From Rule of Law to Constitutionalism: The Ottoman Context of Arab Political Thought

2016 ◽  
pp. 142-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Philipp
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought

Is Indian sedition law colonial? J. F. Stephen and the jurisprudence on free speech

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 477-504
Author(s):  
Sunny Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Constitutive Relation ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Free Speech ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Colonial Governance ◽  
Alternative Understanding

This article critically evaluates the characterisation of sedition law as colonial by analysing the arguments made by J. F. Stephen in opposing such a claim. While Stephen obfuscated the close links between the sedition law and the requirements of colonial governance, he made a persuasive case for how the sedition law was completely consistent with British ideas of liberty, utility, and the rule of law. Stephen’s arguments about legitimate limits to political liberties, particularly his critique of J. S. Mill in this regard, offer us an opportunity to question the presumed antithesis between colonial and metropolitan jurisprudence and trace their shared origins in British political thought. To that end, with Stephen as an interlocutor, this article critically analyses themes such as the defence of empire, colonialism, and the idea of improvement within a wider set of writings by British political philosophers, to arrive at an alternative understanding of British political liberalism. My article concludes that rather than ‘colonial difference’, the constitutive relation between sedition law and liberal jurisprudence better explains the prevalence of similar authoritarian laws within democratic regimes across the globe.

Dreaming of a Meritocracy, Grappling with Reality

2019 ◽  
pp. 224-267
Author(s):  
Aaron Stalnaker
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Extreme Difference ◽  
Chinese Political Thought

This chapter examines early Confucian political theory, and argues that they were well aware of both the potentials and pitfalls of politics. This is most visible in their prescriptions about the cultivation, discipline, and employment of elites for the greater benefit of society. Mèngzǐ and Xúnzǐ dreamed of a perfect meritocracy where the wise are recognized, given power, and rule benevolently, overseen and selected by a sage king. This vision led to the persistent utopianism that Metzger and Angle criticize in later Chinese political thought. But Mèngzǐ and Xúnzǐ were also vividly aware of the extreme difference between actual conditions and their meritocratic dream, and developed a number of thoughtful responses to the failures of existing politics. These ideas form a philosophy of elite cultivation and discipline that analyzes the “rule by people” necessary to complement and implement the “rule of law.”

Citizenship, otherness and cosmopolitism in Kant

1996 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 437-446
Author(s):  
Gérard Raulet
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Ancien Regime ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Modern Conception ◽  
Perpetual Peace ◽  
To Come ◽  
Ancien Régime

In the present social and political context, there is an urgent need to reexamine attentively the theories that have founded the modern conception of citizenship and, in particular, to scrutinize the relation they have established between otherness and modern national identity. I intend to do this by resorting to Kant's writings on the philosophy of history, and particularly his political Project for a Perpetual Peace, in which he attempts to come to grips with the consequences of the breakdown of the ancien régime and of the pre-modern conception of the nation in order to outline the modern principles governing the three levels of right: of the Rechtsstaat (a state based on the rule of law); of the Völkerrecht (the people's right); and of the so-called Weltbürgerrecht (the “cosmopolitical right”). The decisive and perhaps disturbing idea that has to be demonstrated is that, in Kant's modern political thought, there is no contradiction between nationalism and cosmopolitism. Any interpretation of his thought that neglects this point would lead to a misunderstanding of Kant's philosophical revolution and fall back into the political as well as the metaphysical ancien régime. We have to show: (1) that Kant's critique of Reason aims to establish a legislation in the sphere of knowledge itself and that it must therefore accomplish in this sphere a “revolution” that distinguishes - in opposition to metaphysical universalism - different territories with their own constitution and legislation; (2) that the relation between this theoretical “revolution” and the political one is not only a metaphor, and that Kant's rejection of the political ancien régime cannot be correctly understood if it is not related to the theoretical model of the legitimacy of the different territories of Reason.

30. Oakeshott

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Boucher
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Background Theory ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Civil Association ◽  
British Idealism ◽  
Politics And Law

This chapter examines Michael Oakeshott's political thought, beginning with a discussion of his scepticism and its relation to the background theory of British idealism that informs all aspects of his philosophy. It then considers Oakeshott's belief that philosophy is the uncovering and questioning of the postulates upon which all our forms of understanding rest. Oakeshott has been characterized as a conservative, a liberal, and an ideologist, but this chapter argues that he was neither conservative nor liberal in any party-political sense. It goes on to analyse Oakeshott's views on the rationalist in politics, civil association and the rule of law, and politics and law as well as his characterization of the modern European state. The chapter concludes by assessing the importance Oakeshott attached to myth and legend in the self-consciousness of a society.

The Political Thought of Mirzā Aqā Khān Kermāni, The Father of Persian National Liberalism

2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-161
Author(s):  
Pejman Abdolmohammadi
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Contemporary History ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
First Time ◽  
Constitutional Revolution

The second half of the nineteenth century is one of the most important periods for the evolution of political thought in Persia. Notable intellectuals started to develop a critical perception of the social, economic and political issues, giving life to a new current of thought which became known as the constitutionalist movement of Iran. Mirzā Aqā Khān Kermāni (1853-1896) is one of the most important thinkers of this time who, in numerous books and articles, puts forward constitutionalist and nationalist ideas for the first time in Iranian contemporary history. This article will examine his political thought, highlighting how Kermāni, after being in contact with the liberal and constitutional ideas of western thinkers and also after a new revision of his own Persian history and philosophy, was able to work out a new way of thinking which contributed to creating the ideological basis for a modern concept of Nationalism in Iran and for the first attempt at secularization of Iranian society. This article shows how the Iranian constitutional revolution of 1906 (mashrūṭeh) was in fact partially the fruit of ideas of this first generation of secular thinkers such as Kermāni, who were able to spread a new civil concept of the state which separated religion from politics, by introducing the rule of law and limiting the absolute power of the monarch.

scholarly journals Rereading Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī’s Wisdom Approach to Justice and Injustice

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-316
Author(s):  
Ergin Ergül
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic World ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights

This paper discusses the wisdom approach to justice and injustice of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Rūmī, one of the greatest Sufi sages of all times. This famous Sufi master, in his background, was an eminent social thinker, intellectual, and especially a law scholar. Thus, it is not surprising that he dealt with these terms, which were critical concepts in past political thought in the West and the East, extensively in his works. Firstly, as a method, the study traces these two concepts in al-Rūmī’s works and mainly Masnavi. Then it connects them with their contemporary use. It is understood from al-Rūmī’s definitions of them, metaphors and stories accompanied by messages to judges and politicians, that he uses the concept of justice, especially in the sense of today’s rule of law and protection of human rights, and injustice in the sense of human rights violations and totalitarian policies. When we reread and rethink al-Rūmī’s mentioned concepts in this way, his political wisdom can inspire and guide both today’s Islamic world and humanity to overcome their challenges in these crucial areas.

PLATO AND THE RULE OF LAW

Méthexis ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCISCO L. LISI
Keyword(s):  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Modern State ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
Substantial Change ◽  
Usual Interpretation ◽  
Ordered State

According to the usual interpretation, Plato's last dialogue, the Laws, indicates a substantial change in his political thought, namely the defence of the Rule of Law as the best possible political order. Therefore, he has been considered the first representative of this central concept for the modern State. The present paper points to the radical differences between Plato'sconception and the contemporary understanding of the Rule of Law. It also explains his interpretation of the function of the law in a well-ordered State and to the opposition of his view to ourcontemporary doctrine of democracy.

scholarly journals LIBERALISM, CULTURAL PARTICULARISM, AND THE RULE OF LAW IN MODERN EAST ASIA: THE ANTI-CONFUCIAN ESSENTIALISMS OF CHEN DUXIU AND FUKUZAWA YUKICHI COMPARED

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 527-542
Author(s):  
KIRI PARAMORE
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Exclusionary Practices ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
China And Japan ◽  
Chen Duxiu

How and why are universalist modes of political thought transformed into culturally essentialist and exclusionary practices of governance and law? This article considers this question by analyzing the interaction between Confucianism and liberalism in East Asia. It argues that liberalism, particularly as it was used in attacking Confucianism, was instrumental in embedding ideas of cultural particularism and cultural essentialism in the emergence of modern political thought and law in both China and Japan. Both Confucianism and liberalism are self-imagined as universalist traditions, theoretically applicable to all global societies. Yet in practice both have regularly been defined in culturally determined, culturally exclusivist terms: Confucianism as “Chinese,” liberalism as “British” or “Western.” The meeting of Confucian and liberal visions of universalism and globalism in nineteenth-century East Asia provides an intriguing case study for considering the interaction between universalism and cultural exclusivism. This article focuses on the role of nineteenth-century global liberalism in attacks upon the previous Confucian order in East Asia, demonstrating the complicity of liberalism in new, culturally essentialist and particularist constructions of governance and law in both China and Japan.

Republicanism

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Dagger
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
John Adams ◽  
Thomas Paine ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Traditions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Republicanism is an ancient tradition of political thought that has enjoyed a remarkable revival in recent years. Aristotle and Polybius are the two Greek thinkers most often associated with republicanism. As with liberalism, conservatism, and other enduring political traditions, there is considerable disagreement as to exactly what republicanism is. Whether republicanism itself is an adequate or distinctive political philosophy is the subject of a broader controversy. Whether John Adams, Thomas Paine, Montesquieu, or any other modern thinker really was a classical republican, or even a republican at all, is not a settled matter. Republicans have generally opposed monarchy and favored representative government, but there is also reason to be cautious here—and reason to look more closely at the definition of republicanism before turning to its history. How does a republic differ from a democracy? If a democracy maintains its respect for the rule of law, then it is a democratic republic; if not, it may be a populist, majoritarian, or plebiscitarian form of democracy, but it cannot be a republic.

A Foucauldian Defense of the State: Blandine Kriegel and the État de Droit

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Michael C. Behrent
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Political Philosopher

This paper examines the career and thought of French political philosopher Blandine Kriegel (b. 1943) from the standpoint of the most striking paradox they present: though she was a student of Michel Foucault, who was famous for his critique of central role that political thinking has traditionally accorded the state, Kriegel has, since the mid-1970s, been one of the foremost champions of the concept of état de droit—the state as the embodiment of the “rule of law”—in French political debates. At a time when post-1968 critics of Marxism and totalitarianism (notably the so-called nouveaux philosophes) were arguing that states were inherently despotic, Kriegel mounted an original defense of the state, which, she argued, had played a central role in establishing legal rights that freed individuals from the “slavery” of civil society. She was able to do this, in part, by drawing on several suggestive elements found in Foucault's work: his concept of biopolitics, the claim that individuals and subjectivity are constituted through power relations, and the insight that war and sovereignty represent alternative ways of conceptualizing power. In this way, she used aspects of Foucault's political thought to arrive at a decidedly non-Foucauldian appreciation of the modern state.

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