As defined by Ambrose

Bierce…
“a strife of interest
masquerading as a contest
of principles”
 He speaks for the cynics
 But in politics, we cannot avoid
questions of truth or falsity, good or
bad.
 He is partly wrong;
 Politics is also the contest of m o r a l
principles
Antisthesis – The Father of
Cynicism
 Political Philosophy

It is the serious search for comprehensive knowledge or
wisdom about political things.

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. (David Miller)
Problems dealt in Political
Philosophy
 Moral
foundations of
legitimacy,
liberty,
equality,
Who justice &
Human should
human rights

Best
conflict social govern
arrange-
State, its
Pursuit ments
nature,
of
purpose,
power
& limits
 Dimensions of Political
Philosophy
 Descriptive dimension
 The aspect of philosophy that describe
how things are
 The six issues require a comprehensive
knowledge of the facts about human
nature and human social relationships
Dimensions of Political
Philo  sophy
 Prescriptive or normative dimension
 The aspect of political philosophy that prescribes
how things ought to be
 The need of knowledge concerning principles
of evaluation that enable us to construct and apply
a standard to judge politics
 How are two dimensions
related with each other?

 The facts that we identify as worth
describing in the human condition
profoundly affect our evaluations and
prescriptions
 What we establish as a sound basis for
prescription leads us to focus on
certain facts concerning the human
condition.
 Political Philosophy

 I t begins with the assumption that such
public questions as obedience to the law, the
best possible government, or the justice of
public policies are in need of justification.
 It is possible only in world where ends collide.
– Sir Isaiah Berlin
 It is an attempt to truly know both the nature
of political things and the right to the good
political order. – Leo Strauss
 Political Science and Political Philosophy

Political  Political
Science Philosophy
predominantly deals with existing
generates visions of the good social
states of affairs, and insofar as it
life: of what ought to be the ruling
is possible to be amoral in its
set of values and institutions that
descriptions, it seeks a positive
combine men and women together
analysis of social affairs

connects readily with various

Examples: constitutional issues,
branches and sub-disciplines of
voting behavior, the balance of
philosophy including philosophy
power, the effect of judicial review
of law and of economics
The Problem: Its Diagnosis
and Prescription

Conflict Social

status

 Gender
class

Religion Source of
political
conflict:
DIFFERENCES
Eco-
nomic
interests

Race
 Conflict

 Edmund Burke:
 “the bulk of mankind are not excessively
curious concerning any theories whilst
they are really happy; and one symptom
of an ill-conducted state is the propensity
of the people to resort to them.”
 Conflict

 Many of the great or epic
political philosophers have
pursued their inquiries as a
result of profound social
conflict and decay .
 Their political philosophies
and comprehensive visions…
“are
like pearls: they are not
St. Thomas
Aquinas produced without an irritant”
(Thomas Spragens)
 Conflict
 Examples:

 Plato’s philosophy
resulted from
Socrates’ death
 St. Augustine’s
from the fall of
Rome
 Machiavelli’s from
Italy’s disunity
 Hobbes’s from the
English Civil War
 Conflict

 Contemporary political philosophies have
resulted from:
 The Nazi Holocaust
 Crisis of liberal democracy
 Emergence of bureaucratic state
 Globalization
 Gender inequality
 Political correctness
 Nuclear proliferation
 Terrorism
 Various threats to individual liberty
 Conflict

 Political philosophies of the past emerged as
a result of particular historical irritant; yet their
texts also transcend their own times and
continue to challenge contemporary political
thinkers and partisans to consider the richness of
their alternative teachings as part of our
contemporary dialogues about our own problems.
 Conflict

Philosophical Historical approach
approach to politics
Helps us to seek
knowledge of the real
complexity of human
needs, aspirations, and
relationships
to politics
Most useful in helping
us understand the
“irritants” that
contributed to political
philosophers’ desires
to write texts with
comprehensive visions
 Philosophy and
Diag  nosis
 Political philosophers provide a comprehensive
vision of the political when they raise questions and
provide (often tentative) answers about the most
important factors that cause:
 conflict
 disorder
 corruption
 violence
 terrorism
 exploitation and
 revolution
 Philosophy and
Diag  nosis
 For example:
 Hobbes examines human
passions
 Plato on differences as the
basis
for justice
 Machiavelli focuses on human
deception and its relevance to
successful political
leadership
 Marx addresses the role that
economic inequality and class
conflict play in forming
political system.
NICCOLO
 Philosophy and
Diag  nosis
 Political philosophers are not satisfied in simply
describing public disorder or discontent;
 They seek to diagnose the causes of human conflict

 Thomas Spargens puts it:

 “the causal analysis which a political theorist provides
in his examination of the sources of political disorder
decisively shapes his prescriptive conclusion. Sound
diagnoses must precede beneficial therapy.”
 Political Philosophy and Political
Therapy

 The political philosopher
offers his or her prescription or
therapy by identifying
appropriate norms or standards,
which help to resolve or
diminish human social conflicts,
thereby creating a better political
order.
Jeremy
Bentham
 Political Philosophy and Political
Therapy

 Some questions raise by philosophers:
1. Which is the best form of government?
2. Are there proper limits to freedom?
3. What type of equality should be the basis of public
policies – equal rights, equal opportunities, equal
results?
4. What should be basis for just treatment of individuals
or groups?
5. If the best form is not achievable, what is the most
workable or best possible form under particular
conditions?
 Political Philosophy and Political
Therapy

 There are conflicting norms among political
philosophers like
Plato’s “justice” – minding one’s own business
 Marx’s social “justice” – occurs when each person
gives freely of his or her different talents for the public
good and everyone’s basic needs are equally
provided for
 Hobbes’ “justice” – the social situation in which state’s
sovereign is obeyed absolutely
 Which of these conflicting norms concerning justice
is true or workable in terms of human needs, talents,
and resources?
 Political Philosophy and Political
Therapy

 To Leo Strauss:
 Human beings will never create a
society free of contradictions – perhaps
even including contradictory norms
 When we read philosophers and their different and
conflicting norms, we are invited to reflect upon the
norms we hold, or to discuss with others whether we
should accommodate, tolerate, integrate, or reject
these norms in our own imperfect public life.
 In Summary

 Political philosophy has factual
(descriptive), diagnostic (causal),
and evaluative (prescriptive)
dimensions
 The major questions

Any political thinker is open to the
possibility of truth regarding:
Wisdom Human
about nature and The role of
The good
nature of its politics in
the relation to society
human
cosmos the life
cosmos
 The major questions

 What is the ultimate reality? Is it spirit of matter?
 Is the universe ordered or chaotic?
 Does God or gods exist?
 Is life random or providentially guided?
 Is the universe inclined toward the good and the
just, as St. Thomas claims or is it devoid of objective
moral purpose, as Nietzsche claims?

 Can we know the answers or tentative answers to

these questions? If so, how? By empirical evidence? By
reason? By faith and divine revelation?
End
