Introducing Political Philosophy

A Graphic Guide

Dave Robinson, Judy Groves

• Publisher: Icon Books
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781848318779
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Political Philosophy

Essential illustrated guide to key ideas of political thought. Philosophers have always asked fundamental and disturbing questions about politics. Plato and Aristotle debated the merits of democracy. The origins of society, the state and government authority were issues addressed by Hobbes, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx and many other philosophers. Introducing Political Philosophy explains the central concepts of this intriguing branch of philosophy and presents the major political theorists from Plato to Foucault. How did governments get started? Why should they be obeyed? Could we live without them? How much power should they have? Is freedom a right? Which is the best form of government? In the wake of consumerism and postmodernism, our need for a better grasp of political ideas is greater than ever. Dave Robinson's account of this complex subject is always clear, informative and accompanied by the entertainingly inventive illustrations of Judy Groves.

Questions

Political philosophers ask questions about individuals, communities, society, the law, political power, the State, and about how they all relate.

▶ Is it possible or desirable to say what human beings are “really like”?

▶ What is society? Is it something more than the people who live in it? Or was the British Prime Minister Mrs Thatcher right to say “There is no such thing as society”?

▶ What is the State? Is it an artificial construct or something that has naturally evolved?

▶ How free can the State allow individual citizens to be? Are there good moral reasons why citizens are obliged to obey the law? To what extent does the State have the right to punish those who disobey its commands?

▶ Is democracy the best form of government?

▶ Should the State be interested in furthering economic equality? If so, should it be allowed to interfere with other people’s private property?

DO WE NEED GOVERNMENTS AT ALL?

Back to Basics

Many political philosophers begin by concentrating on individuals. After all, societies and states are made up of individuals first, and governments must come after. Are political institutions simply the end result of attempts to fulfil the essential and universal needs of individuals? But what if we have no real knowledge about the needs and purposes of human beings? Besides, we aren’t just dropped into society with all the ready-made capacities that make us human.

THERE CAN BE NO DOUBT THAT SOCIETY MAKES US. EVEN OUR MOST “PRIVATE” THOUGHTS DERIVE FROM LINGUISTIC RESOURCES THAT AREN’T OUR OWN. BUT EVEN THOUGH WE MIGHT ALL BE DERIVATIVE “SOCIAL PRODUCTS”, NONE OF US FEEL WE’RE JUST ROBOTS. PARADOXICALLY, WE ARE MADE BY SOMETHING THAT WE FEEL WE HAVE THE RIGHT (AND DUTY) TO QUESTION.

Natural Communities

The word “community” suggests something immediate, local and praiseworthy. Political philosophers think of communities as small groups of people with shared values who enjoy solidarity with little need of laws or hierarchical chains of command.

THE EXISTENCE OF COMMUNITIES SUGGESTS THAT HUMAN BEINGS CAN BE SOCIAL WITHOUT NECESSARILY BEING “POLITICALLY GOVERNED”. SO WHAT’S “SOCIETY”, THEN? SOCIETIES ARE LARGER THAN COMMUNITIES AND HELD TOGETHER BY COMPLEX SYSTEMS OF RULES, CUSTOMS AND INSTITUTIONS.

17th-century political philosophers made distinctions between free associations of individuals – societies, perhaps agreed on by some form of “contract” between individuals – and States, which are constituted by specific hierarchical power structures and the threat of coercion.

Society and State

Is it possible that we are all “social animals” but not necessarily political ones? Where is the evidence for non-political societies? Or is this an idealistic fantasy? Some philosophers believe that distinctions made between societies and States only lead to confusion. Societies can only exist if they are political. Power – and who has it – are features of human life that never go away.

THE “STATE” IS DEFINED AS AN AREA OF TERRITORY WITH AN ORGANIZED LEGAL SYSTEM AND A GOVERNMENT THAT HAS A “LEGITIMATE” MONOPOLY OF FORCE OVER ITS CITIZENS. MODERN STATES HAVE ENORMOUS AND OFTEN INTRUSIVE AUTHORITY… THAT’S WHY PHILOSOPHERS ENDLESSLY REDEFINE WORDS LIKE “CONSENT” “AUTHORITY” AND “OBLIGATION”.

What is Political Philosophy?

Most modern philosophers accept that moral and political propositions have no factual or logical status. Hence, it is impossible to prescribe what States should be or define what ought to be our relationship to them. Providing definitive answers to political problems must be ruled out.

ALL THAT PHILOSOPHERS CAN DO IS ANALYZE AND MAKE MORE PRECISE THE CONCEPTS WE USE IN EVERYDAY SPEECH – SUCH AS “POWER”, “LAW” “RIGHTS” AND SO ON. BUT POLITICS IS A VERY PRACTICAL AND IMPORTANT REALITY… WE EXPECT ADVICE FROM PHILOSOPHERS, NOT MERELY “ANALYSIS OF CONCEPTS”.

But political philosophy is as ideological as any other kind of discourse. We accept from it what agrees with our normal core beliefs and values. This is why all political concepts are always “essentially contrasted”.

Origins in Ancient Greece

The first people to write about political philosophy were the ancient Greeks. To begin with they were “stateless” semi-nomadic tribes who finally settled all over the coastal regions of the Aegean and Mediterranean.

WE WERE WARRIORS RULED BY WARLORDS. WE PLACED A HIGH VALUE ON COMRADESHIP, LOYALTY AND COURAGE. DIFFERENT WARRING TRIBES THEN CONGREGATED INTO LARGER UNITS FOR DEFENCE PURPOSES AND GRADUALLY ESTABLISHED “CITY STATES” LIKE ATHENS AND SPARTA.

The “Polis” or City State was usually small and independent, and each one was ruled by its own unique kind of government.

The City State of Athens

The most interesting and influential “Polis” was Athens, which experienced all sorts of governments. Political power had originally rested in the hands of a kind of aristocracy, similar to a tribal council, but gradually the citizen body itself acquired more and more power, and eventually ruled Athens between 461 and 322 BC.

ATHENS BECAME FAMOUS FOR ITS UNIQUE FORM OF DIRECT PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY. IT INVOLVED ALL OF ITS 50,000 ADULT MALE CITIZENS. BUT NOT WOMEN, SLAVES OR FOREIGNERS!

The Duties of Citizens

Being an Athenian “citizen” was a serious business, involving duties as well as rights.

WE DO NOT SAY THAT A MAN WHO TAKES NO INTEREST IN POLITICS IS A MAN WHO MINDS HIS OWN BUSINESS; WE SAY THAT HE HAS NO BUSINESS HERE AT ALL. THE POPULAR ASSEMBLY (I.E. THE “GOVERNMENT”), MADE UP OF ALL ADULT MALE CITIZENS, MET AT REGULAR INTERVALS TO DECIDE ON MATTERS OF STATE. SO ATHENS WAS GOVERNED BY AMATEURS.

The population was small enough for this kind of “pure” democracy to work, and most Athenians seemed to have been immensely proud of their State. They identified with it so completely that it was virtually impossible for any of them to imagine a life outside it.

Direct Democracy

Athenians fought alongside each other in battle and were more “tribal” than we are now. Their social and political world was very different from ours. They had little conception of “the individual” as something separate from “the citizen” and only very hazy notions of private rights. Society and State were indistinguishable.

FOR MODERN PHILOSOPHERS AND HISTORIANS THIS IS A MAJOR HEADACHE. MANY ANCIENT GREEK WORDS ARE ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE, SO DEEPL...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Questions
• Further Reading
• About the author and artist
• Acknowledgements
• Index