Final Exam Flashcards
Eric Voegelin
Philosopher of history
“The New Science of Politics”
Saw communism as the most recent of man’s many attempts to forge a shortcut.
Robert Nisbet
“Quest for Community”
Conservative Sociologist
Sensitive to the rise of the ‘national community’
Russell Kirk
Traditionalist
“Conservative Mind”
Outlined 6 canons of conservativism
Developed 3 types of imagination: Moral, Idyllic, diabolic.
Whitaker Chambers
“Witness”
Anti communist/counterrevolutionary,
Exposed Alger Hiss.
Friedrich Hayek
Austrian Economist
“Road to Serfdom”
Karl Marx
Believes in the negative reason why power tends to snowball which is Impetus to reduce rivals to impotence. Economics is a positive-sum game not a zero-sum game
Thomas Hobbes
Thesis: state of nature is always a state of war.
War is the natural human condition; issue is how to achieve peace
Edmund Burke
1789 conservative
Originated the phrase “moral imagination”
John Rawls
Best summarized the differences between traditional justice and “social justice.”
“Fair” equality of opportunity=”formal” equality of opportunity.
“Undeserved inequalities call for redress.”
Joseph Schumpter
“The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.”
Thomas Aquinas
Gave the best summary of Natural Law
Moral law is right for all and known to all.
Derived principles are derived from this core by deduction or with the help of prudence.
Niccolo Machiavelli
“Prince”- handbook for the art of policy
Saw realism as the effective truth of politics.
Jean Bodin
State based on families
French Lawyer
“Six Books of Commonwealth.”
Adam Smith
“Wealth of Nations”
Based on Newton’s conception of Natural Law
Plato
Justice is a regulative virtue.
Ius=both law and right: giving to each his due.
Signs of Political Progress in Modern Nation
- Modern States with liberty have a longer life
- Progress in liberty and Wealth
- Liberty Advancing and requiring the advancement of civilization and culture
- Resilience despite ruinous difficulties
- Civil liberty without enslaving the lower classes
- Fair penal trials
Mimetic Rivalries
Exists at the very heart of human social relations, our neighbor is the model for our desires
Imitation of Christ
Jesus asks us to imitate his own desire because
(1) his goal is to become the perfect image of God and
(2) he invites us to imitate his own imitation. Imitate the detached generosity of God.
Roman Law
Idea that law could be legislated with the revival of the Christianized Romans.
Tibal Law
People bound to each other by oath: emphasis on community
Kings are guardians of the law.
Parliaments
Cooperative Partnership (separation of powers) Originated in France and England
Moral Challenge of Christianity
The gospel message and its implications
Accountability of every soul
Elevation of the humble
Nostalgia for the lost world of the Republic
This was a counterpoint to the monarchical loyalty of the early modern period and came to dominate Enlightenment criticism.
Liberal View of the State
Descends from medieval conceptions of freedom and kingship
State sustains a civic order to be enjoyed (diversity)
Idealist View of the State
The stat is a repressive thing that needs to be humanized (political moralism)
Socialism
A reflection on the relationship between politics and the economy
Requires that they be distinguished from each other