Political Philosophy: Strategies of Governance and Warfare

By Fouad Sabry

What is Political Philosophy

Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, justice, liberty, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of laws by authority: what they are, if they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect, what form it should take, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown, if ever.

How you will benefit

(I) Insights, and validations about the following topics:

Chapter 1: Political philosophy

Chapter 2: Natural law

Chapter 3: Republicanism

Chapter 4: Social contract

Chapter 5: State of nature

Chapter 6: Natural rights and legal rights

Chapter 7: Popular sovereignty

Chapter 8: Early modern philosophy

Chapter 9: Classical republicanism

Chapter 10: Two Treatises of Government

(II) Answering the public top questions about political philosophy.

Who this book is for

Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Political Philosophy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Billion Knowledgeable
• Release date: Jun 2, 2024

Book preview

Chapter 1: Political philosophy

Political philosophy, sometimes known as political theory, is the philosophical study of politics, focusing on issues such as the character, authority, and connections of public institutions and agents. Politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of laws by authority are some of its topics. These include what they are, whether they are necessary, what constitutes a legitimate government, what rights and freedoms it should uphold, what form it should take, what the law is, and what obligations citizens, if any, have to a legitimate government. It also covers when a legitimate government may be overthrown, if at all.

The political nature of phenomena and categories like identity, culture, sexuality, race, money, human-nonhuman connections, ethics, religion, and more are all topics that political theory addresses.

Political science, politics as a field of research in science, often only applies to the solitary, but in French and Spanish the plural (sciences politiques and ciencias políticas, using accordingly), possibly a reflection of the eclectic nature of the discipline.

however, it has also been crucial to political science, which traditionally has placed a high emphasis on both the development of political theory and current political thought (from normative political theory to various critical approaches).

The area is defined as follows in the Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (2009): [...] an interdisciplinary project with its center of gravity at the humanities end of political science, a subject that is thankfully yet unstructured... Political theory has long struggled to find a productive place for itself in three different contexts: in relation to the academic disciplines of political science, history, and philosophy; between the concrete realm of politics and the more abstract, ruminative register of theory; and between canonical political theory and the newer resources (such as feminist and critical theory, discourse analysis, film and film theory, popular and political culture, etc.).

Indian political thought established a dividing line between (1) country and state and (2) state and religion in antiquity. Hindu states' constitutions developed over time and were based on accepted social norms as well as legal and political treatises. The institutions of state were essentially separated into administration, law and order, defense, diplomacy, governance, and diplomatic relations. The King, Prime Minister, Army Commander in Chief, and Chief Priest of the King made up Mantranga, the primary governmental body of these states. Along with the chief executive, the prime minister presided over the committee of ministers (Maha Amatya).

Indian political philosopher Chanakya lived in the fourth century BC. The Arthashastra describes the science of politics for a wise ruler, foreign policy, military tactics, a spy state's surveillance apparatus, and state economic stability.

Confucius, who lived in the sixth century BC, is specifically credited with developing Chinese political theory during the Spring and Autumn era. In response to the social and political breakdown of the nation that was a feature of the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, Chinese political theory was created. Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, Agrarianism, and Taoism were the five main philosophies of the time, and each had a political component to their philosophical schools. Political philosophies developed by thinkers like Confucius, Mencius, and Mozi were based on political stability and unification. Confucianism promoted a hierarchical, meritocratic system of administration based on compassion, allegiance, and social ties. Legislatism promoted a more authoritarian form of administration. Mohism promoted a decentralized, community government based on austerity and asceticism. The Agrarians promoted communalism and egalitarianism as peasant utopias. Proto-anarchism was promoted by Taoism. In the Qin Dynasty, legalism dominated politics; but, in the Han Dynasty, State Confucianism took its place. Each had mythic or theological elements that affected how they thought about the fairness of government.

State Confucianism remained the preeminent political theory in China up to the 20th century before communism was adopted there.

Greek philosophy, where political philosophy at least dates back to Plato, is where Western political philosophy first emerged.

Plato had a significant impact on Augustine of Hippo's early Christian philosophy. The Roman world's stoicism and idea of justice were moderated by Christian theology, and emphasis was placed on the duty of the state in demonstrating mercy as a moral example. In addition, Augustine taught that a person was either a citizen of the Earthly City or the City of God (Civitas Dei), not their own city (Civitas Terrena). The influential work of this era, Augustine's City of God, refuted the belief shared by many Christian Romans that the Christian worldview might be realized on Earth.

Thomas Aquinas carefully examined the many schools of legal philosophy. Aquinas asserted that there are four categories of law:

enduring law (the divine government of everything)

divine law is positive (having been posited by God; external to human nature)

Normative law (the right way of living discoverable by natural reason; what cannot-not be known; internal to human nature)

Human law (often known as law, which includes customary law and Communitas Perfecta law)

The nature or division of canon law are never discussed by Aquinas. The position of canon law within the Thomistic jurisprudential framework is a topic of academic discussion.

Aquinas was a major figure in the Natural Law school of thought.

Power dynamics and conceptions of where power originated in the Mediterranean region underwent significant change with the rise of Islam, which was founded on both the Qur'an and Muhammad. Early Islamic philosophy emphasized the unbreakable bond between science and religion as well as the quest for truth through ijtihad; in this sense, all philosophy was political because it had direct consequences for governing structures. The rationalist Mutazilite philosophers, who held a more Hellenic perspective and placed reason above revelation, opposed this point of view. As a result, they are regarded by modern scholars as the first speculative theologians of Islam; they were backed by a secular aristocracy that yearned for freedom of action outside of the Caliphate. However, by the late ancient era, the traditionalist Asharite interpretation of Islam had largely prevailed. The Asharites believe that reason must yield to the Quran and the Sunna.

Islamic political doctrine, was, indeed, originating from Islam's basic foundations, i.e, Sunnah and the Qur'an, It is mainly based on Muhammad's teachings and behavior, making it theocratic.

However, Western philosophy, It is commonly believed that this was a particular domain distinct only to the great Islamic philosophers: al-Kindi (Alkindus), al-Farabi (Abunaser), İbn Sina (Avicenna), Avempace's Ibn Bajjah and Ibn Rushd (Averroes).

Islam's political ideologies, such as kudrah (power), sultan, ummah, cemaa (duty), as well as the fundamental concepts of the Qur'an, i.e, ibadah (worship), din (religion), ilah (deity)—is used as the foundation for an analysis.

Hence, Many more jurists and ulama submitted political views and theories in addition to the ideas of Muslim political philosophers.

For example, the views of the Khawarij on the Khilafa and Ummah in the very early years of Islamic history, or Shia Islam's view of the Imamah are regarded as examples of political reasoning.

Conflicts between Shia and Ehl-i Sunna in the seventh and eighth centuries were genuinely political in nature.

Political thought did not only have a theistic foundation, however.

Aristotleanism grew as a result of the peripatetic thinkers who continued to apply Aristotle's principles to the Islamic world during the Islamic Golden Age.

Abunaser, This philosophical school, which included Avicenna and Ibn Rushd, maintained that human reason transcended simple coincidence and revelation.

They believed, for example, that particular laws account for the occurrence of natural occurrences (made by god), not because God directly intervened (unlike Al-Ghazali and his followers).

Ibn Khaldun, an Arab scientist who lived in the 14th century, is regarded as one of the finest political theorists. The British philosopher and anthropologist Ernest Gellner regarded Ibn Khaldun's concept of government as the best in the annals of political theory: ...an institution which prevents wrong other than that which it commits itself. Ibn Khaldun believed that government should be kept to a minimum since it is the restraint of men by other men and is hence a necessary evil.

Christian thought had a significant impact on European political theory during the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholics believed that subordinating philosophy to theology did not reduce reason to revelation but, in the case of inconsistencies, subjugated reason to faith as the Asharite of Islam, which had many similarities to Mutazilite Islamic thought. By fusing St. Augustine's Christianity with Aristotle's philosophy, the Scholastics highlighted the possible concord between reason and revelation.

The idea that a tyrant monarch is no king at all and might be overthrown was developed by certain medieval political philosophers, including Aquinas in his Summa Theologica. Others have flatly denied this power to topple an unjust monarch, such as Nicole Oresme in his Livre de Politiques.

The freedom to rebel against the ruler for the sake of justice is clearly proposed in the Magna Carta, which is often regarded as the foundation of Anglo-American political liberty. Other European nations including Spain and Hungary have similar documents like the Magna Carta.

After roughly a century of theological political thinking in Europe, secular political philosophy started to emerge. When secular politics were practiced during the Middle Ages while the Holy Roman Empire was in power, the academic world was entirely scholastic and consequently Christian in orientation.

One of the most influential works during this burgeoning period was Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, written between 1511 and 1512, with a 1532 publication, following Machiavelli's passing.

That work, additions to The Discourses, a thorough examination of ancient Greece, accomplished a lot to influence Western current political theory.

A small group of people, notably Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed that The Prince was a parody written for the Medici to read after