Political Pholosophy In The Middle Ages And Utopian Conceptions Flashcards
Political theory in the middle ages
Theories on public matters and politics partly replaced by Christian orientation towards religious questions six dominant topics
Scholasticism: systematic and critical method of thought, developed in medieval universities in the 12.century
Doctrine of Divine right of kings: doctrine of political legitimacy, monarch derives right to rule directly from the will of God
Right to resist
Under which conditions do subjects have the right to resist against monarchs? Is tyrannicide legitimate?
Controversy between pope and emperor
Conflict of investiture of bishops, regnum vs. sacerdotium
Relation between religion and politics
Philosophy of the two cities (cf augustine)
Commentaries on Aristotle’s writings (via Islamic philosophers)
Characteristics of medieval political thinking in Europe
Classical antiquity (800BC- 500AD) Classical Greece (Greco-Persian wärs, Athenian domination, peleponnesian war, Spartan hegemony)
Hellenism (Alexander the great and successors)
Roman republic
Roman Empire
-migration period
Middle Ages (500-1500) Carolingian Europe ( Charlemagne, foundation of Holy Roman Empire)
Pope vs. emperor
Feudalism (holding of all land in fief( lehen), lord-vassal-relation, services of vassals, serfdom (leibeigenschaft) of farmers)
crusades
- Renaissance, age of discovery, Protestant reformation, printing press, heliocentrism
Modern era (since 1500) Rise of capitalism Enlightenment Industrialization Democratization Urbanization
- Postmodernism/ contemporary history
Augustine and the two cities doctrine
Philosophy of the two cities
Civitas dei - civitas terrena
State and church
Salvation or damnation
Augustine of hippo ( 354-430)
After conquest of Rome by Alarich 410: the end of the old world
Two types of humans: those who want to live after the flesh, and those who wish to live after the spirit.
Two cities doctrine: civitas dei- civitas terrena
Necessity of statehood follows from the original fall of man. (Which brings war into the world- state needed to guarantee peace, welfare, and stability)
What are kingdoms without justice? They’re just gangs of bandits.
Theory of just wars (bellum justum)
Main political book: city of God
Principles of just war based on scholastic philosophy
Jus as bellum
Last resort: all non-violent options must have been exhausted
Just cause:
The purpose of war is to redress a wrong that has been suffered
Legitimate authority
Lawfully constituted government of a sovereign state, rather than a private individual
Right intention
War must be prosecuted on the basis of aims that are morally acceptable
Reasonable prospect of success
War should not be fought Ina hopeless cause
Proportionally (macro-proportionality)
War should result in more good than evil
Jus in bello
Discrimination
Force must be directed at military targets only. Death or injury To civilians is only acceptable if they are the accidental and unavoidable victims of deliberate attacks on legitimate targets (collateral damage)
Proportionality (micro-proportionality)
Force used must not be greater than that needed to achieve an acceptable military outcome
Humanity
Force must not be directed ever against enemy personnel if they are captured, wounded or under control (prisoner of war)
Thomas of aquin and the natural reason
Divine order
Lex aeterna
Lex divina. Les naturalis
Lex Humana
Thomas of aquin (1224- 1274)
Heyday of scholasticism
Attempt to combine Christian theology with classical philosophy/ reason
Goal of life: virtue (living according to law)
Doctrine of two swords: God goves power to spiritual society (pope) and to temporal society (emperor) power to emperor given indirectly through pope
In Thomas’ mirror for princes de regno:
Monarchy as best constitution, because similar to god’s government tif the qod
Right to resist in case of bad government
Application of aristotle’s theory of the unmoved mover to Christian theology : God as prima causa
Summary of Thomas’ political philosophy
Human beings are social by nature (zoon politikon)
Society is natural, therefore division of labour is natural (there is no need for additional legitimation)
Monarchy as best form of constitution, because in nature everything has only one highest power
Tyranny worst form of constitution
In order to prevent a monarch from becoming a tyrant, royal powers have to be limited
However it is still better to suffer in a tyranny than to resist the tyrant, because resistance leads to anarchy (and anarchy is even worse)
No right to resist, no legitimate tyrannicide
Compares state with human body: king as the representative of God within the state acts as (functional equivalent) reason and soul within human body
For questions related to belief and morals, the pope stands higher than the king
Marsilius and popular sovereignty
Popular sovereignty
Governing part
Government
Qualified part (valencior pars) ( control, election, dismissal of governing part)
Citizens (civium universitas)
People (populus)
Marsilius of Padua (1280-1342)
Goal of the state:provision of peace, because peace leads to welfare. Peace is threatened by the pope’s claim for authority
Anticlerical arguments
Holy Roman Empire is independent of the pope ( traditional doctrine of two swords inverted)
State not based in social nature of human beings ( zoon politicon ) , but in reason (self-preservation and satisfaction of needs)
Development of the idea of popular sovereignty ( people legislates- through most qualified part) government should be controlled by people
Key political book : defensor pacis
Thomas Morus and social utopia
Thomas Morus (1478- 1535)
Utopia: Novel (1516), Latin
Begins novel utopia with critique of political status quo : the cause of misery and exploitation is private property
Utopia state: common property, stable social structures: every citizen has to work (Part time) on a farm and has to be a craftsman. Nobody has to work more than six hours per day
Polity: mixed constitution :30 families elect a chief ( yearly), people choose four candidates for the head of state among these candidates. Head of state appointed for life, supported by senate
Campanella
The city of the sun Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639)
The city of the sun , 1602, Italian
Authoritarian variant of classical utopia
Happiness not through freedom but through control
Content population of the island taprobana are subjects and receive state subsidies. No private property, no privacy.
People forced to work together for the common good, which prevents egoism
Polity: strictly hierarchical theocratic order
Primary goal: breeding of a mentally and physically superior race of human beings (by Control if sexuality and eugenics)
Francis Bacon
The new Atlantis- Nova atlantis
Some Theories on Francis bacon
Baconian theory of Shakespeare authorship: Francis bacon was the real author of Shakespeare’s books
Faked death theory
Francis bacon did fake his own death
Occult societies theory
Francis bacon was a member of the Rosicrucians and or the Freemasons
Francis bacon (1561-1626)
Nova Atlantis , 1627 english
Scientific/ technical variant of classical utopia
Solution for all social problems through mastery of nature (knowledge implies power)
Content: island of Bensalem, salomon’s house in its centre (scientific laboratory with well organized scientists)
Society with private property and patriarchy polity: enlightened monarch is responsible for the efficient execution of projects and trade procedures
Bacon was actively involved in British politics and the creation of the colonies
Political utopia
Utopia : Greek ou (not) and place No place (used for the first time by Thomas Morus)
An utopia is an socially, politically and morally ideally perfect place (that does not exist in reality)
Not realistic
But still a motivation for changing the world
Some examples Garden of Eden/ heaven Plato's republic Land of cockayne / schlaraffenland Dystopia : brave new world (1984) Utopia of a global free and democratic community through the www
Utopism: an ideology that combines the idea of a perfect place wth a critique of the social and political status quo, often without taking into account that such an ideally perfect place may be unrealistic. Most famous utopist statement: seamos realistas- pidamos lo impossible: (be realistic, demand the impossible/) Che Guevara
Thomas Morus and social utopia
Thomas Morus (1478- 1535)
Utopia: Novel (1516), Latin
Begins novel utopia with critique of political status quo : the cause of misery and exploitation is private property
Utopia state: common property, stable social structures: every citizen has to work (Part time) on a farm and has to be a craftsman. Nobody has to work more than six hours per day
Polity: mixed constitution :30 families elect a chief ( yearly), people choose four candidates for the head of state among these candidates. Head of state appointed for life, supported by senate
Campanella
The city of the sun Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639)
The city of the sun , 1602, Italian
Authoritarian variant of classical utopia
Happiness not through freedom but through control
Content population of the island taprobana are subjects and receive state subsidies. No private property, no privacy.
People forced to work together for the common good, which prevents egoism
Polity: strictly hierarchical theocratic order
Primary goal: breeding of a mentally and physically superior race of human beings (by Control if sexuality and eugenics)
Thomas Morus and social utopia
Thomas Morus (1478- 1535)
Utopia: Novel (1516), Latin
Begins novel utopia with critique of political status quo : the cause of misery and exploitation is private property
Utopia state: common property, stable social structures: every citizen has to work (Part time) on a farm and has to be a craftsman. Nobody has to work more than six hours per day
Polity: mixed constitution :30 families elect a chief ( yearly), people choose four candidates for the head of state among these candidates. Head of state appointed for life, supported by senate
Campanella
The city of the sun Tommaso Campanella (1568-1639)
The city of the sun , 1602, Italian
Authoritarian variant of classical utopia
Happiness not through freedom but through control
Content population of the island taprobana are subjects and receive state subsidies. No private property, no privacy.
People forced to work together for the common good, which prevents egoism
Polity: strictly hierarchical theocratic order
Primary goal: breeding of a mentally and physically superior race of human beings (by Control if sexuality and eugenics)
