The Classical Period
Political philosophy most broadly concerns the nature and
forms of
power; more specifically, it involves the principles for
proper governance.
As an academic discipline, political philosophy has its
origins in ancient Greek society, when city-states were
experimenting with various forms of political organization
including
monarchy,
tyranny,
aristocracy,
oligarchy, and
democracy. The first classic work of political philosophy is
Plato's The Republic, which was followed by
Aristotle's Politics. Roman political philosophy was
influenced by the Stoics, and the Roman statesman
Cicero wrote on political philosophy.
The early
Christian philosophy of
Augustine was by and large a rewrite of Plato in a Christian
context. The main change that Christian thought brought was to
moderate the
Stoicism and theory of
justice of the Roman world, and emphasize the role of the
state in applying
mercy as a
moral example. Augustine's
City of God is an influential work of this period that
refuted the thesis, after the
First Sack of Rome, that the Christian view could be
realized on
Earth
at all - a view many Christian Romans held.
Islamic Period
The rise of
Islam
based on both the
Qur'an and the political philosophy of
Muhammad drastically altered the power balances and
perceptions of origin of power in the Mediterranean region.
Early Muslim philosophy emphasized an inexorable link
between
science and
religion, and the process of
ijtihad to find
truth
- in effect all philosophy was "political" as it had
real implications for governance. This view was challenged by
the
Mutazilite philosophers, who held a more Greek view and were
supported by secular aristocracy who sought freedom of action
independent of the
mosque. By the medieval period, however, the Asharite view
of Islam had in general triumphed and all philosophy was
henceforth subordinated to theology - a situation that persisted
until the rise of modern Islamic philosophy.
Medieval Period
Medieval political philosophy in Europe was heavily
influenced by Christian thinking. It had much in common with the
Islamic thinking in that the
Roman Catholics also subordinated philosophy to theology.
Perhaps the most influential political philosopher of the
medieval period was St.
Thomas Aquinas who helped reintroduce Aristotle's works,
which had been preserved in the interim only by the Muslims.
Aquinas's use of them set the agenda for scholastic political
philosophy, and dominated European thought for centuries.
The most influential work, however, was that which ended this
period, that being
Niccolò Machiavelli's
The Prince,
1517.
It is that work, and
The Discourses, a rigorous analysis of the classical
period, from which modern political philosophy is largely
derived.
The Enlightenment
During
the Enlightenment, new theories about human psychology, the
discovery of other societies in the Americas, and the changing
needs of political societies (especially in the wake of the
English Civil War and the
French Revolution) led to new questions and insights by such
thinkers as
John Locke,
Thomas Hobbes, and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau - known by most for his view of the "noble
savage" and his promotion of a
free trade ideal.
These theorists were driven by two basic questions: by what
right or need do people form "states," and what is the best form
for a "state." These large questions involved a conceptual
distinction between "state" and "government." Basically, "state"
refers to a set of enduring institutions through which power is
distributed and its use justified. "Government" refers to a
specific group of people who occupy these institutions, and
exercise particular policies. This conceptual distinction
continues to operate in
political science, although some political scientists,
philosophers,
historians and
cultural anthropologists have argued that most political
action in any given society occurs outside of its state, and
that there are societies that are not organized into states
which nevertheless must be considered politically.
Political and economic relations were drastically changed by
these views as the
guild
was subordinated to
free trade, and
Roman Catholic dominance of theology was increasingly
challenged by
Protestant churches subordinate to each
nation-state and which preached in the "vulgar" or native
language of each region.
In the
Ottoman Empire, these reforms did not take place and these
views did not spread until much later. Also, there was no
contact with the
New World and the advanced civilizations of the
Aztec,
Maya,
Inca,
Mohican,
Delaware,
Huron
and especially the
Iroquois, who gave a great boost to Christian thought and in
many cases actually inspired some of the institutions adopted in
the
United States: for example,
Benjamin Franklin was a great admirer of some of the methods
of the
Iroquois Confederacy, and much of early American literature
emphasized the political philosophy of the natives.
Industrialization
Through the
19th and early
20th centuries, political philosophy was dominated by
debates about
capitalism versus
socialism, and
religion versus
science. After
World War I came an emerging concern with
peace
and war,
as conflict grew increasingly destructive.
The emergence of
communism and
fascism was the dominant concern of the West in this period,
though other political philosophies like
anarchism and
syndicalism also gained some level of popularity during this
time.
Contemporary Political Philosophy
After
World War II the
peace movement became the dominant mode of political
philosophy in the Western world, due largely to fear of
nuclear war. Opponents tended to line up on either side of
the
arms race debate.
Communism remained an important focus especially while
Stalin and
Mao held power.
Zionism,
racism and
colonialism were important issues that arose. However, most
of the reasoning was relatively shallow and issue-focused. Much
of the academic debate regarded one or both of two
barely-philosophical topics: how (or whether) to apply
Utilitarianism to problems of political policy, or how (or
whether) to apply economic models (such as
Rational Choice Theory to political issues.
Some date the emergence of a truly contemporary political
philosophy to
1962,
since many important things happened in that year:
Soon after, there was a major revival of academic political
philosophy as a result of the publication of
John Rawls's
A Theory of Justice in
1971.
Rawls used a
thought experiment, the
original position in which representative parties choose
principles of justice for the basic structure of society from
behind a
veil of ignorance. Rawls also offered an effective criticism
of utilitarian approaches to questions of political justice.
Robert Nozick's book
Anarchy, State, and Utopia responded to Rawls from a
libertarian perspective. A rich debate ensued.
Another rich debate developed around the (distinct)
criticisms of liberal political theory made by
Bernard Williams and
Charles Taylor. The
liberalism-communitarianism debate is often considered
valuable for generating a new set of philosophical problems,
rather than a profound and illuminating clash of perspectives.
Today some debates regarding punishment and law center on the
question of
natural law and the degree to which human constraints on
action are determined by nature, as revealed by
science in particular.
An important exception is the view of
Bernard Crick that the
political virtues are universal
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