What are the laws by which we live? Who determines those laws? Do they have a
right to? If they are not upholding those laws, do we have a right to replace
them as the heads of government? These are the sorts of questions political philosophers
ask during their study of government. They're concerned with studying not
just today's power distribution blocks within the United Nations and other
governmental organizations, but also the power dynamics of other civilizations
in the past in order to better understand ourselves and what we can expect in
our future as a civilized race.
Who are political philosophers? Aren't philosophers just people who wanted
to stay in school forever and never get a 'real' job? While that
may be true for some people who have studied philosophy in college, political
philosophy is a lucrative field for many. You sometimes see political philosophers
express their opinions on television with all the subtlety of industrial vehicles
crashing through a brick wall, and getting paid to do so. Meanwhile, others
work quietly in the background, looking to publish their findings in academic
reviews or simply to understand the world better for themselves.
Political philosophy can have a great effect on mankind, for it is political
philosophers who ask what the government should take for, and what its citizens
should owe to such a government. Without political philosophy, there might be
chaos, because who would determine who has what rights over whom? If Mississauga
were to decide to annex Toronto, political philosophers would be the driving
force behind determining whether Mississauga had that right or not. Political
philosophy influences the decisions of government, because those who study it
often have influence over policy-makers, either because they were hired to give
their opinions or through their published works.
Government is about teams, from the different parties to using online web collaboration to plan events while on the road. One of the things political philosophers
do in their study of government is to work together to help (or hinder) governments
as they try to improve our quality of life. Even if they don't work collaboratively
in the present, they still build upon the theories of other political philosophers
who have come before them. Some famous minds have studied political philosophy
over the years and given their views upon the subject through oration or in
written form, such as Confucius, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Rousseau, and Kant.
You may not find 'political philosophers' in the Mississauga listings
or the yellow pages, but you can see their influence on the world just the same.
Political philosophers have given us the types of government we live by - democracy,
monarchy, oligarchy, tyranny, and communism - and have also influenced us to
accept or overthrow these governments at times. It was political philosophy
that changed people's minds in Russia and led to the Russian Revolution,
just as political philosophy seeks to understand today's issues such as
whether George W. Bush had the right to start the war in Iraq or cause prisoners
to be tortured.
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