History of Political Philosophy

 

Ancient Philosophy

• Ancient political systems

  1. Tyranny: rule by a single leader who usurps power and exercises absolute control

  2. Oligarchy: “rule of the few”; a small group holds power and governs the rest of the populace

     • Aristocracy: “rule of the best”; a form of oligarchy justified by claiming that those in power are best suited to rule

  3. Democracy: “rule of the many”; all free born citizens are eligible to participate in government

• Plato’s Republic: describes the perfectly Just City, where reason (the class of guardians) rules over courage (the auxiliaries) and appetite (the masses of craftsmen)

• Aristotle’s Politics:

  1. Political institutions make possible the pursuit of virtue by providing a framework in which people can refine their rational powers.

  2. There is no “best” form of government that applies universally; depends on particular circumstances.

• Stoicism: Emphasizes reason, virtue, and harmony with nature

  1. Natural law: There is a foundation for ethics higher or more universal than legislated law.

     • Based on the nature of humans as rational beings

     • Ethical obligations exist independent of government

  2. Deep influence on Romans: Stoic political thinkers include Cicero (106 BC–43 BC), Seneca (3 BC–65 AD), Epictetus (c. 50 AD–c. 135 AD), and Marcus Aurelius (121 AD–180 AD)

• St. Augustine (354–430): In City of God, contrasts secular society with the Church, argues that society should be ordered to promote the spiritual end of man.

 

Renaissance Philosophy

• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274): Political institutions should provide the best environment in which to pursue religious goals.

• Humanism: Focus on human concerns, sometimes as a reflection of divine purpose; a “religion of humanity.”

  • Desiderius Erasmus (1466–1536): In The Education of a Christian Prince, argues for necessity of consent and consultation between rulers and the people.

• Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527): In The Prince, detaches politics from virtue; studies how rulers can capture and hold political power, even through treacherous means.

• Thomas More (c. 1478–1535): In Utopia, advocates religious tolerance and eradication of private property.

 

Modern Philosophy

• Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679): Human life in a state of nature is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

  1. Leviathan: The state is a metaphorical person whose body is made up of all the bodies of its citizens.

  2. Social contract: Societies are formed by a binding agreement for mutual protection against abuses in the state of nature.

  3. People surrender natural rights to the authority of a sovereign with absolute power.

• John Locke (1632–1704)

  1. Founder of liberalism: Political institutions are justified only if they promote human liberty.

     • Other significant liberal philosophers include Kant, Mill, and John Rawls (b. 1921).

  2. Individuals have natural rights, such as life, liberty, and property, that are independent of government and society.

  3. Refutes divine right of kings; people are obliged to remove a ruler who violates natural rights.

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778).

  1. The noble savage: Humans are naturally free and good but are corrupted by institutions of society (“Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains”).

  2. Individuals in society must subjugate personal interests to the general will, an abstract expression of the common good.

• Utilitarianism

  1. A moral system based on producing the “greatest good for the greatest number of people”

  2. Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832): Moral justification must come from utility; good institutions produce good consequences.

  3. John Stuart Mill (1806–1873)

     • Standard of happiness: “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”; coincides with “natural” sentiments that originate from humans’ social nature.

     • On Liberty: Society can only exert authority over behavior that harms other people.

• Communitarianism: Emphasizes importance of community over individual liberty (Hegel)

• Communism (see also Marxism)

  1. Private property is abolished and all property is held in common.

  2. Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848): Workers should revolt against capitalism and seize control over means of production.

• Anarchism: Political institutions corrupt people and restrict freedom; true liberty can only exist when political institutions are abolished.

  1. Syndicalism: Group societies around collective and cooperative labor.