciences et les arts
du contrat social
les confessions
emile: ou de l’education
(JJR) flair of rousseau:
- latest of the 3 social contract philosophers
- more of a man of the people than the others
- lasting influence on philosophy of education and both democratic and socialist thinking
(JJR) difference between Jean-Jacques rousseau and other enlightenment philosophers
he thinks reason is not the road to redemption, which lies in sentiments and good will
(JJR) what really gives value to human existence are
natural common emotions
the father of romanticism
rousseau
fears how science and reason could destroy all that is sacred to human existance
romanticism
Rousseau reject this that Locke and Hobbes believed:
individuals do and should follow their rational self-interest and society emerges from this/ community has no value in itself, it is a means to an end
state of nature according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau
by nature a man is a noble savage, is social and mostly good, natural life in small happy communities
(JJR) is a major corrupting force and aggravates inequality far beyond what is natural
our love of property
rousseau was not against property but pointed out that
property is a social agreement not a natural right
first thinker to take the fate of normal people serious
rousseau
(JJR) the justification for a particular type of politics must be based in
moral motive relating to human community
held that self interest cant be a respectable moral motive by itself
rousseau
social contract according to rousseau
- no need to found society
- government should serve the common good of the community
- the community has a general will which is more and better than the sum of individual self interest wills
- social contract implies that we should submit ourselves to general will
- in order to command such loyalty, society must produce citizens
democracy and freedom according to rousseau
- people should be autonomous but politically equal
- general will = moral good for group
- citizens must propose, debate and vote laws
broad influence on romantic, democratic, nationalist and socialist thought, influential philosopher for the french revolution
rousseau
modern in everything except in scale, his community ideas are poorly adjusted to nation state
rousseau
human nature according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
fixed, cynical and egoistic
reasonable and self centered
good, but corrupted over time
state of nature according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
violent anarchy
peaceful individuals
utopian community
emergency of society according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
forced by need of security
to enforce natural rights, out of reason
already there, out of affection
contract according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
submission to despot
to enforce laws
submission to general will
government form according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
tyranny, kingdom
nightwatch state, representation in kingdom
direct democracy, active state
influenced according to hobbes, locke and rousseau
classic liberalism, despotism, fascism
liberalism, conservatism
socialism, nationalism
Studied philosohpy and was influenced by Hegel, main professional occupation was journalism
Karl Marx
Got expelled and lived in many countries, married to jenny von westphalen and best friends with co-theorist and financer Friedrich Engels
karl marx
Major works of karl marx
the communist manifesto
capital
The political impact of Marx’s work was world changing due to
Inspired social and democratic reforms and communist revolutions
Forefather of sociology, political economy etc
karl marx
Marxist thought was:
Normative, radical, universal, historical and emancipatory and practical
(KM) The struggle for control of the means of production is the
Driving force in history, born from the inherent tensions of capitalist modes of production
(KM) the mode of production determines the distribution and the distribution determines
Social classes
(KM) Capital is value (money) invested with the goal of creating more value (money)
capitalism
(KM) Stress on unlimited accumulation of capital by eternal reinvestment
Endless competition between capitalists, leading to the eternal strive for profit
Wage labor for those who don’t posses means of production
is what economic system of capitalism is based on
Was one of the first major philosophers to focus on the working class (proletariat)
karl marx
Capitalism divides into 2 classes:
One group has no means of production and is forced to work, while the other group provides the means of production and opportunity to the production process
Class concept is central to Marxist thought:
The workers (proletariat) vs the capitalism (bourgeoisie)
The key concept for marx was
exploitation
Capitalism is inherently exploitative:
Profit is made by making people do more work than they are rewarded for
(KM) main idea of superstructure theory
Economic relations in society from a foundation that determines the institutional and ideological order built on it
Marx in contrast to Hegel and Rousseau, had a dark view of the state:
The state is apparatus of power used for dominance of the class that controls it, the state is not to be built, but to be conquered
Whats the alternative of capitalism?
An economy where the workers own the means of production and thus commonly decide over the profit, eliminate classes
Core idea of socialism is to
- Shift power balance from capitalist elite to people
- Improve human condition through common action
Social democrats are socialists that
Tolerate the core capitalist relations but want to make it more social and democratic
Social democracy was best realized in
Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, finland)
Socialism is antiutopic:
It assumes things will go wrong
Core principle of welfare economics
- The economy must have serve people, not pathologically chase money
- Capitalism will not naturally reach this condition
Social democracts core idea is that
The task of the government is to protect people from the effects of capitalism
Idea that we are in solidarity and the nation should help its citizens, protect them from individual misfortune
caring policies
Social democrats regulation:
The state can set the rules for privet enterprise
Social democracy power base in civil society:
- Social democrat parties are usually allied to trade unions
- Promote collective bargaining, protest and agreements
- Often rely on mass mobilization of citizens
(social democrats) in strong cases state will try to control key economical sectors such as
Energy, banking, water, education, healthcare, public transport
Emerged in the most western capitalist democracies in 1950 and 1960s
The welfare state
Ideologically associated with social-democracy but not exclusive to it, liberals and conservatives have all supported this at times
Welfare state
Are comprehensive, compulsory schemes designed to protect workers and their families against the risks of lost earning due to injury, sickness, old age, disability or unemployment
Social insurance programs
Non-contributory, income support programs to save anybody who falls outside the system of insurance or whose income is insufficient for his or her basic needs
Social assistance
Provides access to essential goods such as education and job training, healthcare, social housing, public transport, daytime chilcare, legal help, etc
Publicly-funded social services
Criticism to welfare state from fascist view
Its helping the weak and giving entitlements to poor people
General criticism to welfare state
The welfare state is an expensive program and this system encourages abuse, corruption and parasitism
Nazism =
Fascism + racial theory
Main figure is adolf Hitler whos national socialist party applied this ideology to Germany
nazism
A distinction between types of creatures that cant interbreed
race
General race theory of Nazism
- Progress is the struggle for survival
- Mixing of races Is bad as it degrades the higher race
- Certain races created high civilizations, others just exists and some are culture-destroying
Are the master race accronding to Nazism
The Aryans or Nordic people
According to Nazism, Aryans must focus on
Self preservation in a world of bastards and savages
Holocaust:
Killing of 5 million jewish people
The plan of nazisms was
To enslave the other races to serve the expanding master race and exterminate the jews
Practical policies of nazisms
- Encouragement of population growth to Aryans
- Eugenic policies
- Anti.jews laws
The idea that the Aryans needed more life space to develop as a race
Lebensraum
According to Nazism, the growth of a nation shows
Its vitality and strength
Is when the head of state has all power
Absolutism
Is when that power applies to all things
totalitarianism
how nazism went down
Germany became a totalitarian state, and tried to control everything except business, was more corrupt and chaotic than organized
Germany got destroyed and pillaged by
communists in WWII
criticism to fascism / nazism
globally antidemocratic, fascism does not solve problems. Is inherently unstable and predatory, tend to be crooks
is about installing competition on the market as the main organizing principle that regulates the other spheres of society
neoliberalism
signals the big comeback of radical capitalist thought
neoliberalism
originated in 1970s US and UK, first tested on larger scale in Chile and then applied to other countries (reached Mexico under carlos Salinas)
neoliberalism
objectivism of neoliberalism:
- All man are rational and have free will
- We are fully responsibly for our actions
- Each must look for their own self interest, people are fully responsible for their own fate
“man is like an enslaved animal if they are legally or morally required to help somebody else”
Ayn Rand
Has a blind faith on the balancing effects of market, installing competition as the general operating principle of society
neoliberalism
Explicitly global in ambition: fully integrated world market + free trade
neoliberalism
makes individuals perceive themselves as a
permanent investment seeking returns, where everything you do has to contribute to getting to the top
culture of neoliberalism
only intervention in economy is the management of the supply and value of money by central banks
monetarism
reduce state spending, especially on social costs
austerity
