The City of the Sun
In Tommaso Campanella’s document, The City of the Sun, a new social order is introduced amongst the Solarians. Campanella presents his readers with a utopian society that is ordered by rationality and reason. This ideal visionary is a redeemed world, free from injustice and competition in the market structure. Campanella, however, grew up in a society that was exploited and based on irrational principles. Campanella, therefore, reconstructs a society that operates in opposition to the one that he considers to be corrupt and irrational. The document, The City of the Sun, can be used to critically compare the social and political order that exists today. Moreover, Campanella’s work reveals the weaknesses that exist in today’s society and its structure.
One characteristic of this utopian society is its system of meritocracy. In this system, positions of power are determined by one’s ability and excellence; factors such as gender or social class do not result in positions of leadership. For example, leaders and ministers are chosen according to which individuals learn the greatest number of skills and practices them best. Individuals who work extremely hard and acquire knowledge are judged to have the greatest nobility. Moreover, the Solarians have a Prince Prelate called Sun. Sun is elected by knowing a significant amount of information in diverse academic fields. For example, he must know all the mechanical arts and the mathematical, physical, and astrological sciences.
In his dialogue, Campanella stresses the importance of acquiring knowledge in this ideal city. He demonstrates this by describing the position of the Prince Prelate: “Once appointed, his tenure lasts until someone with greater knowledge and greater ability to rule is discovered (Campanella 45)”. Therefore, those who wish to live in great power, must strive for this achievement in the area of academics. Also, ones level of knowledge determines the pursuit of happiness an individual will receive in the city of the Sun. The Solarians are granted the opportunity to alter their status if they desire, and live a life according to their standards.
Campanella directly criticizes the society he grew up in by stating in his dialogue, why the Solarians mock the material world for the way it is structured:
Thus they laugh at us because we consider craftsmen ignoble and assign nobility to those who are ignorant of every craft and live in idleness, keeping a host of dissolute and idle servants about them to the great detriment of the state (Campanella 43).
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The lawyer and scholar believed that there should be one universal government ruling the people, this government would be a led by a mix of all three classes. He states how a monarchy would be the ideal rule, but is extremely unrealistic as all humans reason equally. By instating a mixed form of government, people would feel more of a connection with the laws and more of a personal responsibility to follow them if they had a part in creating them. Additionally, all people would be seen as equal before the law as all have equal capabilities and through effort, a common good can be achieved; the only thing differentiating humans is their variety of gifts, besides this, there is no variation. A person’s economic status by no means defines their ability to lead, by all groups participating in government, there are no idle citizens that are not a part of the
The term "civil society" is used to denote a central category of the European political philosophy. It is derived from Aristotle’s term politice koinonia and its Latin version societas civilis, societe civile, meaning civil society or that of private proprietors. The n...
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In my essay I will discuss the differences between national cinema and Hollywood cinema by using Rio de Janeiro¡¯s famous film City of God. There will be three parts in my following main body, the first part is a simple review of the film City of God, I will try to use the review to show the film structure and some different new points from this, show the how did the ¡®Shocking, frightening, thrilling and funny¡¯ (Nev Pierce) work in the film. The second part is my discussion parts; I will refer some typical Hollywood big name films such as Gangs in New York, Shawshank¡¯s Redemption, and Good Fellas to discuss the main differences between City of God and other national films. The third part is my summary, I will use my knowledge to analyse why there have big different between both kind of films and their advantages.
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Niccoló Machiavelli claims in “The Qualities of the Prince” that a prince must have certain qualities that will allow him to seize and maintain his power as a ruler. Machiavelli asserts that these qualities will guarantee the ruler to be able to govern his subjects effectively. According to him, a prince must study the art of war, must understand generosity and to what extent he must be generous to be effective, must choose to either be loved or feared, and be able to keep his word to his citizens according to the situation. These qualities can still apply in today’s politics, and will be useful for a modern time politician as long as they are used carefully.
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In order to be an active member of society, it is crucial for one to develop a complete understanding of how one views and acknowledges the problems that plague the world in light of unique ideologies; this can be done through the reflections of one’s worldview in regards to society and individuality. In essence, a worldview is a composition of one’s perception in relation to the world. Even though people are unique individuals shaped by unparalleled influences, one can explain their personal worldview by comparing and contrasting their ideologies with worldviews obtained through analyzation of literature. For instance, Machiavelli’s sense of aggressiveness in relation to control which supports Coveys’ ideology of proactivity seams more reasonable
It is commonly believed by both lay people and political philosophers alike that an authoritative figure is good and just so long as he or she acts in accordance with various virtues. If the actions of a ruler are tailored toward the common good of the people rather than himself, then that ruler is worthy of occupying the status of authority. By acting in accordance with social and ethical norms, the ruler is deemed worthy of respect and authority. Niccolò Machiavelli challenges our moral intuitions about moral authority in his work, the Prince, by ruthlessly defending the actions made by the state in an effort to preserve power. In particular, all actions made by the state are done in order to preserve its power, and preserving the state’s power preservers its people. In doing so, whatever actions the state exercises are justified with this end goal in mind. Although such reasoning may seem radical, it is practice more readily that most people are inclined to believe. Machiavelli's moral philosophy is deeply embedded in the present day justice administration. Due to this, Machiavelli’s political thought can serve as a reference for illustrating how today’s administrators can benefit from following the examples of other great leaders, such as on matters of global warming.
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