How Do We Create A Society?

Mencius once again underscores the people’s role in the heavenly mandate and declares their right to either abide by or revolt against a ruler. Mencius claims that “rulers only possessed the Heavenly Mandate to rule so long as they retained the hearts of the people . . . For Mencius, the human heart was ‘endowed with the ability to judge between right and wrong’ and constituted ‘a bridge linking man with Heaven’” (Glanville 331). Mencius’s belief in the ability of the heart to determine right or wrong gives the common people authority and power to identify whether a ruler is worthy of the mandate and the favor of the heavens. Consequently, it is imperative that the ruler retains the people’s support as negative sentiments can lead to dissent and organized revolt amongst the people. This emphasis on the intimate and powerful link between the people and the heavens is translated in Mencius’s concept of the “ultimate supremacy of the people.” Mencius declares that “The people are of supreme importance; the altars to the gods of earth and grain come next; last comes the ruler” (Glanville 332). Mencius prioritizes the

Power can have the persuasive action in undoing the moral ethics of one’s character. This can be seen throughout history, such as World War II and proven by the actions of Napoleon in the allegory, Animal Farm, by George Orwell. As Lord Acton said “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In history what was viewed as a villain or wrong doer is never the same as the perception. A leader does not begin wanting to do wrong, they start with the best intentions, but power is a tricky thing, showcased in Animal Farm as Utopian ideals but with failed practices.

During the Enlightenment it was thought political power should be divided between different classes and the laws of a government should not urge any man or women to rebel. The philosopher Montesquieu thought to in order to avoid tyrant, you needed to not have laws and rules that restrain the people too much.“A government may be constituted, as no man shall be compelled to do things at which the law does not oblige him.” In society today, our laws are made and enforced so no one should feel confined but also people feel safe and protected. Montesquieu also thought that the way to prevent abuse was to separate governmental

During the era of his reign, Napoleon Bonaparte was a well renowned military leader and emperor of France. The quote “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” explains how the obsession of wanting complete authority over others would overtime fade away a person’s morality. Such a bold statement seems to perfectly correlate to Napoleon Bonaparte’s own history. He was a man with such power and popularity, but who soon became insensitive to the cost humans would have to pay because of his actions causing great anguish for others. The reason being as to why Napoleon is associated with this quote is because of his infamous deeds such as the imprisonment of the Pope, the execution of d’Enghien and

Power as everyone knows, is something that needs to be gain through hard work. This is another part in which the animal soul plays the key role. The animal soul in the primitive times, used instincts to help it survive out in the wild. In the modern day world, it is used to achieve success and gain power to get to the top. Many leaders who have power have been through a rough course in order to get to where they are now. They rely on their animal soul so much that they become accustom to doing whatever they need to gain power. “But these acts, though often ruthless, are necessary in order to succeed”(Bergstein 7). The leaders have no choice but to follow the path that they have already carved out in front of them. This, eventually leads to corruption. “Corruption is a byproduct of a person in power, either through money, by way of election, or by force, who is arrogant instead of grateful”(Bergstein 16). The leaders are willing to do anything and everything to gain more power that they become arrogant and forget the people underneath of them. These people who have beared the loss of power to give it to their leaders

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton) This quote is telling us that when people get into the roles of absolute power they tend to become corrupt, as a result of that power. This quote can be applied to Napoleon from the book Animal Farm by George Orwell, because at the beginning of the novel Old Major’s words inspired Napoleon. As a result, he believed that humans were evil for forcing animals to work for them and that animals should be able to live freely, not under anyone’s control; however, as the story progresses his belief changed and the animals did not get to live their utopian dream.

Justice is the purpose of government and civil society. If government allows or encourages strong groups to combine together against the weak, liberty will be lost and anarchy will result. And the condition of anarchy tempts even strong individuals and groups to submit to any form of government, no matter how bad, which they hope will protect them as well as the weak.

Even with established laws, men would pursue their self-interest at all costs. Aristotle explains this, “man by nature is a political animal… though man is born with weapons which he can use in the service of practical wisdom and virtue, it is all too easy for him to use them for the opposite purposes”(Aristotle, 60). To clarify, Aristotle believes that men will pursue their own prerogatives in the political arena of government. And while some may use their power for good, many will use it for their own-self interests, which Aristotle defines as a deviation from the idea of common

The temptation of power corrupts man, which results in the inevitable destruction of liberty, law and right for power can not co-exist with the former.

Shakespeare use this quote in one of his plays called macbeth. I don't know the story but ,

For all of history there has existed the struggle between the strong and the weak. The establishment of government gives the power to a particular group to decide the amount of freedom the majority is allowed, however, though not ideal it provides necessary order. The benefits of security that limitations on freedom provides must be balanced with the individual's pursuit of happiness for citizens to be content. To prevent the governed majority from destabilizing the rulers and seeking power, the government will oppress political and personal freedom of thought. In result, the majority will live under the illusion of contentment and not wish to revolt; those enlightened to the idea that the government should be ruled by the governed, would associate happiness only with ignorance and consequently seek freedom.

Government is needed in the first place, as James Madison (2009) once put it, because “men are not angels.” Left to themselves, Hobbes believed total chaos and societal breakdown would result. He called this scenario a “war of all against all” (Klenner, 2005, p. 673). Men were almost animal-like in Hobbes’ view, brutish and operating out of base primal instinct for personal survival and advancement.

If the plane that I was on crashed onto an island and there was no way to get off this island, than we would have to try and create a civil society and coexist with each other and avoid slipping into a state of nature. The way that I would avoid slipping into a state of nature is to set up some sort of government. The reason I would set up a government in a democratic manner is because if you had a monarch then people are more likely to rebel. If you had an even spread of power over the people where they have some say in what everyone does then they are more likely to agree with you and be more willing to follow you. If the people choose their own leader and if they are bad leaders then the people of the island will be able to repeal them and replace them with someone else who they think would be a better leader. However They should go through a council which will be represented by the people they had chosen to be in power and make up their democratic government. This council will see to it that the people are heard and they will list out why this person should or shouldn’t stay in the council. The citizen will be able to vote every year for different people in the government, the reason this is going to happen is because it is a new society and different people have different ideas. Have people with different ideas in government will help improve the community and how it is run. The government will maintain power by knowing what everyone is doing and making sure everyone is

An ideal society is considered to be a utopian society, defined as a society where everything is as good as it possibly can be for everyone living in that society. However this type of society has never existed before and continues to be a dream that remains locked up in our minds. Three philosophers who seem to propose an ideal just society are John Rawls, Karl Marx and Milton Friedman. I will be explaining what my vision of an ideal society is and what are the basis and fundamental principles that Rawls, Marx and Friedman use in order to obtain a just society.

Bad, very bad. Our society is breaking apart and it’s our fault. Our fault because we don’t take a chance to gather together, to form a strong and united family. We are falling at helping others, at communicating, at showing love, respect and integrity. Instead of judging others and hurting ourselves, why don’t we fight for the same cause? Why don’t we show the great values that we are been raised with? Why is it so hard for us humans to accept others the way they are?. The society that we have created have a bad picture of supporting one another because of the things we see or hear around us. We don’t know what is respect anymore, what is be to involved in a culture that is not our own. Now, the only thing we know how to do is to harm others verbally, physically, mentally and most of all, emotionally. But, sometimes we don’t mean to do that. We do not mean others to pay for the things that are happening in our lives. Everything that is happening in the world is because us as human beings, are inculcating bad values to our children, both we as parents and perhaps family members as well as what we see daily on television and in our daily life. What we teach our children today is the pre-visualization of what they will be tomorrow in a future. Therefore, if we teach bad acts and things that do not inculcate the right values everyday that passes, we will be worse as a society and as a generation due to the fact that we are