scholarly journals Plato’s Case Against the Philosopher King

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189
Author(s):  
Chris Berger
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Practical Politics ◽  
Plato's Political Philosophy

Liberal democracies afford their citizens the opportunity to reflect seriously upon the perennial questions of politics and the fundamental alternatives.  However, an unfortunate trend, indeed observable in both practical politics and the social sciences, has seen political philosophy largely supplanted by ideology, the co-opting of philosophic thought for partisan ends.  Political philosophy is the serious reflection upon and inquiry into the core theme of political thought and practice: the best way to live and the regime that conduces to it.  This paper seeks to demonstrate by example the possibility of preserving the serious study of political questions by challenging the dominant scholarly interpretation of Plato’s political philosophy as presenting the philosopher king as the solution to the political problem.  By offering some cursory remarks on Plato’s Apology and Republic in order to suggest that philosophic rule is not a serious prescription for political action, this paper argues that Plato’s aim is not to propose a doctrine but to compel us to reflect on the nature of politics, the permanent political questions, and the fundamental alternatives available to the human condition.

scholarly journals A Discourse on the Contemporary Relevance of the Educational Underpinning of Plato’s Political Philosophy

2021 ◽  
pp. 35-44
Author(s):  
Olaiya Olajumoke Olufunmilola
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Theories ◽  
Social Ordering ◽  
Plato's Political Philosophy ◽  
Better Than

The journey towards social ordering and the need to make life much better than it used to be is one of the principal motivations for political philosophy. Hence, there are as much political theories to this effect as there are political philosophers and scientists. Whereas the aim of the present research is to consider what kind of political theory can assist in social ordering, it does this, taking cognizance of the pedagogical postulates of the political scholar, Plato. In other words, this research reconsiders the educational underpinning of Plato’s political philosophy for use in the quest toward the agenda of attaining nationhood in Nigeria. This comes as a consequence of the urgency to correct the ugly trend(s) that have greeted the educational system of the country as well as the failure of the social sciences to provide the much sought succor. This approach is sacrosanct because of the undue but accentuated emphases that have been given to the social sciences as the domain from which development and nationhood can spring. Incidentally, the journey toward nationhood for Nigeria, continues to be one of the most disturbing dilemmas that continues to haunt the country. Via the method of critical analysis, this essay argues that Plato’s political philosophy has some educational ideals that present implications for contemporaneous nature or character of contemporary Nigeria. By giving emphasis on his reflections on the principle of specialization, this study is able to argue that the spirited application of this ideal for contemporary Nigeria via pedagogy will go a long way to birth the much sought nationhood. Political philosophy needs pedagogy to be able to realize its ideals. Unless this initiative is underscored, this essay submits, the quest for nationhood will continue to lament in the labyrinth of folly and backwardness.

Reconsidering American Power

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Human Condition ◽  
American Power ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Sponsorship ◽  
To Come

Postcolonial studies, postmodern studies, even posthuman studies emerge, and intellectuals demand that social sciences be remade to address fundamentals of the human condition, from human rights to global environmental crises. Since these fields owe so much to American state sponsorship, is it easier to reimagine the human and the modern than to properly measure the pervasive American influence? Reconsidering American Power offers trenchant studies by renowned scholars who reassess the role of the social sciences in the construction and upkeep of the Pax Americana and the influence of Pax Americana on the social sciences. With the thematic image for this enterprise as the ‘fiery hunt’ for Ahab’s whale, the contributors pursue realities behind the theories, and reconsider the real origins and motives of their fields with an eye on what will deter or repurpose the ‘fiery hunts’ to come, by offering a critical insider’s view.

scholarly journals Fear and retrotopia – Critical reflections on the rise of defensive emotions in liquid modernity

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 94-124
Author(s):  
Michael Hviid Jacobsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Sociology Of Emotions ◽  
Liquid Modernity ◽  
Collective Emotions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Times ◽  
Contemporary Study

This article critically addresses the contemporary study of what is called 'defensive emotions' such as fear and nostalgia among a number of social theorists. While it may be true that the collective emotions of fear and nostalgia (here framed by the phrase of 'retrotopia') may indeed be on the rise in Western liberal democracies, it is also important to be wary of taking the literature on the matter as a sign that fear and nostalgia actually permeate all levels of culture and everyday life. The article starts out with some reflections on the sociology of emotions and shows how the early interest in emotions (theoretical and empirical) among a small group of sociologists is today supplemented with the rise of a critical social theory using collective emotions as a lens for conducting a critical analysis of the times. Then the article in turn deals with the contemporary interest within varuious quarters of the social sciences with describing, analysing and diagnosing the rise of what is here called 'defensive emotions' – emotions that express and symbolize a society under attack and emotions that are mostly interpreted as negative signs of the times. This is followed by some reflections on the collective emotions of fear and nostalgia/retrotopia respectively. The article is concluded with a discussion of how we may understand and assess this relatively new interest in defensive emotions.

We-Transparency

2014 ◽  
pp. 156-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Bani ◽  
Gianluca Sgueo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The Core ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
Civil Society Participation ◽  
Political Problem ◽  
Elected Representatives ◽  
Western Democracies

“Transparency” is a term that many speculate about. According to scholars, transparency has three inter-related aims: first, to inform citizens in a simple and understandable way on the government's decisions; second, to foster civil society participation and engagement; and, third, to monitor and to prevent corruption. Notwithstanding these shared thoughts, much has to be done in liberal democracies. The European Commission estimates that corruption costs the EU economy roughly 120 billion EUR per year. The lack of transparency is both an economic and political problem, since corruption and opaque policies may develop degenerative forms of governance, which, in turn, lessens citizens' political participation and understanding on how the governmental machine functions. This “participative deficit” is common in many Western democracies. The notion of popular empowerment, the “core of democracy,” has been diluted to the point that most citizens exercise their putative sovereignty only through periodic elections of representatives and thus have extremely limited input into political processes. This deficit is further exacerbated by the fact that elected representatives in fact embody a range of competing “interests”—party, ideological, corporate—which may or may not coincide with those of the voter. This chapter explores a new concept of transparency.

Reply to Comments

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-300
Author(s):  
Allen Buchanan ◽  
Russell Powell
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Moral Theory ◽  
Moral Progress ◽  
Evolutionary Explanation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
The Social ◽  
Core Elements

Abstract Commentators on The Evolution of Moral Progress: A Biocultural Theory raise a number of metaethical and moral concerns with our analysis, as well as some complaints regarding how we have interpreted and made use of the contemporary evolutionary and social sciences of morality. Some commentators assert that one must already presuppose a moral theory before one can even begin to theorize moral progress; others query whether the shift toward greater inclusion is really a case of moral progress, or whether our theory can be properly characterized as ‘naturalistic’. Other commentators worry that we have uncritically accepted the prevailing evolutionary explanation of morality, even though it gives short shrift to the role of women or presupposes an oversimplified view of the environment in which the core elements of human moral psychology are thought to have congealed. Another commentator laments that we did not make more extensive use of data from the social sciences. In this reply, we engage with all of these constructive criticisms and show that although some of them are well taken, none undermine the core thesis of our book.

scholarly journals A Dialogue on Social Inquiry: Expanding Our Understanding of Sociological Thinking

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Rebat Kumar Dhakal
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Social World ◽  
Sociological Perspective ◽  
Philosophy Of Social Science ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
The Core ◽  
Social Inquiry ◽  
The Social

Highlights Social inquiry is much more than the study of society. It further excavates historical facts, critically reflects on everyday happenings, and envisions the future we wish to create. The intent of initiating this dialogue on social inquiry is two-fold: a) to offer a sociological perspective (i.e. ‘thinking sociologically’), and b) to expand our understanding of sociological thinking. Sociological thinking can be developed by examining the periphery of the core. Context matters in understanding any phenomenon under the sociological microscope. Sociological thinking allows many different viewpoints to coexist within a larger structure and that it respects pluralism. Sociological thinking is about developing or providing a perspective to examine social nuances. Sociological thinking should act as a means for social transformation.  Social inquiry serves as a methodology for the social sciences and humanities. It deals with the philosophy of social science and the workings of the social world – giving a way for understanding both the biosphere and the sociosphere.

Defining and Researching Islamophobia

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-189 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Political Concept ◽  
The Social ◽  
Comparative Concept ◽  
Definition Of

Islamophobia was originally developed as a concept in the late 1990s by political activists to draw attention to rhetoric and actions directed at Islam and Muslims in Western liberal democracies. In recent years, Islamophobia has evolved from a primarily political concept toward one increasingly deployed for analytical purposes. Researchers have begun using the term to identify the history, presence, dimensions, intensity, causes, and consequences of anti-Islamic and anti-Muslim sentiments. In short, Islamophobia is an emerging comparative concept in the social sciences. Yet, there is no widely-accepted definition of the term. As a result, it is extremely difficult to compare levels of Islamophobia across time, location, or social group, or to levels of analogous categories like racism, anti-Semitism, or xenophobia.

scholarly journals HEINRICH MEIER E LA SFIDA DELLA TEOLOGIA POLITICA

Il Politico ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-116
Author(s):  
Marco Menon
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theology ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Carl Schmitt ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
The Political ◽  
Leo Strauss ◽  
Divine Revelation ◽  
The Core ◽  
Political Problem

This paper offers a short overview of Heinrich Meier’s books on Carl Schmitt’s political theology, namely Carl Schmitt und Leo Strauss, and Die Lehre Carl Schmitts. These writings, published respectively in 1988 and 1994, and recently translated into Italian by Cantagalli (Siena), have raised both enthusiastical appraisal and fierce criticism. The gist of Meier’s interpretation is the following: the core of Schmitt’s thought is his Christian faith. Schmitt’s political doctrine must be unterstood as political theology, that is, as a political doctrine which claims to be grounded on divine revelation. The fundamental attitude of the political theologian, therefore, is pious obedience to God’s unfathomable will. The hypothesis of the paper is that Meier’s reading, which from a historical point of view might appear as highly controversial, is essentially the attempt to articulate the fundamental alternative between political theology and political philosophy. Meier’s alleged stylization of Carl Schmitt and Leo Strauss is a form of “platonism”, i.e., a theoretical purification aimed at a clear formulation of what he means by “the theologico-political problem”.

Politics and Morality in the Thought of Karl Popper

1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Minogue
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Karl Popper ◽  
Open Society ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Social

LIKE MANY PEOPLE, I FIND KARL POPPER BOTH FASCINATING and irritating. His vigour and lucidity are irresistible, and no one could complain that he fails to engage with the big questions. The problems begin when we consider his political thought. Some think him one of the great liberal philosophers of the century. I on the other hand, while being fascinated by The Open Society and its Enemies, am repelled by the grossness of its caricaturing of most of the thinkers it touches. The Poverty of Historicism is a marvellous text in the philosophy of the social sciences, but the idea of historicism is a straw man. The paradox seems to be that while there is a lot that refers to the political questions of the day, there is virtually nothing which takes up issues of political philosophy directly. The result is that he seems to me always to be on the wrong foot, and my problem is to discover why.

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