Political And Political Ethics Of A Democratic Society

Over the length of this course, we have discussed several aspects of politics. We have studied citizenship and obligations to society as a citizen, justice and what it means to us as individuals, and how to go about enacting change within a community and around the world. Some of the most important topics from this class included the characteristics, duties, and obligations of rulers of government. In addition to the concept of rulers, we also studied the notion of authority and the moral and metaphysical implications of authority to individuals ' autonomy. Within each concept of study, we read works from many authors with conflicting ontologies, constructed from their differing views on human nature.

Socrates, Machiavelli, and Rousseau are three philosophers discussing political ethics from entirely different perspectives. This paper argues that Socrates, Machiavelli, and Rousseau are all idealists regarding their stances on political ethics. First, this paper argues that Socrates is an idealist due his belief that the current government has much more potential than it is currently reaching, and that the government could eventually be changed. Second, this paper argues that Rousseau is an idealist because of his unrealistically positive view of the natural state of humanity and negative view of society. Lastly, this paper argues that Machiavelli is idealistic because of the overwhelming, impossible number of criteria that the Prince

Political Philosophy is typically a study of a wide range of topics such as, justice, liberty, equality, rights, law, politics and the application of a codified law. Depending on what the philosophy is, it usually tends to be a very sensitive and a personal ideology that an individual holds within the reality of their existence. Several of the fundamental topics of political philosophy shape up the society that we live in as these specific topics and their implementation by the state ensures a legitimate government. In Political Philosophy, the aforesaid concepts or topics are evaluated and analyzed with tremendous depth in context to their history and intent. Furthermore, in a rather colloquial sense, political

Politically, Socrates’ ‘sting ray’ method of questioning in today’s society would be most useful given that political institutions are one of the oldest on the land (Rhees 49). Most of the approaches in the political arena have been around for centuries without a keen mind questioning their validity. The ideas of democracy and

By looking at the readings of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke, there are a few distinctions between how the modern thinkers viewed politics versus the way the ancient thinkers believed politics should be. There are many topics both modern and ancient thinkers discuss in their writings, such as the purpose of politics, the science of politics, human nature, as well as the ideal regime. By doing so, these thinkers’ views on political topics such as these illuminate how they thought politics should work and who should be able to participate in the activity of politics.

Stephen Medvic, In Defense of Politicians, discusses why Americans feel that politicians are dishonest. In 2007, a Gallup poll about honesty and ethical standards for occupations, showed that only 12 and 9 percent of people felt that Congressmen and State office holders held high standards, (Medvic p. 2). In addition, Americans tend to like their representatives more than the members of Congress because they view them as actual people. Americans view Congress as a group of politicians who are greedy and not representing their interests, (Medvic p. 4).

However, with the rise of corporate influence in American politics, citizens’ interests are ignored. This is parallel to the second issue in the Gorgias between Socrates and Polus. The issue debated was whether suffering wrong is worse than doing wrong. With youthful exuberance, Polus initially responded by saying it is worse to suffer a wrong (Plato, 40, 469a). However, for Socrates this was not the case; he believed that doing wrong is worse because it exceeds suffering wrong in harmfulness (Plato, 51, 475c). The unjust act is despicable because it lacks any semblance of good. The wrongdoer’s soul becomes corrupted and unrestrained. His soul, thus, cannot achieve truth because rhetoric teaches survival. This survival clouds rational judgment and an individual is forced to use speculatory judgment, and this requires the use of rhetoric. On a deeper level, the individual must create illusions in order to cope with the lack of truth. Once the individual masters rhetoric, he can create the strongest illusion for people to believe. The ideal would be to avoid both doing wrong and suffering wrong. The politicians who do not serve the interests of their constituents are committing a wrong. The citizens are the ones who are being wronged by their representative; thus the aim of democracy is undermined by

We elect the politicians that we see best fit the job they are running for. However, politicians are people too and people have emotions. Emotions can cause politicians to lose perspective or misjudge the scope of the issue. Some politicians choose to make a career out of what they are doing and they wind up in office for their whole lives. With this, they face many issues and situations that are very stressful. In the end, this shapes who they become and what decisions they make. In the political world, every decision you make is

As political animals politics makes our world go round.Everything that we know and accept to be truth is through politics. The snail mail not being delivered on time, the quality of food that we have access to, the amount of money that we make, the quality of education that we receive, the quality of water that we have access to, the quality of air that we breathe, the lifestyle that we live are all political. Fortunately for us in the United States of America, politics have done us more good than ill, but not not every country

Michael Walzer, in the article of “Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands”, -meaning refute absolutism without denying reality of moral consequences-, distances himself from the saying that democracy is supposed to be based on rules of law and morals. He explains the struggle that a political actor must endure in order to balance his moral principles while exercising his political power. He continues on to say that politician in a contemporary democratic world who acts on behalf of the people he is pledged to serve must sometimes act dishonestly because “power and glory’ is envied by all and the politician has to win by any means necessary. He argues that a politician can meet both moral-absolutist and consequentialist moral demands provided he does what is politically necessary but understands himself to be guilty as a result. In his view, a politician can dismiss some of his moral beliefs to accomplish what he sees as the right political action; therefore, practices “dirty hands”. If the politician doesn’t practice dirty hands then he is

Politicians have always seemed to rule the world. Whether they are an intentional politician, or it just happens along the journey, their influence in great in America and across the world. While their profession may be the same, politicians often have a handful of differences to compliment their similarities. Shane Claiborne lives a very political life focused on not an increase in political agenda, but the promotion of Jesus Christ. Abraham Lincoln, although long gone, lives on in a legacy of patriotism and loyalty to country. Chuck Colson, a born-again politician/Evangelical from the Nixon administration, promotes a Christian nation dedicated to proud nationalism and classic Republican views. Henry David Thoreau lives his life regardless of the law, endorsing the idea of his writing Civil Disobedience, which still lives on

Clients currently receiving housing support, as well as young people who are currently on the

Most of us want honest politicians who tell us clearly what they will do in office, then stick to that once elected. The actual reality is that politicians don’t behave that way, yet they get elected by our vote and we sustain this reward system.

Not everyone will agree with Aristotle's political theory, but it is essential to understand the principals that underline the new political theories. Aristotle's politics is one of the most influential books of political philosophy. His main ideology consists in that a man is by nature a political animal because he can reason and communicate with others, therefore, has the potential to alter or change his living conditions for better because he can recognize the difference from right or wrong. Aristotle is proposing that a man with reason has to base his approach towards politics on the fundamental concept of good for human beings. However, based on the evaluation of modern politics, we can conclude that the idea of politics aiming at

The society in which Americans live in today, is in certain aspects far more complex than it ever was for our ancestors. This new complexity is seen on both a micro and macro level and everything that falls in between. Perhaps American society is inherently more complex due to the fact that most if not every societal problem that is encountered, tends to gear towards a political nature in the method of solving. It seems that Americans no longer abide by the do it yourself mentality, and as times goes by we as a people look to the government leaders to solve our problems when they are beyond our capabilities, not realizing that in doing so we also bestow the power upon them to make decisions for society as a whole. When you have an issue