POLITICS PART 1: INTRO TO POLITICS
Ah, politics. The subject everyone loves to hate. The only area, besides religion, that we are told to avoid in polite conversation. But why? Politics, like religion, can strike at the heart of one's philosophy of life. The emotions one feels about their opinions is natural, and even healthy for a rational being. It's how one arrives at those opinions that is the focus here. There are proper ways and improper ways to arrive at political ideas, and we want to avoid the latter. But how?
HOW NOT TO STUDY POLITICS
The mistake most of us make when learning about politics is to jump right into the arena and use our rational faculties to attempt to solve societal problems, or improve the system we find ourselves in. Not that we shouldn't do this, it's just not the proper way to begin a study of any field. When looking at contemporary arguments like "should the top income tax rate be 36% or 40%" or "should the government allow gay marriage", we will be set up for failure if we don't first have a foundation. It would be like jumping into the field of medicine by studying when to give a patient statins for high blood pressure. If you don't even know what a statin is, or how the circulatory system works in the body, on what basis can you determine when to prescribe it? You'd just be blindly trusting whatever source you're using, and your opinion wouldn't be valid. Perhaps, blood pressure meds shouldn't be used at all, how can you know?!
Studying politics is similar, but since it's such a popular and accessible area of study, most don't give it the same respect. Very few people start from the beginning in politics, they like to jump straight to the action. Studying philosophy is boring, opining about the national debt or health care is fun! Unfortunately, just like in medicine, this approach leads to many errors and harmful results if one doesn't check their premises. To compound this problem, most people form political ideas based on the current system or world they find themselves in. They look for solutions according to the prevailing wisdom and current political structure. What if the current structure or accepted ideas are wrong? For centuries, even the intellectuals accepted things like slavery. Arguing against it might be met with ridicule, or dismissed as not being pragmatic or "realistic". After all, how else could certain things be produced? Only by stepping back and checking one's philosophical foundation can we be sure we're advocating the correct policies.
It may be extremely difficult, but to study politics we need to first put aside all the opinions of our friends, family, church, community, media, teachers, and even ourselves. Maybe some of them are correct, but we can only know by analyzing the field properly, as we would with any other subject.
HOW NOT TO STUDY POLITICS
The mistake most of us make when learning about politics is to jump right into the arena and use our rational faculties to attempt to solve societal problems, or improve the system we find ourselves in. Not that we shouldn't do this, it's just not the proper way to begin a study of any field. When looking at contemporary arguments like "should the top income tax rate be 36% or 40%" or "should the government allow gay marriage", we will be set up for failure if we don't first have a foundation. It would be like jumping into the field of medicine by studying when to give a patient statins for high blood pressure. If you don't even know what a statin is, or how the circulatory system works in the body, on what basis can you determine when to prescribe it? You'd just be blindly trusting whatever source you're using, and your opinion wouldn't be valid. Perhaps, blood pressure meds shouldn't be used at all, how can you know?!
Studying politics is similar, but since it's such a popular and accessible area of study, most don't give it the same respect. Very few people start from the beginning in politics, they like to jump straight to the action. Studying philosophy is boring, opining about the national debt or health care is fun! Unfortunately, just like in medicine, this approach leads to many errors and harmful results if one doesn't check their premises. To compound this problem, most people form political ideas based on the current system or world they find themselves in. They look for solutions according to the prevailing wisdom and current political structure. What if the current structure or accepted ideas are wrong? For centuries, even the intellectuals accepted things like slavery. Arguing against it might be met with ridicule, or dismissed as not being pragmatic or "realistic". After all, how else could certain things be produced? Only by stepping back and checking one's philosophical foundation can we be sure we're advocating the correct policies.
It may be extremely difficult, but to study politics we need to first put aside all the opinions of our friends, family, church, community, media, teachers, and even ourselves. Maybe some of them are correct, but we can only know by analyzing the field properly, as we would with any other subject.
HOW TO STUDY POLITICS
The reality of politics is that by the time we get around to studying it, we've already formed a philosophical base. You literally can't hold a political opinion without having some sort of understanding of the branches of philosophy politics is based on, even if that knowledge isn't explicit, or well thought out. This is why your dog will never have views on abortion. The problem for many, is that their foundation is weak, incomplete, or contradictory. Not only when they first approach the subject, but for their whole lives. No public schools teach anything resembling a coherent, integrated philosophy, as it would require the government to take sides on controversial issues such as religion, ethics, and politics. In college, things don't get much better, and ironically often worse. As a result, the only chance most kids have to form a rational, integrated philosophy is if their parents (who were also probably public school educated) teach it to them, or they learn it outside of school. Neither are likely.
While you can certainly study politics and hold opinions without examining your philosophical foundation, you can't do it properly. If you wish to continue and read the subsequent posts on politics, go ahead. They're full of good information, and I fully endorse them! However, it's "cheating" without first reading and understanding the prior posts in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Without a solid foundation in the previous branches, you can't be sure your opinions in politics are proper. Any errors and contradictions in these prior areas will likely lead to problems in your political philosophy. Like an ecosystem, they are all integrated.
The reality of politics is that by the time we get around to studying it, we've already formed a philosophical base. You literally can't hold a political opinion without having some sort of understanding of the branches of philosophy politics is based on, even if that knowledge isn't explicit, or well thought out. This is why your dog will never have views on abortion. The problem for many, is that their foundation is weak, incomplete, or contradictory. Not only when they first approach the subject, but for their whole lives. No public schools teach anything resembling a coherent, integrated philosophy, as it would require the government to take sides on controversial issues such as religion, ethics, and politics. In college, things don't get much better, and ironically often worse. As a result, the only chance most kids have to form a rational, integrated philosophy is if their parents (who were also probably public school educated) teach it to them, or they learn it outside of school. Neither are likely.
While you can certainly study politics and hold opinions without examining your philosophical foundation, you can't do it properly. If you wish to continue and read the subsequent posts on politics, go ahead. They're full of good information, and I fully endorse them! However, it's "cheating" without first reading and understanding the prior posts in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Without a solid foundation in the previous branches, you can't be sure your opinions in politics are proper. Any errors and contradictions in these prior areas will likely lead to problems in your political philosophy. Like an ecosystem, they are all integrated.
Ugh, music theory. I'd rather study ethics!
Politics is the more "glamorous" arena, so it's natural to want to jump right to it, but be aware of the potential pitfalls. It would be like a musician learning an instrument without understanding music theory. Playing your favorite song is the appealing part. Studying the difference between major and minor scales, or chord progression isn't. Without learning theory, one might be able to learn and play some songs, even teach the instrument to others, but certain elements wouldn't make sense to them, they would be susceptible to fundamental errors, and they could never achieve their true potential. Consequently, no reputable music school would skip music theory in their education. If we are to seriously study politics, the same commitment must be made.
At a minimum, if you don't have answers to these questions that can withstand serious scrutiny, you aren't ready to tackle politics in a meaningful way.
Metaphysics:
What are the axioms that all of my knowledge is based on?
Is there primacy of consciousness or existence?
Epistemology:
Are the senses valid? Why or why not?
Free will or determinism?
What are concepts? How are they formed, and are they valid?
What is reason? Is it valid?
Can you be sure of anything?
Ethics:
Is ethics subjective or objective?
What is good and evil?
What is the goal of human life?
What are virtues and vices?
Without this foundation, someone can attack the premises behind your political arguments, and you won't have the ammunition to defend it. Think about it, how could you defend freedom of speech without being able to defend reason? If you can't show how your knowledge is valid, on what grounds can you show freedom of speech is valid? Maybe you're mistaken!
At a minimum, if you don't have answers to these questions that can withstand serious scrutiny, you aren't ready to tackle politics in a meaningful way.
Metaphysics:
What are the axioms that all of my knowledge is based on?
Is there primacy of consciousness or existence?
Epistemology:
Are the senses valid? Why or why not?
Free will or determinism?
What are concepts? How are they formed, and are they valid?
What is reason? Is it valid?
Can you be sure of anything?
Ethics:
Is ethics subjective or objective?
What is good and evil?
What is the goal of human life?
What are virtues and vices?
Without this foundation, someone can attack the premises behind your political arguments, and you won't have the ammunition to defend it. Think about it, how could you defend freedom of speech without being able to defend reason? If you can't show how your knowledge is valid, on what grounds can you show freedom of speech is valid? Maybe you're mistaken!
WHAT IS POLITICS?
Now let's get down to business! Politics is the study that aims to define the principles of a proper social system. This includes the guidelines for how we should interact with others, as well as the proper functions of government (if any). Our nature as humans is that of a social animal which possesses reason. Living amongst and interacting with other humans is of incalculable benefit to us, if done in a proper setting. We can best achieve our potentials and ethical purposes (happiness and self-esteem) in a society, not alone on a desert island or self-sustaining farm. However, there are countless examples of civilizations throughout history where a society was so harmful to individuals it would be much preferred to be alone on an island. Therefore, the importance of the nature of our society cannot be overstated.
This begs the question, what is the right kind of society, the one most ideal for man? The answer to that is, the one that conforms to and reflects our principles of morality. That is, the one that takes a proper code of moral values for man, and applies it to a social setting. We've previously identified the nature of man and laid out a rational code of ethics. Now, the job is to apply this knowledge and determine what kind of society conforms to these ideals. What type of society makes possible all the virtues we've studied? What type upholds man's key virtue, reason? It should now be clear how important a sound theory of ethics is. Any holes or errors will be magnified when applied to a society of millions.
The first step will be to identify the key ethical principles that apply to humans in social settings. The next post will deal with rights.
Now let's get down to business! Politics is the study that aims to define the principles of a proper social system. This includes the guidelines for how we should interact with others, as well as the proper functions of government (if any). Our nature as humans is that of a social animal which possesses reason. Living amongst and interacting with other humans is of incalculable benefit to us, if done in a proper setting. We can best achieve our potentials and ethical purposes (happiness and self-esteem) in a society, not alone on a desert island or self-sustaining farm. However, there are countless examples of civilizations throughout history where a society was so harmful to individuals it would be much preferred to be alone on an island. Therefore, the importance of the nature of our society cannot be overstated.
This begs the question, what is the right kind of society, the one most ideal for man? The answer to that is, the one that conforms to and reflects our principles of morality. That is, the one that takes a proper code of moral values for man, and applies it to a social setting. We've previously identified the nature of man and laid out a rational code of ethics. Now, the job is to apply this knowledge and determine what kind of society conforms to these ideals. What type of society makes possible all the virtues we've studied? What type upholds man's key virtue, reason? It should now be clear how important a sound theory of ethics is. Any holes or errors will be magnified when applied to a society of millions.
The first step will be to identify the key ethical principles that apply to humans in social settings. The next post will deal with rights.