In assessing the importance of political philosophy, much has been made of the fact that a number of political philosophies have served as the foundations of some pretty disastrous social experiments, and are thus inextricably tied to political action. Fascism and communism are particularly cited as such glaring examples. So what? an intellectual purist might ask. We are clearly looking here at some expected connection between any kind of philosophy and its application to life, between theory and practice, and this is an established fact that even the best of such theories get easily corrupted as soon as they “get real,” that is, as soon as they are implemented into the reality of life. Once we start judging the tree of knowledge by its rotten fruit, much of political philosophy gets a failing grade, and is stuck with it. And this is exactly how we are content to deal with such situations.
Apparently with all political philosophies it’s glory to the victor, and vae victis! Why, for instance, need we be intellectually interested at all in those political systems of Europe, whose military defeat in World War II and universal condemnation have been casting too dark a shadow on the political philosophies behind them, for us to be able to discern even the faintest glimmer of the light illuminating the minds of those admittedly failed thinkers whose ideas had been instrumental in bringing them to life? On the other hand, who is eager these days to study the political philosophy of the Soviet apologists, when the USSR was officially declared dead two decades ago, and, for all intents and purposes, many would say, good riddance?
Pity, though! Philosophy, with its constant emphasis on ethics (the so-called “philosophical analysis,” in all its known and unknown manifestations, is a method, and must not be confused with the ultimate objective of all philosophy, which is always necessarily moralistic and didactic), is a constant search for the ideal, which vastly infuses it with wishful thinking. Political philosophies of all kinds from Plato to Marx and beyond are no exception. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that in my general approach to it, I am emphasizing the dominant utopian element in all philosophies indulging themselves in social engineering. And, while the philosophers themselves confine their theories to the realm of the mind, there are indeed myriads of zealous political activists, yearning for action per se, rather than for a consistent philosophical perspective, who are eager and anxious to take such action at the first opportunity which presents itself to them.
Thus it happens that even fairly sensible political philosophies are being hijacked by political activists, and twisted by them to fit their specific agendas, while their actual creators are required either to conform to the new “practical” mold, or to get out of the way in a hurry, before the political bus runs them over. And thus we end up, in our postmortem, analyzing not the philosophy of our wretched wishful thinker, which contains a few grains of wisdom that can be found objectively interesting, and even enlightening, but the failed social experiment, where even our best analysis is hopelessly tainted by foregone conclusions.
…All political philosophy wishful thinking? Yes, and I bet, had we always kept this in mind, we could have learned a few more very important things about the world we live in, and think in.
Apparently with all political philosophies it’s glory to the victor, and vae victis! Why, for instance, need we be intellectually interested at all in those political systems of Europe, whose military defeat in World War II and universal condemnation have been casting too dark a shadow on the political philosophies behind them, for us to be able to discern even the faintest glimmer of the light illuminating the minds of those admittedly failed thinkers whose ideas had been instrumental in bringing them to life? On the other hand, who is eager these days to study the political philosophy of the Soviet apologists, when the USSR was officially declared dead two decades ago, and, for all intents and purposes, many would say, good riddance?
Pity, though! Philosophy, with its constant emphasis on ethics (the so-called “philosophical analysis,” in all its known and unknown manifestations, is a method, and must not be confused with the ultimate objective of all philosophy, which is always necessarily moralistic and didactic), is a constant search for the ideal, which vastly infuses it with wishful thinking. Political philosophies of all kinds from Plato to Marx and beyond are no exception. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that in my general approach to it, I am emphasizing the dominant utopian element in all philosophies indulging themselves in social engineering. And, while the philosophers themselves confine their theories to the realm of the mind, there are indeed myriads of zealous political activists, yearning for action per se, rather than for a consistent philosophical perspective, who are eager and anxious to take such action at the first opportunity which presents itself to them.
Thus it happens that even fairly sensible political philosophies are being hijacked by political activists, and twisted by them to fit their specific agendas, while their actual creators are required either to conform to the new “practical” mold, or to get out of the way in a hurry, before the political bus runs them over. And thus we end up, in our postmortem, analyzing not the philosophy of our wretched wishful thinker, which contains a few grains of wisdom that can be found objectively interesting, and even enlightening, but the failed social experiment, where even our best analysis is hopelessly tainted by foregone conclusions.
…All political philosophy wishful thinking? Yes, and I bet, had we always kept this in mind, we could have learned a few more very important things about the world we live in, and think in.
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