Justice: an essential element for social connection?
Essay - 6 pages - Politic philosophy
“A socially inclusive society is one where all people feel valued, their differences are respected, and their basic needs are met so that they can live in dignity” Victorian Health Foundation (VHF). The VHF has probably nothing to do with international law, however the message it...
Animal Farm by George Orwell - A book review
Book review - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
George Orwell wrote "Animal Farm" between November 1943 and February 1944, during the period of the Second World War. He was not the famous author that he is considered today at that time. This might explain why he struggled to get Animal Farm published, whereas it is considered, along with his...
Can conflicts be avoided ?
Essay - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
It is generally believed that working on the issue of conflict resolution consists of preaching about non-violence, notably by using arguments based on moral values. Nevertheless, these moral approaches cannot be considered as an universal meaning of conflicts resolution and peace building. In...
The Laboratory of Freedom
Essay - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
The Enlightenment movement, in which France takes the lead, is a yearning for freedom. This idea of Lights will also highlight the concept of unity among citizens within a nation. After the death of Louis XIV, his funeral procession was booed. The Regency organizes orgies. We see a total reaction...
De republica anglorum, Sir Thomas Smith
Text commentary - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
This text is extracted from DE REPVBLICA ANGLORVM, 1565, by Sir Thomas Smith, a fiery protestant. He focused upon two main monarchs, Edward VI and Elizabeth I. They both belonged to the Tudor dynasty. In 1547, Edward VI became King of England, at the age of nine, and on his death in 1553, Mary I,...
Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577), De Republica anglorum (1565), Part II, chapters 1 and 3
Text commentary - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
This text is a fragment from the De Republica Anglorum book, written by Sir Thomas Smith in 1565. The author was one of the first people to convert himself to Protestantism during the Protestant reformation. He also became a Member of Parliament. In the first part, the author presents the powers...
If you were given a chance to create an ideal society, what would it be?
Speech - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
It always seems dangerous to talk about an 'ideal society' because this is exactly what all the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes have been looking for. It has also been the ultimate purpose of all politics since Antiquity and one of the biggest dream of humankind. First of all, an...
American religion and politics
Essay - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in 1850 that religion "teaches the Americans the art of being free". Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and political thinker, wrote "Democracy in America" after his travels in the United States of America in the 1830's. To his mind, democracies are...
How does Hobbes's particular view of science structure his dark vision of the human nature and his claim that it leads to the state of war, and hence the need for a sovereign ?
Essay - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
Published in 1651, Hobbes's Leviathan constitutes a political reflection about how to establish an ordered society. In the background of British civil war, Hobbes looks for a political response to disorders which enable the building off a lasting peace. Fascinated by geometry that he...
John Locke's Seconde Treatise of Government
Text commentary - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
This extract from John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, exposes the basis of his theory of property which is aimed at refuting Filmer's justification of absolute monarchy. Starting from the same basis as contemporary authors, he soon dissents from them. Finally it plays a major role...
Thomas Smith, de republica anglorum, the maner of governement or policie of the Realme of Englande
Text commentary - 6 pages - Politic philosophy
Sir Thomas Smith was a jurist and specialist in languages, who had defended the Protestant church (or Ecclesia Anglicana) since the Reformation. He was an important man in the 16th century's British political life, as he had been a Member of Parliament, of the Privy Council of Queen Elizabeth...
Warfare can never be justified on moral grounds
Essay - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
This essay will be discussing why warfare can never be justified on moral grounds. The investigation will be about warfare and whether it is justifiable on moral grounds or not. To begin with this essay, the investigation and discussion will be about just the war tradition and the holy wars...
Marx, Nietzsche, Freud
Essay - 5 pages - Politic philosophy
Marx, Nietzsche and Freud are three German thinkers who lived during different epochs, the eldest was born in 1818 and the youngest died in 1939. As very different as they are, one is an economical and political theoretician, one is a philosopher, one is a doctor, they can however be seen as...
Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes (1651), (Book II, Chapter XXI)
Text commentary - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) is one of the founding fathers of the modern political philosophy even though his writings have created controversy. He has been accused of legitimizing totalitarianism ; especially in his two main works Leviathan (1651) and De Cive (1642). However, his work cannot be...
Hobbes and the question of Legitimate Authority in the Leviathan: liberalism or fascism avant la lettre?
Book review - 3 pages - Politic philosophy
Hobbes contends that the human state of nature exists where every man is at war with every other man and in order to free ourselves from this state, we must relinquish all of our rights to one unified authority. The intention of this sovereign body is supposedly to serve the good of the people,...
Analyze of Socrates' Crito
Book review - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
The Crito strikes us as an oddly shocking story simply because Socrates, who was once portrayed as a loyalist to the gods, now argues the importance and essentiality of obedience to the laws of the state. It is natural to find The Crito surprising because Plato had described Socrates in The...
Compare and contrast Rousseau's and Tocqueville's accounts of the civil function of religion in a democracy. Consider closely the respective merits of their case before offering your own assessment - publié le 16/04/2009
Essay - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
Rousseau and Tocqueville fundamentally agree that the civil function of religion is to strengthen the bond that exists between the people and the law. However, the two men differ in their views on how this bond should be strengthened. Rousseau argues in favor of a new, civil religion being...
Rousseau argues the central importance of a social contract. Is this a satisfactory basis on which to ground political legitimacy?
Essay - 10 pages - Politic philosophy
In Le Contrat Social, attempting to "consider if, in political society, there can be any legitimate and sure principle of government" , Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) took up the problem of legitimacy which has remained a burning issue throughout history, especially when people talk about "the...
Rousseau: Discourse on the origin of inequality
Book review - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
From Plato to Hobbes, many philosophers established the fact that the human nature is bad. For instance, while Machiavelli asserted that sometimes the prince ought to be cruel and should use violence to ensure the salvation of the State, Hobbes declared that a society should be created and a...
Machiavelli- The Prince
Book review - 1 pages - Politic philosophy
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) received a humanist education which emphasized the prevalence of public goods over private interests which rejected corruption, tyranny and the pursuit of glory. In The Prince (1513), dedicated to the Medici who re-assumed power in Florence, Machiavelli studied the...
Cicero, On the Republic
Book review - 2 pages - Politic philosophy
Marcus Tullus Cicero (106-43 B.C.) was a Roman politician and philosopher. He wrote De Republica in 51 BC while the Roman republic was experiencing a period of political turmoil. Caius Julius Caesar and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus were competing each other for the leadership of Rome dividing the whole...
Compare the notion of sovereignty in Hobbes and Rousseau
Text commentary - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
As the study revolves around the notion of sovereignty, it is important to know what sovereignty is. Presenting the definition given by a dictionary might be of no use, but it could partially enlighten us of what we are discussing. Various dictionaries offer alternative definitions for...
Contemporary theories of Justice- Essay : is the principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO) defensible?
Essay - 4 pages - Politic philosophy
The principle of Fair Equality of Opportunity (FEO) is a part of Rawls' theory of justice, detailed in his Theory of Justice (1971) . This principle emerges from Rawl's distinction of the classical liberal of ?careers open to talents' -or "formal equality of opportunity?- from a more...
Approaching Alexis de Tocqueville's Democratic Poetry: The French strenuous perusing of Democracy in America
Essay - 14 pages - Politic philosophy
"Mr. de Tocqueville, let us have a chat", King Louis-Philippe would say, "I want you to tell me a bit about America". This conversation between the French with Alexis de Tocqueville about America and Democracy is more than 170 years old but still seems to whet the interest of French scholars,...
Can we say that peace is a "recent invention"?
Essay - 6 pages - Politic philosophy
"Man is a wolf for man" wrote the 17th century philosopher Thomas Hobbes. He meant that men, according to nature, were constantly fighting against each other. The history of International Relations fits completely in this analysis since groups, ethnicities and later nation -states have always...
Race, culture, civilisation
Essay - 5 pages - Politic philosophy
As we can observe daily uses of concepts like race, culture, or civilization through newspapers, magazines, TV shows, etc. The need of defining them occurs repeatedly. What then are we talking about with respect to the concept of culture? Is it a political, artistic, or even ethnic pattern of...
