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Aristotle's moral reasoning
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Aristotle's moral reasoning
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The problem of categorising political science has been widely debated in the world of academia. However when assessing whether “political science” really is a “science” it is essential to focus on the attributes that define a “science” and whether political science fits into that category. Likewise, the differences between science and philosophy must also be analysed, in order to reach a conclusion of whether “political science” is a science, a philosophy, or whether it is an autonomous concept altogether. This will be done using the criterion of methodology. Whether political science falls under the category of “science” is dependent on the definition that is proposed for science, thus it is crucial to analyse its meaning. The study of science is characterised by empirical methods built on common sense, and focuses on existences and observations, as noted by …show more content…
Moreover, when assessing the study of political science in terms of its methodology, political science as a science fails to convince. The reason behind this statement is that some characteristics of scientific study, as showcased by Jackson (1930), are its neutrality and individuality. In political science, it is expected that scholars put aside their values and moral judgments, in order to examine the ways in which the political world functions. However, this appears to be an idealistic idea that simply fails to convince due to the nature of human beings. Sartori (1973) argues that political decisions ‘are made by personnel located in political sites’ and that it is in ‘their political “nature”’. Thus, when taking into consideration Aristotle’s politicum animal, the theory that humans are able to neutrally assess political problems without considering their moral priorities is flawed and
Kernell, S., Jacobson, G. C., Kousser, T., & Vavreck, L. (2013). The Logic of American Politics. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Danziger, James N. Understanding the Political World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science. New Jersey: Pearson, 2013. Print.
- Look over scholarly articles, books, etc and determine what respected political scientists would have done
In world politics there are different theories that help actors make decisions and lead states. A theory is “a hypothesis postulating the relationship between variables of conditions advanced to describe, explain, or predict phenomena’s and make prescriptions about how to pursue particular goals and follow ethical principles.” The three different types of theories I will be discussing are realism, liberalism, and constructivism. Each theory has its own history and of course each has its problems. Leaders use these theories to make decisions and also how to reach certain goals.
Miller, Fred. "Aristotle's Political Theory". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Fall 2012. Web 06 Nov 2013.
Cahn, Steven M.. Political philosophy: the essential texts. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print.
Strauss, Leo, and Joseph Cropsey. History of Political Philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Shapiro, Ian, Rogers M. Smith, and Tarek E. Masoud, eds. Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics. Cambridge ; Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Earlier Science was treated as an institution but now, it includes many things like "scientific experiments, "theories" etc. The authors argue that this knowledge should viewed in terms of "socially constructed" and not the one known as "scientific truth". This article points that in the social constructivist view, the 'science' it is just another system of knowledge which contains empirical researches and studies. It is basically concerned with what is "truth", how it has emerged, accepted and explained in social domain. ...
According to one of rational choice theory’s prominent and more thoughtful contemporary exponents, Peter C. Ordeshook, “four books mark the beginning of modern political theory: Anthony Downs’s An Economic Theory of Democracy (1957), Duncan Black’s Theory of Committees and Elections (1958), William H. Riker’s A Theory of Political Coalitions (1962), and James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock’s The Calculus of Consent (1962). These volumes, along with Kenneth Arrow’s Social Choice and Individual Values (1951), began such a wealth of research that political scientists today have difficulty digesting and synthesizing all but small parts of it. Consequently, the full value of this research often goes unrealized…” (Ordeshook 1986, ix)
Political Philosophy is typically a study of a wide range of topics such as, justice, liberty, equality, rights, law, politics and the application of a codified law. Depending on what the philosophy is, it usually tends to be a very sensitive and a personal ideology that an individual holds within the reality of their existence. Several of the fundamental topics of political philosophy shape up the society that we live in as these specific topics and their implementation by the state ensures a legitimate government. In Political Philosophy, the aforesaid concepts or topics are evaluated and analyzed with tremendous depth in context to their history and intent. Furthermore, in a rather colloquial sense, political philosophy is generally a point of view which after some deep thinking asks questions such as, what are the government’s duties? Is it legitimate? What makes it legitimate? What are the duties of its citizens? What are their rights? Are they protected? So on and so forth. In the following paper, I will canvass my political philosophy and elaborate on my reasoning behind it.
Political Science has many definitions. Some would say it is simply a game of rhetoric but at its hearth it can be defined as a discipline that studies public polices, political behaviors, governments and political behavior. As a social science, the process used to acquire information includes a combination of several approaches. Political Science uses case studies, historical, constitutional, and institutional contexts, comparative case studies and also quantitative/qualitative methods.
From the beginning of ancient history the main question for political philosophy is how a human being exists in society, who should govern the society, how should the society be governed, who are the best rulers and how should they behave themselves, what is just and what is unjust, is better to be governed through just or not, how should the states be structured? These are main questions in political philosophy, that until today are strictly discussed. The major tasks of political philosophers are to analyze the nature of human being and to evaluate the ways in which an individual relates with society he lives in. The study of human nature is one of the most important aspects of political science and philosophy. In the process of creating a form of governance it is essential to understand the innate characteristics of human nature in order to avoid a bad government for all society and to achieve the ways how people should be governed most effectively. From the ancient time the roots of justification of political power were tied to sights of human nature.
Max Weber, a late 19th and early 20th century political scientist, once described politics as “a strong and slow boring of hard boards” that “takes both passion and perspective” dedicated to the idea “that man would not have attained the possible unless time and again he had reached out for the impossible” (GPT, 432). Weber is basing this on idea of politics, that are activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power (lecture, 8/29/2016) Although great in many forms and continues to bring order to most of the world, modern politics has proven time and time again to be a slow process that can be a very hard tool to use to inflict
Moseley, Alexander. Political Philosophy. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 7 Apr. 2002. Web. 1 Oct. 2011.