Philosophy and Politics - Assignment Example

Philosophy and politics Question one Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" is a distinct analysis of the relationship of the state and an individual and is focused on the manner in which men obey and respect the law of the government even when they totally believe that it is unjust to them. In Thoreau's political ideal in this book, he asserts his personal extreme responses of being put in prison for what was termed breaking the law after the collected tax revenues contributed towards the support of his detested slavery. He resultantly became a tax rebel. Although he never owned enough land that could make him worry about taxes imposed on property, there was a hated poll tax where capital tax was levied on all the adults equally within the community. David Thoreau asserts that the best government is one that does not govern at all. His political ideals are somehow different because he believes he should not pay tax equally and detests slavery. He sees this as being unjust to the community who in turn respects the governing rules. Having not enough land makes him feel like he should not pay similar tax on property as that paid by the others. It is in this respect that David Thoreau declined to pay tax and was arrested and imprisoned in July 1846. Although he was supposed to remain in prison until he pays a fine, he still declined the payment of the fine. David Thoreau’s relatives ended up settling the fine without his consent and were released. This had long enduring impacts on the "Civil Disobedience" making his political ideal quite different from those read in the Analects and that of the community who respected and obeyed the unjust laws. The circumstances of David Thoreau’s arrest and his attitude as a civil man exerted a great powerful force on the civil disobedience over time. David Thoreau, a man who only wandered in the woods to record the migration of birds and the growth of plants in his journal in Massachusetts, a small village of Concord, profoundly influenced most political giants such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. His political realm in "Civil Disobedience" established his whole reputation in the world of politics among the Americans. David Thoreau asserts that he went to the woods due to his wish to have a deliberate life in order to front the essential life facts only and find out if he could not learn what the facts could teach so that he would not discover that he never live when he dies. In his book, he says he never wished to live a life that was not life itself. That drove him to publish his book and his acts of civil disobedience. In the contrary, the chapters in Analects are categorized by individual themes. They are not however arranged to detail in any sort of manner the continuous stream of ideas and/ or thought. The sequence is random and the adjacent themes are completely not related to the other. This has led to the belief that the book is not a single author job but a collective of many different thoughts from different people. This is what makes the political realm different with that of David Thoreau in his “Civil Disobedience”. In chapter 10 of the Analects, it influences heavily the moral values philosophy of China and eventually Eastern part of Asia. The Analects only taught the Confucian values basically including ritual and social property that was centered in the Confucius humanity thought. Question two According to Sanford Pinker writes in his "Was Ralph Waldo Emerson Our First Motivational Speaker" that motivational speakers convey the good news that achieving spirituality or money is very easy than one can imagine. He goes a head in this article to assert that these motivational speakers not only suggests that majority of people are unhappy and confused, but also that the institutions of higher learning are not doing a good job in training the students on how to distinguish real things from pale imitation. (P. 3) in this regard, the different arguments in the Emerson’s "Self-Reliance" and "American Scholar" draw the contrast to the descriptions of the stated claims. The Emersion’s "Self-Reliance" and "American Scholar" have definite similarities. He expresses his Transcendentalism, a belief that all that is in the world is actually a microcosm of the universe. Emerson asserts that everyone should disregard any external authority and rely on their direct experience in order to avoid direct influence that may result into any bad teachings as asserted by Sanford Pinker writes in his "Was Ralph Waldo Emerson Our First Motivational Speaker". To Emerson, self reliance is a corner stone to the writings he did. Even Thoreau in his writings backed him up by saying that "Much of Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it." Therefore the teachings in higher institutions of learning may hence be embraced by the students as they might not be aware of the reality, but only the pale imitation of the truth. According to Emerson attack the professors and teachers in both universities and secondary schools who adore canons of literacy. Majority of people in most religions blindly accept literature sources from the past and as holy dogma that cannot be questioned. This entertains the claim that writers were just men who were seeking union with the Over Soul and at the same time asking questions as “Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries" (p.1532). Although Emersion has doubts about the misuse of books by the American Scholar, he loved the books and saw them as immense source. He asserts that "It is remarkable the pleasure we derive from the best books" (p 1533). Emerson describes his belief that the scholar should seek if he can studies of the nature and make life his personal dictionary, he says "When he can read God directly, the hour is too precious to be wasted in other men's transcripts of their readings" (p 1533).  In the introduction of Emerson’s second influence on the great spirit of the scholar, he praises books in the beginning. He asserts that they may be the reality. In fact he says in his book that “books are the best type of the influence of the past" (p 1532). Emerson says that books are actually better vehicles that are available for studying accomplishments and ideas of the ages and past men to the scholar. This never remained his opinion. After confirming that "the theory of books is noble" (p 1532) and demonstrating how reusing and reading books from the past brings out dead facts as poetry when rewritten in the new age, he asserts that this is just a mere pale imitation. He started indicating doubts in reusing the books. This shows that teaching using old books is an act of imitation of what may just be dead facts about certain truth and reality. He says in his book that "…each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this" (p 1532).  Question three Confucianism of human greatness has been read by generations. According to Emerson’s "Uses of Great Men" it is evident that his talk of great men does not mean designation of special humans set apart from the people. He says that we humans “should realize that we have the capability to become potential representatives of each other” (p 284). He says that "society is a Pestalozzian school: all are teachers and pupils in turn’, (p. 286). It is therefore clear from his writings that great men do exist so that there may be existence of greater men. This view is shared by Emerson with the Confucianism in the distribution of representativeness of human. This is evident from the various passages of the Analects and "Uses of Great Men," as described in the following paragraph. Representative may mean being the role model to the young nation. The representatives practices values that encourage them to focus on being great men in future. A teacher hence is one who guides the others on what they should do in order to become great in future. It is natural enough to have belief in great men. All the mythologies unravel with some kind of demigods with high and poetic circumstances. It is in this order that our childhood may turn out to be heroes and have a regal condition, making their genius paramount according to Emerson, nature exists seemingly for the excellent. The world is also upheld by the authenticity of good people who make the world wholesome. In fact those who live with such men find life to be nutritious and glad. Therefore it is evident that life is only tolerable and sweet in our belief of such kind of a society especially if we manage to have life together with the superiors. On the other hand, Confucianism which is the main system of ideas and thoughts in China actually developed from the disciples and teachings of Confucius. It is practically concerned with such things as the principles of good conduct, proper social relationships, and practical wisdom. It is through Confucianism that the attitude of Chinese has been influenced towards life. The background of political institutions and theories of China has also been provided by the same Confucianism as well as the setting of the standards of living of the social value. This aspect of Confucianism has spread all over from China to Korea, Vietnam, and Japan arousing the interest of the Western scholars. It is from this reason that Confucianism should be continually read. Confucianism is an official ideology of the state of the Chinese. It does not exist as a religion with priesthood and a church. The scholars from China although honored Confucius as a great sage and a teacher although, they never worshiped him as god. Confucius himself as well never claimed any divinity. Unlike the churches of Christians, the temples that are built to the Confucius did not represent the places where organized groups of community gather to worship, but designed for yearly ceremonies like the birthday of a philosopher. It is for this reason the several efforts to proselyte Confucianism and to deify Confucius failed due to the essential secular philosophy nature. This places represented people and had great men who could be imitated and used to make greater men in future. Question four The threat of persecution forces philosophers to adjust the manner in which they write and speak. The adjustments in writing in the contemporary China shows instances of writing between lines as seen in the discussion "Ruxue: Daotong versus Zhengtong," (p. 201). However, the discussions by Bell in the "Depoliticizing the Analects," (pp. 170-74), implements some particular adjustments to the Analects although it does not show instances of writing between the lines. It is in this regard that we deduce that not all adjustments in writing are made under the influence of the threat of persecution according to the discussions of Strauss in his "Persecution and the Art of Writing" Persecution results into peculiar writing techniques where by the reality about crucial things are exclusively presented between the lines. These writings of the literature however are only addressed to the intelligent and trustworthy readers only (Strauss 25). This persecution is the beginning of esotericism. Therefore any other writing considerations comes out only after compelling the philosopher to write secretively so as to ensure safety of his or her life. Strauss also asserts that persecution as the primary reason of concealing and not a motivation to many who conceals the reality. For example, in page 24 of Strauss 1952, the threat of persecution compels the writers who possess heterodox views in developing peculiar writing techniques which have remained in their minds when talking about writing between the lines. It is not however true that all adjustments in writing are made under the influence of the threat of persecution. For instance the adjustments made to the Analects do not show instances of writing between the lines. Persecution is done to substitute the aim of the victims. Many philosophers today consider coercion resulting from the threat of persecution as an opposite act to freedom. Some threats of persecution do not result into writing between the lines due to the nature of scope of the writings themselves. Sometimes the aim of the writing is to adjust what the previous philosopher wrote about a reality or truth, while sometimes it may be to change the effects on the legal, ethical, and/ or social implications to the society. Therefore some adjustment in writing out of threat of persecution would not show instances of writing between the lines. Threat of persecution may be for the better part of the writings especially where the previous writer never included some reality on the matter addressed. Writing between the lines hence may be considered as resulting from the threat of persecution, it may just be the willingness of a philosopher who feels like something was not in order and has the motive of putting realities in writing. Works Cited Strauss. Persecution and the Art of Writing. NY: Prentice Hall. 1980. Print. Emerson. Uses of Great Men. London: Springer. 1970. Print. Pinker, Sanford. Was Ralph Waldo Emerson Our First Motivational Speaker. Boston: McGraw Hill. 1990. Print. Thoreau, David. Civil Disobedience. London: Springer. 1989. Print. Read More