Political philosophy is a branch of philosophy that covers the fundamental questions of how a state should be organized and which goals a state should have. One of the first political philosophers who is also one of the most influencial is Plato (428 – 348 BC).
The main questions
Just like the most branches of philosophy the core of political philosophy is determined by a few very fundamental questions that can‘t be answered with certainty. Some of the most common are:
What is justice? What legitimizes a government? What responsibilities does a government have? What rigths and freedoms should be reserved and which should be sacrificed? While there are many more questions asked in political philosophy the ones mentioned sum up most coverage of this field.
The Difference between political philosophy and political science
One may wonder what distinguishes political philosophy and political science. While in some instances the line between these subjects blurs in general you can say that political philosophy is focused more on the theoretical questions of government while political science is also concerned with the way an initiative and a programme can be implemented. This is one reason why there are usually more extreme and differing theories in political philosophy while there is more agreement in political science. Political philosophy is not concerned with the exact number of representatives a region should have or which is the perfect percentage to be the income tax but it tries to give answers to the underlying questions on whose answers the before mentioned decisions are made.
Examples of significant modells
While there is a plethora of different theories of which functions a state should fullfill the most important modells are the following and most of the different ideas can be categorized into one of these:
Anarchism
In general the idea of anarchism is a society without a government. To the fundamental question “What legitimizes a government?“ an anarchist would respond: “nothing.“. While the term anarchy is mostly used as a deragatory term for a state of chaos it is important to acknowledge that it is a thoroughly thought through concept with many different interpretations. The two main directions are anarcho-communism and anarcho-capitalism. The former sees capitalism as the best system for securing as much freedom as possible and the government as an opposing force to this goal. The latter sees capitalsm and the government both as opressive forces that should be eliminiated.Democracy
Originating in anchient Greece the basic idea of a democracy is splitting power between all cititicens and letting the general public partake in major decisions. In most developed countries one will find a representative democracy as the current form of government.Oligarchy
This term describes a society that is ruled by a small elite group. This also contains an Aristocracy or a Theocracy.
The influence of political philosophy over time
In anchient Greece the country was split up into city-states where a lot of different ideas concerning government were tested. In this system philosophers were the driving force in politics. But after the big collapse of the big political visions in the 20th century many philosophers criticize a general lack of new ideas and new concepts in politics. Today the influence of political philosophy on the actual decisions governments make is very low.
(img source: http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/2016/12/political-philosophy-and-the-unwritten-constituion-claes-ryn.html)
Read part one of my series on the different branches of philosophy about metaphysics: https://steemit.com/philosophy/@apartphilosopher/branches-of-philosophy-i-metaphysics
What exactly is philosophy? Check out my article about this question:
https://steemit.com/philosophy/@apartphilosopher/what-is-philosophy
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