scholarly journals Poets/Trump/Philosophers: Reflections on Richard Rorty’s Liberalism, Ten Years after His Death

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Baruchello
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Us ◽  
Key Terms

Starting with a prescient 1998 quote on the impending decline of US liberal democracy into right-wing, strong-man-based demagogy, this paper outlines Richard Rorty’s political philosophy, which I believe can help us understand perplexing political trends in today’s political reality well beyond the US alone. Specifically, I tackle three key-terms encapsulating the thrust of Rorty’s political philosophy, i.e. “liberalism of fear”, “bourgeois” and “postmodernism”. Also, I address a contraposition that explains how Rorty would approach and attempt to defend liberal democracy from contemporary right-wing, strong-man-based degenerations, namely the priority of “poetry” over “philosophy”. Essentially, if one wishes to win in the political arena, she must be armed with the most effective rhetorical weaponry, however good, solid and well-argued her political views may be. Finally, some remarks are offered on the role that “philosophy” can still play within the same arena.

Neuplatonische politische Philosophie in der Rede Περὶ βασιλείας des Synesios von Kyrene

Elenchos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 151-177
Author(s):  
Michael Schramm
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Political Realm ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract This paper argues that Synesios’ De regno is a mirror for princes and a splendid example of Neoplatonic political philosophy. It is based on Plato’s Politeia and its model of philosopher-kingship. Synesios makes his audience compare the current political reality with the ideal of the philosopher-kings, who are the image of the transcendent god in the political realm. In doing so he recommends political virtue in general, especially phronesis and sophrosyne. Particularly he argues for reforming the recruitment of military and civil officials with reference to Plato’s concept of friendship in the Politeia.

scholarly journals Populism in Lithuania: Defining the Research Tradition

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gintaras Aleknonis ◽  
Renata Matkevičienė
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Research Tradition ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Media Reports

Abstract The research on populism and populist political communication in Lithuania is rather limited, regardless of the fact that populist movements and politicians are influential on national and local political levels; they also receive sufficient support from a significant share of the population. Because the Western European research tradition is concentrated on the challenges of right-wing populism, Lithuanian political scientists distinguish right-wing populism as more significant in comparison to left-wing populism. Although Lithuanian researchers note, that in the balance of the left-right wing populists, Lithuania stands out with the majority of left-wing populists, in comparison to the popularity and number of right-wing populists in neighbouring countries. Despite the interest of scholars in various fields of policy research in Lithuania, there is still a lack of research on populist political communication, and what interest does exist is mostly concentrated on analysis of practical issues within the political arena, e.g. the study of the processes of political elections. The analysis of populist political communication in Lithuania revealed that populism is a relatively oft-mentioned topic in Lithuanian scientific discourse, but in most cases remains on the margins of other research. The theoretical work presents the assumptions based on the analysis of the political situation in Lithuania and examples from other countries. The empirical research of populism is scarce, and in most cases based on content analysis of political documents and media reports.

The Fragility of Power

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Rebeggiani
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Intellectual Activities

A new reading of Statius’ main poem and its relationship with the cultural and political life at Rome under Domitian is given. This book studies in detail the poem’s view of power and its interaction with historical contexts. Written under Domitian and in the aftermath of the civil war of 69 CE, the Thebaid uses the veil of myth to reflect on the political reality of Imperial Rome. The poem presents itself to its audience and to the emperor as a lesson on effective kingship and a warning on the fragility of power. Rooted in a pessimistic view of human beings and human relationships, the Thebaid reflects on the harsh necessity of monarchical power as the only antidote to a world always on the verge of returning to chaos. In the absence of the gods, the fate of human communities lies in the hands of the individuals in power. Although humans, and especially kings, are fragile and often the prey of irrational passions, the Thebaid expresses the hope that an illuminated sovereign endowed with clementia [mercy] may offer a solution to the political crisis of the Roman Empire. Statius’ narrative also responds to Domitian’s problematic interaction with Nero, whom Domitian regarded as both a negative model and a source of inspiration. This book shows that the Thebaid is particularly close to the intellectual activities and political views formulated by groups of Roman aristocrats who survived Nero’s repression and that the poem is influenced by an initial phase in Domitian’s regime characterized by a positive relationship between the emperor and the Roman elite.

scholarly journals Lay Belief in Biopolitics and Political Prejudice

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Suhay ◽  
Mark J. Brandt ◽  
Travis Proulx
Keyword(s):  
Political Ideology ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Lay Theories ◽  
Social Avoidance ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Control Variables ◽  
Biological Basis ◽  
Political Views

Building on psychological research linking essentialist beliefs about human differences with prejudice, we test whether lay belief in the biological basis of political ideology is associated with political intolerance and social avoidance. In two studies of American adults (Study 1: N = 288, Study 2: N = 164), we find that belief in the biological basis of political views is associated with greater intolerance and social avoidance of ideologically dissimilar others. The association is substantively large and robust to demographic, religious, and political control variables. These findings stand in contrast to some theoretical expectations that biological attributions for political ideology are associated with tolerance. We conclude that biological lay theories are especially likely to be correlated with prejudice in the political arena, where social identities tend to be salient and linked to intergroup competition and animosity.

scholarly journals Populism as a Factor of Destabilisation in Consolidated Democracies

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-108
Author(s):  
Artur Roland Kozłowski
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
Consolidated Democracy ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
The Stability

AbstractThis study offers a discussion of the dangers to the stability of political systems in consolidated democracies posed by contemporary populism, with a particular focus on the dynamic development of extreme right-wing populism. The author considers the consequences of efficient populist campaigns, such as Brexit in Great Britain, lowered trust towards the United States under Trump’s administration and practices followed by the Law and Justice party (PiS) under the leadership of Jarosław Kaczyński in Poland, which seem especially destructive for liberal democracy. Further examples are those of Hungary and Turkey, where the political systems have eroded into semi-consolidated democracy in the case of the former and an authoritarian system in the latter case. A comparative analysis of freedom indices indicates some dangers related to de-consolidation of the democratic system in Poland. Furthermore, the study points out dangers arising from the transformation of soft populism, understood as communication rhetoric oriented towards the concentration of power in the hands of populist leaders, which clearly paves the way for the dismantling of consolidated democracy in favour of an authoritarian system. The conclusions of the study outlines a variety of actions which can be undertaken to protect the achievements of liberal democracy.

Paranoia and Political Philosophy

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Glass
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
External World ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
Inner Self ◽  
Psychological Conflict

This article examines the relation between paranoia and political philosophy. It suggests that internal psychological conflict affects political reality through the force of belief systems and explains that belief derives from the complex interplay between the structuralization of the inner self, its affective and developmental foundations, and what the external world produces as data and sensation. It also contends that both realms of experience, the psychological internal and the political external, infuse each other and each depends on the other.

Ideological parlances on right-wing media in Britain and Finland

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salla Tuomola
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
World View ◽  
The United States ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
The Us ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
The Comparative Study

One of the main themes of alternative right-wing media is a strong anti-immigrant approach, which has allegedly intensified a radical and polarized world-view throughout Europe and the United States. In this article, by comparing two right-wing news sites, I examine whether commonalities in their reporting can be discerned at a transnational level. The focus is on the US-based Breitbart London and the Finnish-language MV-lehti, both founded in 2014. The comparative study approaches the research data by utilizing the method of discourse narratology to examine the similarities and differences between the two in terms of their ideological parlances. The results show that there are indisputable commonalities, with parlances that seek to undermine liberal democracy as an outspoken opponent to strengthen the homogeneous battlefront. Accordingly, right-wing news sites in Europe adhere to the shared ideology, leaning on a strong confrontation between western and Islamic countries.

Rorty on Science and Politics

Human Affairs ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Kremer
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Cultural Politics ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Continental Philosophy ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Main Motive ◽  
Science And Politics ◽  
Just Society ◽  
Present World

Rorty on Science and PoliticsIn my paper I will prove my overall thesis that Rorty consistently enforces his politically saturated liberal ironic standpoint in the fields of science and politics from his "Contingency" book (1989). As a neopragmatist thinker he gives priority to politics in the sense of a liberal democracy over everything else. Even philosophy as "cultural politics" serves this purpose. He did not want to create a detailed political philosophy, but the main motive of his philosophy is political. He is charged with complacency, relativism and misinterpreting traditional pragmatism, but I show that this is mistaken. Rorty offers "only" a non-systematic, but logical and permanently developed interpretation of our present world on the basis of knowledge he appropriated and improved by building bridges between pragmatism, analytic and continental philosophy. I will analyze briefly in the first part his neo-pragmatist thoughts on science in connection with his political views. In the second part I will interpret Rorty as a liberal ironist who regards almost everything as contingent, except democracy. He outlines a liberal utopia that means first of all a just society in a Rawlsian sense, but he also develops his idea further in a neo-pragmatic way.

Political Party, Political Philosophy and Feminism: A Case Study of the Female and Male Candidates in the 1989 Quebec General Election

1993 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 507-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manon Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Gender Relations ◽  
General Election ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Parti Quebecois

AbstractThis article investigates whether the entry of a greater number of women into the political arena could transform gender relations. The opinions of female and male New Democratic, Liberal and Parti québécois candidates in the 1989 Quebec general election were polled, in order to clarify three main questions: Do the female candidates polled have opinions favourable to feminist demands? Do female and male candidates have the same opinions with respect to these demands? Do political party and political philosophy influence the opinions of each sex on feminist demands? The results show that, generally speaking, women have higher scores on a feminist index than men. More specifically, this gap between women and men varies in accordance with the thematics of feminism, and with political party and political philosophy.

scholarly journals Islamic Utopianism and Political Reality: Ali Hasjmy Reconsidered

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Marhaban Marhaban
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Political Reality ◽  
The People ◽  
Islamic Values ◽  
The Ideal

This article describes the political philosophy of Ali Hasjmy in formulating the ideal Islamic state. Hasjmy is an intellectual who has produced many works in the topics of politics, literature, and culture that are very useful for the progress and welfare of the Acehnese people and the Indonesian nation in general. The main source of this research is the work and writings of Hasjmy which are directly oriented to politics and the concept of the state. By using analytical content, this article shows several premises on Hasjmy’s utopian visions, which are; First, Muslims should not be anti-politics due to its important in achieving the benefit of the people; Second, the existence of a Islamic state as mandatory; Third, an Islamic state does not have to exist constitutionally but what must exist as Islamic values in a state; Fourth, the importance of obeying the leader; Fifth, every official or government element is responsible for exercising power.

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