Determined to Be Free: The Meaning of Freedom in Spinoza'sTheologico-Political Treatise

2011 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-76
Author(s):  
Steven Frankel
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Alternative Account

AbstractThe goal of this essay is to offer an alternative account to the view that political freedom and philosophical freedom are consistent, harmonious, and mutually reinforcing. Certainly, freedom is central to Spinoza's political thought, but to understand it properly, we need to explain how it alleviates, rather than encourages, superstition among the nonrational multitude. In light of his belief in the permanency of irrationality and superstition, Spinoza does not hope to expunge illusions from political life. Advocating freedom is an attempt to adapt the facts of the imagination to the needs of our political order and create stability. The belief in freedom—that is, the belief that we are individual actors who decide our actions and determine our fate—is the most powerful and abiding illusion in politics.

The Personnel of the Dublin Society of United Irishmen, 1791-4

1940 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
pp. 12-53
Author(s):  
R. B. McDowell
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Independent Voters ◽  
United Irishmen

One of the most noticeable features of Irish political life in the 'later eighteenth century, is, that though political power was :oncentrated in comparatively few hands, there was a very large leasure of political freedom. One could in fact sum up the system by saying that it was oligarchy tempered by discussion. As a result, voluntary and unofficial societies and clubs arose for the purpose of educating and influencing public opinion, and were the nuclei of much political thought and action. There [were Whig Clubs, Constitutional Clubs, Societies for the [Preservation of Liberty and Peace and Associations of Independent Voters. Thus there was nothing very strange in the Iformation, in November 1791, of a Dublin branch of the newly bounded Society of United Irishmen. But this group was to prove unique in at least one respect.

Between Two Worlds: Europe in a Globalizing Era

2002 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony McGrew
Keyword(s):  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Future

Globalization – Simply The Growing Intensity, Extent And deepening impact of worldwide interconnectedness – poses anew the classic questions of political life, namely: who rules, by what means, in whose interests and to what purpose? This is not to suggest, as some do, that the forces of globalization are eclipsing sovereign states but it is to acknowledge that the necessary conditions for sovereign and democratic self-government are undergoing a significant transformation. This is especially evident in Europe where, at the great intersection of regionalism and globalism, a novel continental political order is crystallizing: not quite federalism in its orthodox form but clearly something more than classic intergovermentalism. Caught between two worlds – a Europe of nation-states and a Europe of Citizens to use Joschka Fischer's construction – the future political trajectory of the continent, in part, will depend upon how effectively regionalism mediates the dynamics of globalism and localism.

Heraclitus’ Political Thought

Apeiron ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Maximilian Robitzsch
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Order ◽  
Traditional View ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Political Thinking ◽  
Difficult Question ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Political Realm

Abstract This paper deals with Heraclitus’ political thought. First, in discussing the conception of cosmic justice, it argues that it is a mistake to separate Heraclitus’ political thought from his cosmological thought. Second, the paper works out two basic principles of Heraclitean political thinking by offering a close analysis of fragment B 114 as well as related texts. According to Heraclitus, (1) there is a standard common and relevant to all human beings in the political realm, namely, the logos, and (2) ruling well is a matter of grasping the logos and using it as a guide in all things political. Finally, the paper tackles the notoriously difficult question of whether there are certain forms of political order towards which Heraclitean thought is more or less inclined. According to what may be called the traditional view, Heraclitus is seen as a supporter of an aristocratic political order, while according to what may be called the revisionist view, Heraclitus is classified as a supporter of a democratic political order. The paper concludes that while Heraclitean philosophy is compatible with a plethora of different forms of political order, including democratic ones, the two basic principles of Heraclitean politics that were distinguished above are more conducive to aristocratic forms of political order.

scholarly journals Politics of Strata

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 211-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nigel Clark
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Earth Science ◽  
Power Source ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
The Third ◽  
Earth System Governance ◽  
The Earth

Modern western political thought revolves around globality, focusing on the partitioning and the connecting up of the earth’s surface. But climate change and the Anthropocene thesis raise pressing questions about human interchange with the geological and temporal depths of the earth. Drawing on contemporary earth science and the geophilosophy of Deleuze and Guattari, this article explores how geological strata are emerging as provocations for political issue formation. The first section reviews the emergence – and eventual turn away from – concern with ‘revolutions of the earth’ during the 18th- and 19th-century discovery of ‘geohistory’. The second section looks at the subterranean world both as an object of ‘downward’ looking territorial imperatives and as the ultimate power source of all socio-political life. The third section weighs up the prospects of ‘earth system governance’. The paper concludes with some general thoughts about the possibilities of ‘negotiating strata’ in more generative and judicious ways.

scholarly journals Związek wolnego rynku z dyktaturą polityczną: przejściowy czy trwały? Przykład Chin

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aniela Dylus
Keyword(s):  
Market Economy ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Paradigm Change ◽  
Free Market Economy ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Liberal Economy ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
Economy System

Aniela Dylus, Związek wolnego rynku z dyktaturą polityczną: przejściowy czy trwały? Przykład Chin [The relation between free market economy and political dictatorship – is it of temporary or permanent nature? The example of China] edited by W. Banach, M.A. Michalski, J. Sójka, „Człowiek i Społeczeństwo” vol. XLVI: Między Chinami a Zachodem. Pytanie o źródła chińskiego sukcesu gospodarczego [Between China and the West. An inquiry into the sources of the Chinese economic miracle], Poznań 2018, pp. 103–119, Adam Mickiewicz University. Faculty of Social Sciences Press. ISSN 0239-3271.The relation between free market economy and democracy has been assumed as a paradigm in the western culture since the Enlightenment. However, this paradigm seems to be violated by markets that flourish under the political dictatorship. Are these markets the exceptions to the rule or maybe their scale does not indicate the necessity of paradigm change? Or maybe we are wrong to assume that capitalism flourish mainly in democratic systems? Is it possible that the relation between communist political dictatorship and liberal economy system is only of temporary nature and people that have economical freedom will demand sooner or later their political freedom? To answer these questions, (1) the paradigm of relationship between free market, its prosperity and democracy and (2) the arguments supporting this relationship have been discussed. Referring to Samuel Huntington’s theory, (3) it has been reminded that many factors, not only economical ones, decide about democratization of political life and some exceptions to this rule have been mentioned. (4) The example of contemporary China is one of the most spectacular example. The short characteristic of (5) its economic condition, (6) its economic system and political dictatorship has been presented and then the attempts have been made to give the arguments either for (7) temporary or (8) permanent relationship between free market and political dictatorship in China. Although the idea of democracy, the rule of law and human rights seems not to be the only alternative base of economical market system, it appears to be prevalent and the only one in a longer period.

Cicero as Orator and Philosopher: The Value of the Pro Murena for Ciceronian Political Thought

2006 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rex Stem
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Philosophical Approach ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Forensic Speeches

This essay seeks to demonstrate that the different generic parts of Cicero's corpus are but different sides of the mind of the same man, and, thus, that all parts of the corpus—including the forensic speeches, once they have been corroborated by other passages in his corpus—should be regarded as valuable evidence for understanding Ciceronian political thought. A comparison of Cicero's Peripatetic criticism of the Younger Cato's Stoicism in the Pro Murena to the view of Cato's politics expressed in his private correspondence of 61–60 BC and in De Finibus 4.61 reveals that this criticism is more than just a humorous digression to win the case. As an extended expression of Cicero's belief that the inflexible moral certainties of Cato's Stoicism could be detrimental to the managing of the consensus necessary to political life in a republic, the Pro Murena should also be recognized as an articulation of Cicero's philosophical approach to the practice of politics.

From Lipsius to Hobbes

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Brooke
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Thomas Hobbes ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Theoretical Project

This chapter forges a connection between Lipsius and Thomas Hobbes. There are a number of ways in which Hobbes's theoretical project, culminating in the Leviathan of 1651, can be read as continuing to work with central themes from Lipsius's political thought. Both writers agreed with Augustine that the goal of political life was to secure an earthly peace, but they disagreed with the Augustinian tradition through their ‘politique’ defence of the subordination of religious concerns to those of politics. Both Hobbes and Lipsius were more or less sceptical with respect to traditional arguments about the value of republican freedom, and both defended an account of determinism in human affairs, whether Lipsius's ‘fate’ or Hobbes's materialist physics. More recently, a number of scholars have fleshed out some historical connections between Lipsius and Hobbes.

A Buddhist Response to Ancient-style Learning: Qisong's Conception of Political Order

T oung Pao ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 97 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Skonicki
Keyword(s):  
Political Culture ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Song Dynasty ◽  
The Creation

AbstractThis article focuses on the political thought of the Song-dynasty Chan monk Qisong (1007-1072). In opposition to earlier studies, which have tended to view Qisong's political theorizing simply as an offshoot of his philosophical syncretism, it is contended here that his political arguments played an important role in his refutation of the Ancient-style Learning movement's attacks against Buddhism. As is well known, several Song-dynasty proponents of Ancient-style Learning impugned Buddhism for the negative impact it exerted on Chinese social and political culture. Qisong responded to their attacks by crafting a comprehensive political theory, which sought to demonstrate not only that Ancient-style Learning thinkers had misunderstood the dao and proper governance, but also that Buddhist institutions were indispensable to the creation of political order.

Indledende note om demokrati-begrebet

2015 ◽  
pp. 89-92
Author(s):  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Nicolai Von Eggers
Keyword(s):  
Public Law ◽  
Political Order ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Administrative Practice ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
The One ◽  
Present Conception

In this text, Giorgio Agamben argues that the concept of democracy attests to a political, ontological amphibology: on the one side, democracy describes a constitution of a political order (and in this sense it belongs to public law); on the other side, democracy is a certain form of administration (in which case it belongs to administrative practice). It is argued that this amphibology can be located in the political theories of Aristotle and Jean-Jacques Rousseau who have been instrumental in forming our present conception of politics. Consequently, we misunderstand the fundamental nature of politics, and any hopes of genuine political life must therefore break with this tradition of Western political philosophy.

Gandhi, Freedom, and Self-Rule. Edited by Anthony J. Parel. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2000. 164p. $70.00 cloth, $23.95 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 810-811
Author(s):  
Pratap B. Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Initial Orientation ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Mahatma Gandhi ◽  
Self Rule ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Spiritual Freedom

The life and thought of Mahatma Gandhi continues to be a reproach to ideologies and dispositions that produced the horrors of the twentieth century. But his complex legacy suffers from a paradox. His ideas appear to be both necessary and improbable at the same time. To many, Gandhi's thought becomes even more relevant in a context in which the vision of modernity that he critiqued so powerfully has triumphed, the violence that he stood against has become an ineliminable feature of political life, and the practice of freedom has come to be dissociated from the exercise of virtue. But the very same historical momentum that inspires the authors in this volume to turn to Gandhi also seems to make Gandhi an even more distant and unlikely figure for our times. This volume, a product of sincere and careful scholarship, is largely an effort to keep Gandhi's thought alive. It focuses on the central category of Gandhian thought, swaraj (self-rule). Anthony Parel's essay usefully distinguishes between four meanings of freedom for Gandhi: freedom as national independence, freedom as freedom from poverty, political freedom for the individual, and freedom as the capacity for self-rule or spiritual freedom. This typology will provide a helpful initial orientation to readers unfamiliar with Gandhi's thought.

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