Lecture on modern political thought, Lecture notes of Political Theory

Download Lecture on modern political thought and more Lecture notes Political Theory in PDF only on Docsity! STUDY QUESTIONS ** Explain the difference between classical political thought and modern political thought both in terms of historical context and method; * Describe the influence that the Renaissance and the Enlightenment had on political thought; fine the "state of nature"; # Discuss and analyze the ideas and arguments regarding justice, equality, sovereignty, citizenship, and the nature of the individual in the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke, with particular regard to "the social contract"; ** Define constitutional government and explain Locke's arguments in support of it; Enlightenment DATE - c. 1601 -c. 1800 CAUSES Renaissance humanism, which rediscovered new scientific fields Methods and ways of thinking developed during the scientific revolution of the 15th through 17th centuries The Reformation and its undermining of the Roman Catholic Church's authority OUTCOMES ief that human history is a record of progress The emergence of Romanticism in the late 18th century e first modern secularized theories of psychology and ethics The idea of society as a social contract The understanding of the universe as a mechanism governed by discoverable laws The use and celebration of reason KEY PEOPLE Immanuel Kant ,John Locke, Montesquieu, Friedrich Nicolai, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Voltaire Summary of Maciavelli’s activity Machiavelli and his contemporaries emphasized that the essential business of government should consist of maintaining security and peace Il. Machiavelli emphatically makes the case that a wise prince should arm and rely upon his own subjects as soldiers, rather than mercenaries or auxiliary troops. . Given Machiavelli’s view of human nature as ungrateful, fickle, cowardly, itful, and greedy, and given that so much of The Prince is focused on securing the prince’s power over his subjects, it must be asked why achiavelli is an advocate of the arming and martial training of a prince’s subjects. . According to Machiavelli's contemporaries, a prince should display all the leading Christian virtues, as well as the virtues singled out by the moralists of antiquity. In having such a character, the prince would become the man of supreme virtue, and would serve as a model for a humble citizenry. The stability and security requisite to the honor, glory, and fame of his principality would both naturally and divinely follow. Thomas Hobbes | Thomas Hobbes adapted this Machiavellian approach on a much larger scale. For Hobbes, the state should be sovereign and secular; the citizens should give up both their allegiance to the church and their rights in exchange for physical security. However, while modern political thought has built upon the Machiavellian notion of the artificiality of the state, the derns disagreed on how people behaved and on the degree of a overnment's strength and pervasiveness necessary to properly govern citizens. Thomas Hobbes designed the first theory of the sovereign state. In Leviathan, he sees life before the emergence of states as "nasty, brutish, and short", and envisions the Leviathan, a sovereign state led by a king who indiscriminately rules over his territory and citizenry. In turn, citizens give up their freedom for security. John Locke John Locke, born August 29, 1632, English philosopher whose works lie at the foundation of modern philosophical empiricism and political liberalism. 0 He was an inspirer of both the European Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States. U His philosophical thinking was close to that of the founders of modern science, especially Robert Boyle, Sir Isaac Newton, and other members of e Royal Society. His political thought was grounded in the notion of a social contract between citizens and in the importance of toleration, especially in matters of religion. Much of what he advocated in the realm of politics was accepted in England after the Glorious Revolution of 1688-89 and in the United States after the country’s declaration of independence in 1776. Property Before discussing the creation of political society in greater detail, Locke provides a lengthy account of his notion of property, which is of central importance to his political theory. Each person, according to Locke, has property in his own person—that is, each person literally owns his own body. Other people may not use a person’s body for any purpose without his permission. But one can acquire property beyond one’s own body through labour. By mixing one’s labour with objects in the world, one acquires a right to the fruits of that work. If one’s labour turns a barren field into crops or a pile of wood into a house, then the valuable product of that labour, the crops or the house, becomes one’s property. Locke’s view was a forerunner of the labour theory of value, which was expounded in different forms by the 19th-century economists David Ricardo and Karl Marx (see also classical economics). yeach person is entitled to as much of the product of his labour as he needs to survive. But, according to Lo¢éke, in the state of nature one is not entitled to hoard surplus produce—one must share it with those less fortunate. God has “given the World to Men in common...to make use of to the best advantage of Life, d convenience.” The introduction of money, while radically changing the economic base of society, was itself a contingent development, for money has no intrinsic value but depends for its utility only on convention. Locke’s account of property and how it comes to be owned faces difficult problems. For example, it is far from clear how much labour is required to turn any given unowned object into a piece of private property. In the case ofa piece of land, for example, is it sufficient merely to put a fence around it? Or must it be plowed as well? There is, nevertheless, something intuitively powerful in the notion that it is activity, or work, that grants one a property right in something. Organization of government 0 Locke returns to political society in Chapter VIII of the second treatise. In the community created by the social contract, the will of the majority should prevail, subject to the law of nature. The legislative body is central, but it cannot create laws that violate the law of nature, because the enforcement of the natural law regarding life, liberty, and property is the rationale of the whole system. Laws must apply equitably to all citizens and not favour particular sectional interests, and there should be a division of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. The legislature may, with the agreement of the majority, impose such taxes quired to fulfill the ends of the state—including, of course, its defense. If the ive power fails to provide the conditions under which the people can enjoy their rights under natural law, then the people are entitled to remove him, by force if necessary. s, revolution, in extremis, is permissible—as Locke obviously thought it was in 1688. he significance of Locke’s vision of political society can scarcely be exaggerated. His integration of individualism within the framework of the law of nature and his account of the origins and limits of legitimate government authority inspired the U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) and the broad outlines of the system of government adopted in the U.S. Constitution. George Washington, the first president of the United States, once described Locke as “the greatest man who had ever lived.” In France too, Lockean principles found clear expression in the eclaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and other justifications of the ench Revolution of 1789. Perspectives on the Modern State Political philosophers like Niccold Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, and John Locke spent much of their life and work analyzing the nature of the modern state. All lived during times of great political and social upheaval throughout Europe, and these men, including many of their contemporaries, began questioning the notion of the divine, God-given rule of the monarchical system and challenging their role as citizens in it. 0 Machiavelli is credited with the distinctly modern notion of an artificial state in which the leader should rule swiftly, effectively, and in a calculated manner. Many associate his theories with the use of deceit and cunning in/politics; after Machiavelli, politics was conceived of as an art in which the best rulers governed rights in exchange for physical security. However, while modern political thought has been built upon the achiavellian notion of the artificiality of the state, the moderns disagreed on how people should behave and on the degree of a government's strength and pervasiveness necessary to properly govern citizens. John Locke responded to a strict concept of sovereignty with the idea of constitutional government. Like Hobbes, Locke imagined a civil society capable of resolving conflicts in a civil way, with help from government. However, Locke also advocated the separation of powers and believed that revolution is not only a right but, at times, an obligation of citizenship. These three thinkers represent the foundation of modern state theory.