Political philosophy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following important information is missing from this article or section:
history
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Plato (left) and Aristotle (right), a detail of the fresco The School of Athens (1510) by Raphael .

The political philosophy is a discipline of philosophy and political science subject Political Theory . As a normative discipline, it deals mainly with criticism, the giving of meaning and the direction of all political action and includes, among other things, philosophical theories of society , legal and state philosophy . Its origin is located in ancient Greek philosophy, especially in the writings of Plato and Aristotle . The name comes from this tradition; Polis ( ancient Greek πόλις pólis , German 'city, state' ) is the ancient Greek city-state .

object

In contrast to the philosophy of the state, the main subject of research is modern and modern states , political philosophy focuses on the political in societies by building on an ethically reflected, normative criticism of social and political conditions as well as an anthropological concept. This close relationship between political philosophy and the political system and the politics of societies also distinguishes it from social philosophy . In general, political philosophy indicates the unity of politics, law and history . The tasks of political philosophy include the subjects of justice , legitimation , rule , state, power , freedom , human dignity and peace .

Political philosophy is therefore also an area of ​​practical philosophy in which normative questions are examined. Aspects of moral philosophy and applied ethics are combined with political theory, with a reflection on the history of political ideas as a rule . As already mentioned at the beginning, their task is therefore to criticize, give meaning and point out the political, i.e. H. in the broader sense, of human activity par excellence.

Under the conditions of modernity, however, there is also a different understanding of political philosophy. Accordingly, in view of the loss of the traditional foundations of normative thinking, the discipline itself must reflect the problem of a normative orientation. Political action could consequently be understood less as a normative definition of meaning than as a power game in the tradition of Niccolò Machiavelli , and the level of definition of the political as a problematic construction of ideological socialization.

Subject areas

Because of its themes, political philosophy is closely linked to social philosophy and legal philosophy . It differs from political science and sociology in that it does not research empirical material, but rather works on normative questions based on this. However, findings from neighboring disciplines flow into political philosophy.

Political philosophy topics include a .:

  • Definition of the concept of the political
  • Establishment of political order
  • Determination and justification of central political principles, such as freedom or justice
  • Establishment and limitation of political rule and its legitimation
  • Justification of political order models in general (see state philosophy)
  • Establishment and enforcement of human rights
  • Establishment and guarantee of tolerance and protection of minorities
  • Participation of the citizen in politics and society (see deliberative democracy , communitarianism )
  • Establishing and protecting ethical principles in society
  • Determination and limitation of policy planning
  • Determining the relationship between public action and personal happiness
  • Determination of the relationship between politics and morals
  • Determination of the relationship between politics and violence
  • Social justice issues
  • Questions of international relations and peacekeeping

On the basis of these fundamental questions, political philosophy takes a position in practice on specific political topics such as the role of the nation state in a globalized world, the question of the recognition and promotion of disadvantaged social groups, the phenomena of multicultural societies, the role of international organizations such as the UNO or the European Union, the intervention of the state in individual spaces of freedom, the justification of state violence, for example in the fight against terrorism, or questions of corporate co-determination and the state's influence on economic activity.

In the 20th century political philosophy was hardly or not at all heeded by the phenomenological - hermeneutic school and the logical-empirical tradition of the Vienna Circle . The normative-subjective approach of political philosophies, which contradicted the empirical-analytical thinking of modern science, was problematic. It was only with the publication of the work "A theory of justice" by John Rawls that the view was widened again away from the purely analytical and non-normative questions and towards a general political philosophy.

See also

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Gerhard Müller (Ed.): Theologische Realenzyklopädie . Berlin / New York 2001, p. 48, ISBN 3-11-016712-3 .
  2. ^ A b Peter Prechtl / ​​Frank-Peter Burkard: Metzler Philosophielexikon . Terms and definitions. Stuttgart / Weimar 1996, p. 403, ISBN 3-476-01257-3 .
  3. ↑ Thomas Kater: Politics, Law, History. On the unity of the political philosophy of Immanuel Kant . Würzburg 1999, p. 17, ISBN 3-8260-1674-2 .
  4. ↑ editions are identical. Texts by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, David Hume, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Karl Marx, Engels, John St. Mill, Dostoevsky
  5. ↑ 40 p. Chinese 2001. American 2002. French 2006. Spanish 2006. Japanese 2009
  6. ↑ from Plato to Lübbe. In different issues, depending on the federal state
  7. ^ Source collection, review article
  8. ↑ 17 classics
  9. ↑ with it completely. Last volume, 20th century: ISBN 3-476-02334-6