isabelladangelo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
isabelladangelo) wrote2008-09-04 10:21 am
isabelladangelo) wrote2008-09-04 10:21 am
Politics and Philosophy
Yes, the two go together. The interesting thing I have noticed both in the media and in the blogs, is how all politics really are are the exact same arguments all humans have had for a few thousand years now.
As a group, are we capable of imitating and, thereby, influencing nature or is nature greater than us mere mortals and will over take us? Not just environmental nature but the nature of economics, of global interactions with other countries/cultures, and of sub cultural groups are all included in the idea of nature. It's the nature of "things" and all that we see, read, hear, and feel.
Man versus nature has been an argument since, well, forever. Can mankind control the environment around him/her or does nature always win? However, in modern politics, I think we are dealing with a slightly newer argument: the one of forms.
For those that did not take four long years of classical education, allow me to explain; there are two thoughts on forms. The Platonic theory of forms is that forms exist in the realm of ideas. They are not part of things but rather things are made to imitate the forms. (The short hand is, we all know what a "chair" is. A chair is something you sit on. However, you can also sit down on the floor, the ground, a table, ect. So how can we all know and agree on what a chair is, since they all come in different shapes and sizes, unless the form of a chair exists in the universal consciousness?)
The Aristotlian theory of forms is that the form exists within the object itself. He referred to them as Universals. (Again, the short hand is Michelangelo's famous phrase where he stated that he didn't create "David"; he saw a being inside the huge piece of marble and simply chipped away)
So, it comes down to this; do you believe that the ideals are "out there" or are they within each one of us? If the ideals are "out there" then we are all trying to influence nature and trying to get it to conform to us. If the ideals are within us, then nature influences us and we conform to it.
This is an arguement that has been going on for thousands of years and one that will, most likely, never be settled. All politics is is the semi-scientific application of philosophical theory.
As a group, are we capable of imitating and, thereby, influencing nature or is nature greater than us mere mortals and will over take us? Not just environmental nature but the nature of economics, of global interactions with other countries/cultures, and of sub cultural groups are all included in the idea of nature. It's the nature of "things" and all that we see, read, hear, and feel.
Man versus nature has been an argument since, well, forever. Can mankind control the environment around him/her or does nature always win? However, in modern politics, I think we are dealing with a slightly newer argument: the one of forms.
For those that did not take four long years of classical education, allow me to explain; there are two thoughts on forms. The Platonic theory of forms is that forms exist in the realm of ideas. They are not part of things but rather things are made to imitate the forms. (The short hand is, we all know what a "chair" is. A chair is something you sit on. However, you can also sit down on the floor, the ground, a table, ect. So how can we all know and agree on what a chair is, since they all come in different shapes and sizes, unless the form of a chair exists in the universal consciousness?)
The Aristotlian theory of forms is that the form exists within the object itself. He referred to them as Universals. (Again, the short hand is Michelangelo's famous phrase where he stated that he didn't create "David"; he saw a being inside the huge piece of marble and simply chipped away)
So, it comes down to this; do you believe that the ideals are "out there" or are they within each one of us? If the ideals are "out there" then we are all trying to influence nature and trying to get it to conform to us. If the ideals are within us, then nature influences us and we conform to it.
This is an arguement that has been going on for thousands of years and one that will, most likely, never be settled. All politics is is the semi-scientific application of philosophical theory.
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