The Importance Of The Political Philosophy For The State And Society - Essay Example

The Importance Of The Political Philosophy For The State And Society The relationship between the state and the individual, and the state and its opponents, have long been one of the most important aspects of political philosophy. One of the foundational ideas of western political philosophy was the work of liberal authors such as Hobbes and Locke, who imagined the state as forming some kind of compact with its populace. Later philosophers were more aware of the way the state seizes and exerts power over its subjects, rejecting the somewhat naïve nature of a political compact.

Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, take a post-Marxist approach at analyzing the relationship between the state and its subjects, and especially the state and its enemies. States have long used enemies as a justification for their existence (IE population will support them for supposed protection from an enemy). Hardt and Negri’s book Empire, argues that the modern state has shifted its definition of enemy from traditional ones, such as ideology (IE Communism) or state (for instance during European wars), to a violator of law - states manufacture the enemy as a sort of criminal (83).

States have thus maneuvered themselves into a situation where any opposition to the state represents a deviant nature, and something that the state has an obligation to address. In Hardt and Negri’s understanding, the enemies of the state are no longer extramural – they are in fact by definition within the state, a part of the state structure. This differs from classical neoliberal understandings of Empire, which address Empire building through expansion beyond borders, especially in an economic sense.

QUESTION 2 In interpreting the quotation “Hitherto the philosophers have only interpreted the world: the point, however, is to transform it,” it is important to remember the origin of philosophy as a tradition of knowledge. Philosophy started as a form of ancient science – before standards of experimentation, testability and so on were developed, philosophers attempted to use reason to form a better understanding of the world around them. Modern science has since taken up much of the challenge of interpreting the world, by using a structured system of logic and experimentation to build causal relationships between physical phenomenon.

Science has thus continually eroded the traditional realm of philosophy, especially once it started addressing the state of the human mind through neuroscience. This has led some philosophers to claim that the only realm left to philosophy is the study of language, and possibly of ethics. This quotation recognizes that there must be a shift in the way philosophers see themselves for philosophy to remain a relevant field in the face of pressure from various sides. Interpreting the world is still useful, but more and more science is trusted as the only way to interpret the world accurately.

Philosophy, however, has a benefit in being able to use the word “should.” Science can say merely what is, but philosophers can also say what is, but also what should be. In doing this philosophers can attempt to use their knowledge and expertise to shape the world for the better.Works CitedHardt, Michael, and Antonio Negri. Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2000. Print.