Introduction of philosophy
Political Philosophy
Political PhilosophyEveryone is interested in politics and
everyone has own philosophySo, many political theories in worldwidePolitics and Philosophy came from Greek
word : polis (city state)Political philosophy can be defined as
philosophical reflection on how best to arrange our collective life - our political institutions and our social practices, such as our economic system and our pattern of family life
Political Philosophy in Greek
Socrates lived between 469 and 399 BC, Plato between 427 and 347 BC, and Aristotle between 384 and 322 BC.
they all had in common was a thirst for knowledge.
Three “good” regimes being monarchy, aristocracy, and a moderate form of democracy
Justice, then, depended on treating equals equally, and only the equals as full citizens., not for slave and women
SocratesWidely considered the founder of Western political philosophy, via
his spoken influence on Athenian contemporaries; since Socrates never wrote anything, much of what we know about him and his teachings comes through his most famous student, Plato.
Socrates wanted his students to arrive at the truth by answering a stream of questions. , through deductive reasoning, arrive at the truth.
Socrates felt that a man who admitted he was ignorant was very wise and said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
He also said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”He felt that most people never reach their full potential and that to
be happy a person must keep his soul, his central core, healthy. That was done by self-examination and gaining wisdom.
democracy was an unwise form of government, . he thought that the electing of the people was unfair justice.
PlatoPlato wrote down many of the dialogues Socrates had with
his students, which was really important because Socrates didn’t commit his ideas to paper
Plato believed that there was a higher world where perfect ideas existed and if you knew them then you knew the truth.
Politically, he did not trust democracy and felt that philosophers should rule and that there needed to be a blend of philosophy and politics.
To him aristocracy was a perfect form of government, He believed that government should only have rulers who had the intelligence and education appropriate for the matter. His thoughts were that a job should be done only by those who are best suited for it.
Plato’s most enduring and influential work is the book The Republic
Plato’s Republic Timocracy: Socrates defines a as a government ruled by people who love honor
and are selected according to the degree of honor they hold in society, where only property owners may participate in government.
Oligarchy: These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.Socrates suggests that wealth will not help a pilot to navigate his ship. This injustice divides the rich and the poor, thus creating an environment for criminals and beggars to emerge. The rich are constantly plotting against the poor and vice versa.
Democracy: As this socioeconomic divide grows, so do tensions between social classes. From the conflicts arising out of such tensions, democracy replaces the oligarchy preceding it. The poor overthrow the inexperienced oligarchs and soon grant liberties and freedoms to citizens.
Tyranny: A government in which a single ruler is vested with absolute power. The excessive freedoms granted to the citizens of a democracy ultimately leads to a tyranny, the furthest regressed type of government.
Aristotle
While Plato was more abstract, Aristotle was more logical. Aristotle was brilliant and wrote about many diverse subjects, including mathematics, government, metaphysics, and science.
He was practical and realistic in his approach to knowledge. As far as politics go, he felt the best form of government was a
constitutional one. His opinion toward life was that all people should live a fair and
happy life. Aristotle's political science encompasses the two fields which
modern philosophers distinguish as ethics and political philosophy.he had his own theories towards his belief of the "right
government". He wanted his results to show happiness among the people. believe that a perfect government could be formed only by those who have a middle class.
Political systemDemocracyRepublicMonarchyCommunismDictatorshipTotalitarianTheocracyParliamentaryRevolutionaryOligarchy/Plutocracy
Democracyall citizens have an equal opportunity to express their opinion Most popular one is parliamentary democracyThe term comes from Greek word demokratia (rule of the
people)Essential of democracy include freedom of speech, press,
political expression, human right, civil societyRepresentative democracy involves the selection of
government officials by the people being represented. Parliamentary democracy is also representative democracy where government is appointed by parliament. Presidential democracy is a system where the public elects the president free and fair elections. Semi-presidential system in which the government includes both prime minister and president. Deliberative democracy is based on the notion that democracy is government by discussion.
Parliamentary
In this system government in which ministers of the executive branch get their legitimacy from and are accountable to that parliament body.
The origins of the modern concept of prime ministerial government go back to the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) and The Parliamentary System in Sweden (1721–1772), that coincided with each other.
A Parliamentary System may consist of two styles of chambers of parliament one with two chambers (or houses): an elected lower house, and an upper house or Senate which may be appointed or elected by a different mechanism from the lower house. This style of two houses is called bicameral system. Legislatures with only one house are known as unicameral system.
Oligarchy
The meaning “ a few”, ruled by small people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family
ties, corporate or military control.Few prominent families who pass their influence from one
generation to the next.For example, communist country where only members of the
Communist Party were allowed to vote. For example, in past South Africa, only white people were
allowed to vote.Corporate oligarchy (Corporatocracy) is a form of power,
where such power effectively rests with a small, elite group of inside individuals, sometimes from a small group of educational institutions, or influential economic entities or devices, such as banks, commercial entities,
PlutocracyPlutocracy meaning (ploutos: wealth and
kratos power rule) is ruled by the wealthy.Wealthy minorities have always influence
over the political arena. In modern times, the term is sometimes used
to refer to societies rooted in state-corporate capitalism.
It is fusion of money and government.
Revolutionary
A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turn around") is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.
Aristotle described two types of political revolution: Complete change from one constitution to another, Modification of an existing constitution.
Perhaps most often, the word "revolution" is employed to denote a change in socio-political institutions.
Many such early studies of revolutions tended to concentrate on four classic cases—famous and uncontroversial examples that fit virtually all definitions of revolutions, like the Glorious Revolution (1688), the French Revolution (1789–1799), the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Chinese Revolution (1927–1949).
Totalitarianism
Stay in political power through propaganda campaign by controlling mass media, a single party and controlled economy.
The concept was developed in 1920 in Italian fascists., it means total political power by state.
Everything within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.
Theocracy
It is a form of government in which official policy is governed by religion or religion groups.
From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state
the term theocracy, from the Greek "rule of God", Theocracy should be distinguished from other, secular,
forms of government that have a state religion, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts
Current , an Islamic state is a state that has adopted Islam, , specifically Sharia, as its foundations for political institutions, or laws, exclusively, and has implemented the Islamic ruling system
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual a dictator.
Dictatorship is often defined simply as "not democracy",
Dictatorships may be classified in a number of ways, such as: Military dictatorship, Single party state, Personal, or Hybrid
Dictators may attain power in a number of ways: family, military, constitutional, self-coup,
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual.
Types of monarchy: absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, hereditary monarchy, elective monarchy , ceremonial monarchy, cultural monarchy
Communism Communism (from Latin communis - common, universal), Communism comes from
the Latin word communis, which means "shared" or "belong to all".,It is a revolutionary social movement to create a classless, moneyless, stateless, common ownership of the means of production.
Marxist theory contends that socialism is just a transitional stage on the road to communism.
A communist society would have no governments, countries, or class divisions. In modern usage, the word "communism" is still often used to refer to the policies of
self-declared socialist governments comprising one party states which were single legal political party systems operating under centrally planned economies
According to communist theory, the only way to abolish capitalist inequalities is to have the proletariat (working class), who are perpetually exploited and marginalised by the bourgeoisie (wealthy class), to overthrow the capitalist system. Like other socialists, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels sought an end to capitalism and the systems which they perceived to be responsible for the exploitation of workers.
The dominant forms of communism are based on Marxism, but non-Marxist versions of communism like Christian communism and anarchist communism also exist.
Anarchist communism (also known as libertarian communism) is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favour of common ownership of the means of production,[58][59] direct democracy and a horizontal network ofvoluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need". Anarcho-communism differs from marxism rejecting its view about the need for a State Socialism phase before building communism.
Christian communism is a form of religious communism centred on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ urge Christians to support communism as the ideal social system.
Republic
Simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. It is form of government in which the supreme power rests with people.
Classical republic: Greek: Athens, Sparta, Roman Republic, India, Northen part of Europe
In Europe new republics appeared in the late Middle ages, These were generally small, but wealthy, trading states, , in which the merchant class had risen to prominence.
Protestant Reformation used as justification of establishing new republics.
Most of these Enlightenment thinkers were far more interested in ideas of constitutional monarchy than in republics.
Collapse of monarch due social or communist movement. Islamic political philosophy has a long history of opposition to absolute monarchy,
Types; parliamentary republic, Federal republic, Islamic republic, Socialist republic
Socialism The producing and distributing goods can be privately or collectively owned or
dictated by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy. Although socialism does not always co-exist with only communist or fascist governments, the implementation of socialism in many countries requires that a strong central government generally impose this philosophy on the people.
Modern socialism originated from an 18th-century intellectual and working class
political movement that criticised the effects of industrialization "We want to achieve a new and better order of society: in this new and better
society there must be neither rich nor poor; all will have to work. Not a handful of rich people, but all the working people must enjoy the fruits of their common labour. Machines and other improvements must serve to ease the work of all and not to enable a few to grow rich at the expense of millions and tens of millions of people. This new and better society is called socialist society. The teachings about this society are called socialism." Lenin
In the most influential of all socialist theories, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels believed the consciousness of those who earn a wage or salary (the "working class" in the broadest Marxist sense) would be moulded by their "conditions" of "wage-slavery", leading to a tendency to seek their freedom or "emancipation" by overthrowing ownership of the means of production by capitalists. For Marx and Engels, conditions determine consciousness and ending the role of the capitalist class leads eventually to a classless society in which the state would wither away.
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are
privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market.
Capitalism is a system that is based on private ownership of the means of production ,
competitative market, wage labor, capital accumulation etc. Product (capital or consumer): Capital goods (i.e., raw materials, tools, industrial machines,
vehicles and factories) are used to produce consumer goods (e.g., televisions, cars, computers, houses) to be sold to others. The three inputs required for production are:labor,land (i.e., natural resources, which exist prior to human beings) and capital goods.
Money was primarily a standardized medium of exchange, and final means of payment, that serves to measure the value of all goods and commodities in a standard of value.
Types: Mercantilism holds that the wealth of a nation is increased through a positive balance of trade with other nations. Free market capitalism consists of a free-price system where supply and demand are allowed to reach their point of equilibrium without intervention by the government. A social market economy is a nominally free-market system where government intervention in price formation is kept to a minimum but the state provides significant social security, unemployment benefits and recognition of labor rights through national collective bargaining laws. State capitalism consists of state ownership of the means of production within a state. Corporate capitalism is a free or mixed market characterized by the dominance of hierarchical, bureaucratic corporations, which are legally required to pursue profit.
largely market-based economy consisting of both public ownership and private ownership of the means of production. Most capitalist economies are defined as "mixed economies" to some degree[although the balance between the public and private sectors may vary.
