Posts Tagged ‘political philosophy’
The Flaw in the Ninth Circuit’s Reasoning Exposed
BY SELWYN DUKE The big news on the culture-war front is a federal court’s striking down of Proposition 8, California’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage. In a two-to-one ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit wrote, “The people may not employ the initiative power to single out a disfavored group for [...]
“Tippecanoe & Tyler too” and the FORGOTTEN Inaugural Address
American Minute with Bill Federer "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was the campaign slogan of 9th President William Henry Harrison, born FEBRUARY 9, 1773. He was the first President to die in office, serving the shortest term of only 30 days. The son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer the Declaration of Independence, he was also the grandfather of [...]
Europe Must Look to God, Moral Refinement, and a New Political Science to Guide Democratic Impulse
Liberty Letters, Alexis de Tocqueville ... Nor is this phenomenon at all peculiar to France. Whithersoever we turn our eyes we shall witness the same continual revolution throughout the whole of Christendom. The various occurrences of national existence have everywhere turned to the advantage of democracy; all men have aided it by their [...]
Thomas Aquinas: Group Life and the State
Topics: A. The fundamental principle of group life B. The Unity of the group and the inalienable rights of its members C. The family D. Origin of authority in the State E. Government is an officium or duty F. The Sovereign People and its Representatives G. The duties of the Sovereign, and the Legislative Power H. Social Justice and the [...]
George Washington: Representation: Local, State, National
LIBERTY LETTERS, GEORGE WASHINGTON, 1786 That representatives ought to be the mouth of their Constituents, I do not deny, nor do I mean to call in question the right of the latter to instruct them. It is to the embarrassment, into which they may be thrown by these instructions in national matters that my objections lie. In speaking of national [...]
The Half Truth About Inequality
RYAN MESSMORE, HERITAGE.ORG/NATIONAL AFFAIRS.COM Inequality is the new buzzword, especially since it’s often perceived as inherently unjust. Outraged about inequality of income, the self-described “occupiers” took to urban camping to berate the top 1 percent of income earners. In his State of the Union Address, President Obama trotted out [...]
In Praise of a Do-nothing Congress
BY SELWYN DUKE Here's a question: how can we expect to have small government if we condemn Congress for not growing it? It's always a disturbing experience when you're accosted with a picture of Harry Reid, as I was upon logging on to Drudge last Monday afternoon. But at least his image bore a fitting caption: "MOST FUTILE EVER." I then [...]
If Republicans Want to Win, They Must Rebrand “Capitalism”
BY SELWYN DUKE One of the simplest rhetorical truths is that the side that defines the vocabulary of a debate wins the debate. Yet, amazingly, we still see experienced conservative politicians with access to advanced polling operations and an array of advisors use the Lexicon of the Left. And this election cycle is no exception. I could [...]
Madison to Jefferson on the Need for a More Perfect Union
Liberty Letters, James Madison On March 18, 1786, James Madison wrote Thomas Jefferson regarding the Constitutional Convention's warm-up, a commercial convention in Annapolis, discussing the desperate need for a more unified nation, focusing this letter on the matter of commerce: A quorum of the deputies appointed by the Assembly for a [...]
Iphitus: Adams’ Defense, No 47
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 47 Ancient Democratical Republics: IPHITUS Dear Sir, ELEIA had been the scene of athletic games, celebrated with great pomp by assemblies of chiefs from various parts of Greece. Iphitus, a grandson of Oxylus, succeeded to the throne of [...]
Argos: Adams ‘Defense’ No. 46
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 46 Ancient Democratical Republics: ARGOS My dear Sir, IN order to form an adequate idea of the miseries which were brought upon the Greeks by continual and innumerable revolutions of government, it should be considered, that the whole [...]
Plato: The Republic: Book 2
The Republic, By Plato, Written 360 B.C.E., Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Copyright: Public Domain. BOOK 2 Socrates - GLAUCON With these words I was thinking that I had made an end of the discussion; but the end, in truth, proved to be only a beginning. For Glaucon, who is always the most pugnacious of men, was dissatisfied at [...]
Exterior Form of North America: Alexis de Tocqueville
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, CHAPTER 1 North America is divided into two vast regions, one inclining towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator--Valley of the Mississippi--Traces found there of the revolutions of the globe --Shore of the Atlantic Ocean, on which the English colonies were [...]
Corinth: Adams ‘Defense’ No. 45
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 45 Ancient Democratical Republics: CORINTH My dear Sir, MONARCHY remained in this emporium of Greece longer than in any other of the principal cities; but the noble families here could no better endure the superiority of a monarch, than [...]
Crete’s So-Called Democracy: Adams’ Defense, No 44
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 44 Ancient Democratical Republics: CRETE My dear Sir, THIS celebrated island, with the fantastical honor of giving birth to some of the gods of Greece, had the real merit and glory of communicating to that country many useful improvements. [...]
Legal Plunder Unjust: Aristotle’s Politics, Bk 3, Prt 10
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 10, 350 B.C.E. There is also a doubt as to what is to be the supreme power in the state: Is it the multitude? Or the wealthy? Or the good? Or the one best man? Or a tyrant? Any of these alternatives seems to involve disagreeable consequences. If the poor, for [...]
Achaia and the Volatility of Small Democracies: John Adams’ ‘Defense’ No. 43
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 43 Ancient Democratical Republics: ACHAIA Dear Sir, THE Achæans, whose republic became so famous in later times, inhabited a long but narrow strip of land along the Corinthian gulph, which was destitute of harbors, and; as its shores were [...]
Plato: The Republic, Introduction
The Republic, By Plato, Written 360 B.C.E., Translated by Benjamin Jowett. Copyright: Public Domain. INTRODUCTION The Republic of Plato is the longest of his works with the exception of the Laws, and is certainly the greatest of them. There are nearer approaches to modern metaphysics in the Philebus and in the Sophist; the Politicus [...]
Antalcidas Crushes Liberty by Deceit: Adams’ Defense No. 42
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 42 Ancient Democratical Republics: ANTALCIDAS Dear Sir, IN the year 1774, a certain British officer, then at Boston, was often heard to say, "I wish I were Parliament: I would not send a ship or troop to this country; but would forthwith [...]
Defining the State: Aristotle’s Politics, Bk 3, Prt 9
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 9, 350 B.C.E. Let us begin by considering the common definitions of oligarchy and democracy, and what is justice oligarchical and democratical. For all men cling to justice of some kind, but their conceptions are imperfect and they do not express the whole idea. [...]
Difficulties In The Forms of Govt. Aristotle, Book 3, Prt 8
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 8, 350 B.C.E. But there are difficulties about these forms of government, and it will therefore be necessary to state a little more at length the nature of each of them. For he who would make a philosophical study of the various sciences, and does not regard [...]
Exterior Form of North America
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, Chapter 1, EXTERIOR FORM OF NORTH AMERICA North America is divided into two vast regions, one inclining towards the Pole, the other towards the Equator--Valley of the Mississippi--Traces found there of the revolutions of the globe --Shore of the Atlantic Ocean, on which the [...]
Democracy In America: Author’s Introduction
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Volume 1, AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION AMONG the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of condition among the people. I readily discovered the prodigious influence that this primary fact exercises on the [...]
Athens: Adams “Defense” No. 41
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 41 Ancient Democratical Republics: ATHENS My dear Sir, CECROPS, an Egyptian, conducted a colony that settled in Athens, and first engaged the wandering shepherds and hunters of Attica to unite in villages of husbandmen. Although the [...]
Three Types of Tyranny: Aristotle, Book 3, Prt 7
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 7, 350 B.C.E. Having determined these points, we have next to consider how many forms of government there are, and what they are; and in the first place what are the true forms, for when they are determined the perversions of them will at once be apparent. The [...]
Lacedaemon, Adams’ “Defense” No. 40
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 40 Ancient Aristocratical Republics: LACEDÆMON My dear Sir, FROM the days of Homer to those of Lycurgus, the governments in Greece were monarchical in name and pretension, but aristocratical in reality. The archons were impatient of [...]
Progressivism Past and Present
By Carl L. Bankston III President Obama’s recent invocation of the spirit of Theodore Roosevelt at Osawatomie, Kansas was an effort to link his own legislative program to the Roosevelt heritage. Roosevelt was a popular, if somewhat divisive, figure in his own day and the passage of time tends to give the major leaders of our nation a [...]
Causes Which Weaken and Strengthen Democratic Armies
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Vol. 2, Sect. 3, Ch. 24 ANY army is in danger of being conquered at the outset of a campaign, after a long peace; any army that has long been engaged in warfare has strong chances of victory: this truth is peculiarly applicable to democratic armies. In aristocracies the military profession, [...]
Homer on Ithaca: Adams “Defense” No. 39
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 39 Ancient Monarchical Republics: HOMER on ITHACA Dear Sir, THE court of Ithaca, in the absence of Ulysses, is an admirable example of the intrigues of the archons, and their insatiable ambition. The throne of Ithaca, and the sceptre of [...]
Edmund Burke: Just Revolutions Begin As Very Last Resort
Daily Dabble in the Classics, Edmund Burke Ill would our ancestors at the Revolution have deserved their fame for wisdom, if they had found no security for their freedom, but in rendering their government feeble in its operations and precarious in its tenure ; if they had been able to contrive no better remedy against arbitrary power than civil [...]
Regarding Ancient Greek Tyrants, Modern Elites, & Manly Duty
The Moral Liberal with Steve Farrell Writing in his classic "A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States," regarding the Greek monarchy at Ithaca, American Founding Father John Adams observes: That the Grecian kings, claiming from Jupiter and supported by their auguries and bards, thought themselves absolute, and often punished the [...]
Which is the Most Warlike and Most Revolutionary Class in Democratic Armies
Democracy In America, Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831 Vol. 2, Sect. 3, Ch. 23 IT is of the essence of a democratic army to be very numerous in proportion to the people to which it belongs, as I shall hereafter show. On the other hand, men living in democratic times seldom choose a military life. Democratic nations are therefore soon led to [...]
Social Order and Nations
By Carl Bankston III The current upheavals in North Africa and the Middle East are reminders that the question of how a stable social order comes into existence should be fundamental to social and political thought. This is the problem associated with the work of seventeenth century philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who suggested that fear of mutual [...]
Why Democratic Nations Naturally Desire Peace, and Democratic Armies, War
Democracy In America, Alexis deTocqueville, 1831 Vol. 2, Sect. 3, Ch. 22 The same interests, the same fears, the same passions that deter democratic nations from revolutions deter them also from war; the spirit of military glory and the spirit of revolution are weakened at the same time and by the same causes. The ever increasing numbers [...]
Aristotle: True vs. Perverted Forms of Government
Daily Dabble in the Classics, Aristotle The conclusion is evident: that governments which have a regard to the common interest are constituted in accordance with strict principles of justice, and are therefore true forms; but those which regard only the interest of the rulers are all defective and perverted forms, for they are despotic, whereas [...]
Government Forms Compared: Aristotle: Politics: Book 3, Prt 6
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 6, 350 B.C.E. Having determined these questions, we have next to consider whether there is only one form of government or many, and if many, what they are, and how many, and what are the differences between them. A constitution is the arrangement of [...]
Homer on Phaecia: Adams “Defense” No. 38
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 38 Ancient Monarchical Republics: HOMER on PHÆACIA Dear Sir, IN the kingdom, or rather aristocracy, of Phæacia, as represented in the Odyssey, we have a picture at full length of those forms of government which at that time prevailed in [...]
Lower Class Citizenship?—Aristotle: Politics: Book 3, Prt 5
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 5, 350 B.C.E. There still remains one more question about the citizen: Is he only a true citizen who has a share of office, or is the mechanic to be included? If they who hold no office are to be deemed citizens, not every citizen can have this virtue of ruling [...]
On Orchestrated Character Assaults
Liberty Letters with Steve Farrell I do not know Herman Cain, and so I cannot say whether he is guilty or not of the politically motivated character assassinations that are machine gun-like firing upon him, but I can't help but suspect that those who are ultimately behind them are living according to the rules of that "dark system" American [...]
Good Man v Good Citizen: Artistotle, Politics, Book 3, Prt 4
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 4, 350 B.C.E. There is a point nearly allied to the preceding: Whether the virtue of a good man and a good citizen is the same or not. But, before entering on this discussion, we must certainly first obtain some general notion of the virtue of the citizen. Like [...]
Dual Qualities of a Freeman
Daily Dabble in the Classics, Aristotle The good citizen ought to be capable of both; he should know how to govern like a freeman, and how to obey like a freeman -- these are the virtues of a citizen. Source: Aristotle, Politics, Book 3, Part 4. 350 B.C.E.. Daily Dabble in the Classics is researched, compiled, and edited (with [...]
The Tenets and Benefits of True Capitalism
David Mint, Guest Contributor As the Capitalistic system, which is currently the economic model that is associated with the heavily indebted Western Democracies, is in the process of being villainized for any and every economic problem known to man, it is important to step back and take a sober look at the term Capitalism itself. As with many [...]
When Is A State a State: Aristotle, Politics, Book 3, Part 3
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 3, 350 B.C.E. Whether they ought to be so or not is a question which is bound up with the previous inquiry. For a parallel question is raised respecting the state, whether a certain act is or is not an act of the state; for example, in the transition from an [...]
Samuel Adams: Regarding the Truest Friend of Liberty and Country
Liberty Letters Quote of the Day, Samuel Adams He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who, so far as his power and influence extend, will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man. We must not conclude merely upon a man's [...]
Citzen Defined: Aristotle, Politics, Book 3, Part 2
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 2, 350 B.C.E. But in practice a citizen is defined to be one of whom both the parents are citizens; others insist on going further back; say to two or three or more ancestors. This is a short and practical definition but there are some who raise the further [...]
Sir Thomas Smith, Adam’s Defense, No. 34
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 34 Ancient Republics and Opinions of Philosophers: SIR THOMAS SMITH My dear Sir, I promised you to add to the researches of Polybius and Plato, concerning the mutability of governments, those of Sir Thomas Smith, who, as he tells us, on the [...]
What is a State?— Aristotle, Politics, Book 3, Part 1
The Moral Liberal, Classics Library Aristotle: "Politics", Book Three, Part 1, 350 B.C.E. HE who would inquire into the essence and attributes of various kinds of governments must first of all determine 'What is a state?' At present this is a disputed question. Some say that the state has done a certain act; others, no, not the state, [...]
A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States: No. 31
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Ancient Republics and Opinions of Philosophers: POLYBIUS Part 2 My dear Sir, THE generation and corruption of governments, which may in other words be called the progress and course of human passions in society, are subjects which have engaged the attention of the greatest writers; and whether the [...]
A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 30
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Ancient Republics and Opinions of Philosophers: POLYBIUS My dear Sir, MY design is more extensive than barely to shew the imperfection of Mr. Turgot's idea. This might be done in a few words, and a very short process of reasoning: but I wish to assemble together the opinions and reasonings of [...]
A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 29
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 Ancient Republics and Opinions of Philosophers: HARRINGTON My dear Sir, IN searching for the principles of government, we may divide them into two kinds: the principles of authority, and the principles of power. The first are virtues of the mind and heart, such as wisdom, prudence, courage, patience, [...]
