Political Action in Václav Havel's Thought

Political Action in Václav Havel's Thought
Author: Delia Popescu
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 187
Release: 2012
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0739149571

Political Action in Vaclav Havel's Thought: The Responsibility of Resistance, by Delia Popescu, examines resistance to oppression and individual responsibility in political action, all in the context of Vaclav Havel's political philosophy. The famous anti-communist dissident, acclaimed playwright, former President of the Czech Republic, and eminent political thinker argues that there is a certain tendency in modern humanity towards the creation, or at least toleration, of a political system that is invasive and controlling. Not unlike Tocqueville and Arendt, Havel claims that modern liberal democracy contains potential tendencies toward a new form of despotism that capitalizes on modern alienation and social atomization. Political Action in Vaclav Havel's Thought suggests that Havel's theory of individual opposition can be used to secure political freedom under the conditions of modernity. Popescu demonstrates that Havel's idea of attaining true political participation and freedom requires a strong connection between an individually constructed ethics and the realm of politics. On this basis she reveals that a thick notion of morality can be usefully integrated into an account of both private and public accountability. Vaclav Havel's essays, plays, speeches, and letters can therefore be integrated into a coherent political theory which contributes significantly to some of the central debates in modern political thought. Delia Popescu concludes that Havel's theory of individual opposition to totalitarianism may also serve as the foundation for a conception of responsible participation in modern liberal democracies.

Mandeville’s Fable

Mandeville’s Fable
Author: Robin Douglass
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2023-05-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0691224692

Why we should take Bernard Mandeville seriously as a philosopher Bernard Mandeville’s The Fable of the Bees outraged its eighteenth-century audience by proclaiming that private vices lead to public prosperity. Today the work is best known as an early iteration of laissez-faire capitalism. In this book, Robin Douglass looks beyond the notoriety of Mandeville’s great work to reclaim its status as one of the most incisive philosophical studies of human nature and the origin of society in the Enlightenment era. Focusing on Mandeville’s moral, social, and political ideas, Douglass offers a revelatory account of why we should take Mandeville seriously as a philosopher. Douglass expertly reconstructs Mandeville’s theory of how self-centred individuals, who care for their reputation and social standing above all else, could live peacefully together in large societies. Pride and shame are the principal motives of human behaviour, on this account, with a large dose of hypocrisy and self-deception lying behind our moral practices. In his analysis, Douglass attends closely to the changes between different editions of the Fable; considers Mandeville’s arguments in light of objections and rival accounts from other eighteenth-century philosophers, including Shaftesbury, Hume, and Smith; and draws on more recent findings from social psychology. With this detailed and original reassessment of Mandeville’s philosophy, Douglass shows how The Fable of the Bees—by shining a light on the dark side of human nature—has the power to unsettle readers even today.

Political Propaganda, Advertising, and Public Relations: Emerging Research and Opportunities

Political Propaganda, Advertising, and Public Relations: Emerging Research and Opportunities
Author: Kavo?lu, Samet
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 222
Release: 2019-10-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1799817369

Public opinion is an important factor affecting the political decision-making process. In almost every community, the ones in power—no matter what type of political system is established—want to be aware of the ideas and opinions of the rules regarding policies that they have implemented. The factors that take part in the determination of public opinion must be explored further. Political Propaganda, Advertising, and Public Relations: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an essential reference source that discusses public opinion on policies as well as political communication activities. Featuring research on topics such as campaign management, branding, and political marketing, this book is ideally designed for campaign managers, social media mangers, government officials, advertisers, media consultants, public relations specialists, researchers, politicians, academicians, and students seeking coverage on current technological trends and political communication.

Democratic Statecraft

Democratic Statecraft
Author: J. S. Maloy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 247
Release: 2013-03-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 052119220X

Maloy explores whether and how statecraft and democratic ways of thinking can be reconciled and combined.

Philosophic Pride

Philosophic Pride
Author: Christopher Brooke
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2022-11-29
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0691242151

Philosophic Pride is the first full-scale look at the essential place of Stoicism in the foundations of modern political thought. Spanning the period from Justus Lipsius's Politics in 1589 to Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile in 1762, and concentrating on arguments originating from England, France, and the Netherlands, the book considers how political writers of the period engaged with the ideas of the Roman and Greek Stoics that they found in works by Cicero, Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Christopher Brooke examines key texts in their historical context, paying special attention to the history of classical scholarship and the historiography of philosophy. Brooke delves into the persisting tension between Stoicism and the tradition of Augustinian anti-Stoic criticism, which held Stoicism to be a philosophy for the proud who denied their fallen condition. Concentrating on arguments in moral psychology surrounding the foundations of human sociability and self-love, Philosophic Pride details how the engagement with Roman Stoicism shaped early modern political philosophy and offers significant new interpretations of Lipsius and Rousseau together with fresh perspectives on the political thought of Hugo Grotius and Thomas Hobbes. Philosophic Pride shows how the legacy of the Stoics played a vital role in European intellectual life in the early modern era.

Preventive Force

Preventive Force
Author: Kerstin Fisk
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2016-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 147985753X

Examines the recent rise in the United States' use of preventive force More so than in the past, the US is now embracing the logic of preventive force: using military force to counter potential threats around the globe before they have fully materialized. While popular with individuals who seek to avoid too many “boots on the ground,” preventive force is controversial because of its potential for unnecessary collateral damage. Who decides what threats are ‘imminent’? Is there an international legal basis to kill or harm individuals who have a connection to that threat? Do the benefits of preventive force justify the costs? And, perhaps most importantly, is the US setting a dangerous international precedent? In Preventive Force, editors Kerstin Fisk and Jennifer Ramos bring together legal scholars, political scientists, international relations scholars, and prominent defense specialists to examine these questions, whether in the context of full-scale preventive war or preventive drone strikes. In particular, the volume highlights preventive drones strikes, as they mark a complete transformation of how the US understands international norms regarding the use of force, and could potentially lead to a ‘slippery slope’ for the US and other nations in terms of engaging in preventive warfare as a matter of course. A comprehensive resource that speaks to the contours of preventive force as a security strategy as well as to the practical, legal, and ethical considerations of its implementation, Preventive Force is a useful guide for political scientists, international relations scholars, and policymakers who seek a thorough and current overview of this essential topic.

Damned If You Do

Damned If You Do
Author: Margaret S. Hrezo
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 231
Release: 2010-03-18
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0739138154

Problems of individual moral choice have always been closely bound up with the larger normative concerns of political theory. There are several reasons for this continuing connection. First, the value conflicts involved in private moral choice often find themselves reproduced on the public stage: for example, states may find it difficult to do right by both justice and mercy in much the same way individuals do. Second, we frequently find conflicts among the values at stake in individual life and public life, such that the moral choice we must make is between private and public goods. Loosely speaking, choices which express these conflicts are what philosophers call moral dilemmas: choices in which no matter what one does one will be forfeiting some important moral good; in which wrongdoing is to some degree inescapable; in which one is (perhaps literally) damned if one does and damned if one doesn't. The eight essays collected in this volume explore the philosophical problem of moral dilemmas as that problem finds expression in ancient drama, classic and contemporary novels, television, film, and popular fiction. They consider four main types of dilemmas. In the first section, the authors examine dilemmas associated with political stability and regime change as expressed in the HBO television series Deadwood and in Stephen King's novels and short stories. The second section confronts dilemmas associated with public leadership, considering the ethical conflicts in Aeschylus's classical dramas The Suppliants, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and in the contemporary FOX television series 24. In the volume's third section, the authors examine dilemmas of institutional evil, specifically slavery, as they emerge in Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic novel Uncle Tom's Cabin and in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels. Finally, the collection considers dilemmas of community and choice in Toni Morrison's novel Paradise and in the contemporary film A Simple Plan.

The Routledge Guidebook to Machiavelli's The Prince

The Routledge Guidebook to Machiavelli's The Prince
Author: John T. Scott
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2016-03-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 131753672X

Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince is one of the most influential works in the history of political thought and the adjective Machiavellian is well-known and perhaps even over-used. So why does the meaning of the text continue to be debated to the present day? And how does a contemporary reader get to grips with a book full of references to the politics of the early 16th Century? The Routledge Guidebook to Machiavelli’s The Prince provides readers with the historical background, textual analysis, and other relevant information needed for a greater understanding and appreciation of this classic text. This guidebook introduces: the historical, political and intellectual context in which Machiavelli was working the key ideas developed by Machiavelli throughout the text and the examples he uses to illustrate them the relationship of The Prince to The Discourses and Machiavelli’s other works Featuring a timeline, maps and suggestions for further reading throughout, this book is an invaluable guide for anyone who wants to be able to engage more fully with The Prince.

Rethinking Political Judgement

Rethinking Political Judgement
Author: Masa Mrovlje
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-11-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 147443715X

The first book-length study to provide a detailed examination of a distinctive crossroads in the history of the left.