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The effects of modernity
Modernity in Theory
The effects of modernity
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Book Review
Books are an important part of learning. Books transfer knowledge from one generation to the next just like the other forms of art like painting, music, drama and dances. Book review is also important. Book reviews help readers know which books are best equipped with the information that they seek to know. It is therefore important that after reading a book, we write an accurate review of what we felt and learnt from a specific book. It would not be nice to review a book negatively because you have authored a similar book and want to divert reader attention to your book. Buyers want to see review for books before they buy or read. On the other hand, not many of them take time to review a book. Probably that one negative review is all it takes to make an otherwise worthy book look bad. It is important to understand what the books “the Malaise of Modernity” by Taylor and “Democracy on trial” by Elshtain are about. This will guide our understanding of what the issues are addressing, whether they have clearly articulated the issue satisfactory.
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These features have in a larger way eroded advancements in western civilization. The ideals of individualism, personal interest at the expense of political engagement and reason have been particularly affected. He makes comment on moral energy leading to the rise of what we currently view as modernity. Jean’s “Democracy on trial” on the other hand tries to address the issue of regulation and the political economy. The writer comes to the conclusion that governments do not simply make regulations out of nowhere. There are motivations for such actions (Taylor,
basic charge of this criticism can be stated in the words of a recent critic,
In analyzing the institution of power so closely, the author has brought to light a multiple
In this paper I will compare the theories and ideas from both Edmund Burke’s Reflections on the Revolution in France and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty. In comparing these two philosophers, I will be paralleling their ideas and my own ideas I will be attributing them towards the modern day whistleblower, Edward Snowden. Political figures, government representatives and philosophy advocates have carefully studied Burke’s and Mill’s writings over hundreds of years to better understand their theories on governmental control in a society. One of, if not the most noteworthy concept in both their famous writings revolved around the concept of governmental control in a society. Both Burke and Mill have their own theories; they also have many convincing opinions that help them to sustain their own individuality. In order to compare their views of governmental control and relate it to Edward Snowden it is imperative to thoroughly examine and understand each of their perspectives on civilization and governmental control in a society.
A longstanding debate in human history is what to do with power and what is the best way to rule. Who should have power, how should one rule, and what its purpose should government serve have always been questions at the fore in civilization, and more than once have sparked controversy and conflict. The essential elements of rule have placed the human need for order and structure against the human desire for freedom, and compromising between the two has never been easy. It is a question that is still considered and argued to this day. However, the argument has not rested solely with military powers or politicians, but philosophers as well. Two prominent voices in this debate are Plato and Machiavelli, both of whom had very different ideas of government's role in the lives of its people. For Plato, the essential service of government is to allow its citizens to live in their proper places and to do the things that they are best at. In short, Plato's government reinforces the need for order while giving the illusion of freedom. On the other hand, Machiavelli proposes that government's primary concern is to remain intact, thereby preserving stability for the people who live under it. The feature that both philosophers share is that they attempt to compromise between stability and freedom, and in the process admit that neither can be totally had.
In Huemer’s The Problem Of Political Authority an argument is made against the idea of political authority. Political authority is defined as the feature that the government has that makes it morally permissible for them to do things that ordinary citizens cannot. The idea in this argument is that the government should not have rights that citizens do not have. The purpose of this paper is to show that Huemer’s argument fails by arguing a consent-based response to Huemer’s criticisms, which shows that the government has politically authority because we have consented to it. The idea behind this is that we have actually consented to the government’s authority in several ways without being explicit, therefore showing that there is a difference between a government’s actions and a citizen’s actions even when they are identical.
Every day I come across other individuals who believe their opinions are superior to mine. It is petty to see the minds of hundreds of individuals trying to prove me wrong, when all they do is misrepresent the current facts of nature. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believes his theories on human nature and social contract are superior to mine, however through years of analyzing human nature I can conclude my theories are superior. First of all, let it be known that my theories are based upon years of witnessing and investigating the true nature of humans and the social contract, so it is unthinkable to believe Rousseau’s unjust theories. Most of my logic behind human nature can be found in my writings, The Two Treatises of Government, where I discuss the roles of citizens and the sovereign in my political philosophies. Let us begin by comparing our opinions on that State of Nature, because to understand political power, we must first understand the state that men are naturally in and their origin (Locke, 262).
The final part of the chapter talks about the creation of authoritarian high modernism involved the use of technology to monitor people’s public and private lives. With the rapid development of technology, the state wants to be omnipresent; to imitate God by making sure it knows everything taking place in people’s lives. In addition, this level of technological development allowed the modern state to impose its own order on people and
John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau all dealt with the issue of political freedom within a society. John Locke's “The Second Treatise of Government”, Mill's “On Liberty”, and Rousseau’s “Discourse On The Origins of Inequality” are influential and compelling literary works which while outlining the conceptual framework of each thinker’s ideal state present divergent visions of the very nature of man and his freedom. The three have somewhat different views regarding how much freedom man ought to have in political society because they have different views regarding man's basic potential for inherently good or evil behavior, as well as the ends or purpose of political societies.
In 1837, in a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson called the “ American Scholar “ he made a remark about books. He stated, “ Books are the best of things, well used; abused among the worst.” Within this quote, he stated the importance of book within a society, about its use and impact. However, he spoke about the subject in a very distinct manner, causing the rise of many ideas and interpretation of the quote. To a certain extent this quote is true, books are one of the best tools that one can utilize to do almost anything when it is used properly. Otherwise, it can cause the rise of different useless ideas and at times also cause the misdirection of a population.
In addition to the tyranny of the majority, democracies are subject to a second type of tyranny that is deeply rooted within the framework and lives of individuals—social tyranny. Society itself at times can be a relentless tyrant. This “social tyranny” is not restricted to what society can do through the acts of political government,
All across the world books challenge the norms and beliefs of society to become objects of power and change. “In times of war, revolution, and social change, books transcend their state of physical objects to become powerful symbols in a war of ideas and ideologies,” (Merveldt 523). Books are powerful symbols. Yes, books are physical objects, but they hold the ideas that a war against exposure to the world tries to suppress; the very one people live their lives in the crossfire without even knowing it. Though they are a “fragile object” people fear them because revolutions can be built around those ideas, the idea that a government is corrupt and has suppressed the humanity of its people, a specific set of people holds too much power, or a large percent of the population is under-paid and over-worked (Merdveldt 524). It is not the book
The way the government structure is organized has been changing ever since humans began to live in a polis. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that humans were political animals, thus the reason for organizing ourselves into a political state. However the way governments are organized, and which political system works best has been the centrepiece for many violent conflicts in the past, and will continue to challenge the world into the future. Yet a new form of organization is taking place in the 21st century and has been given the term “globalization.” With the onset of globalization many of those in government have had to change their governing style in order to keep up with the pace of a shifting world that is becoming more integrated. However the foundations of the modern western societies can be traced back to ancient Greece, arguably the first democratic society. Since the western world prides itself as being a democracy, would it not still value the teachings of great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle? The answer is ambiguous, and modern society may be able to relate better with Aristotle than with Plato. This is because both philosophers differed in many areas when they described their ideas of an efficient state. Aristotle’s writings in his work Politics give more freedom to the polis and the structure of government is not as ridged as what Plato believed. Furthermore Aristotle was a firm believer in the laws of nature since everything in nature has a purpose. In contrast, Plato believed in a ridged class structure to form the organization of the state, among other things. Differences in opinion of the two philosophers include the family household, organization of the state, who is a citizen, and how ...
Since the beginning of the establishment of human civilization, power has always served as a driving force. What started in earlier years as one person with many powers has now evolved into many people with one power. In modern day society we can find that there are levels of power that dictate status, importance, and ultimately authority. In this particular case, Max Weber speaks about the ethics of Protestantism that brought about the emergence of early capitalism, which in turn birthed what we now call a bureaucracy.
Weber defines a modern state as “a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory [Weber 1919/1994, 310].” According to Weber’s theory there are three kinds of leaders- charismatic, traditional and bureaucratic. He identified 3 types of Authorities. Traditional Authority owes its source to customary practices. Certain practices and institutions exist for so long that they are transmitted from one generation to another and as a consequence people accept their authority
The first article was titled “Social Forces in the United States” by E. Hale. This article is showing the comparison of the American view of the book “Democracy” against the English view. There is a prevalent view in England, during this time that America’s form of democracy is headed for doom. There is also a firm belief in England that because they have read the book they are well versed in all thing United States of America.