89 ideas
20653 | Six reduction levels: groups, lives, cells, molecules, atoms, particles [Putnam/Oppenheim, by Watson] |
19956 | True goodness is political, and consists of love of and submission to the laws [Montesquieu] |
19961 | Primitive people would be too vulnerable and timid to attack anyone, so peace would reign [Montesquieu] |
20489 | Human beings can never really flourish in a long-term state of nature [Wolff,J] |
19962 | Men do not desire to subjugate one another; domination is a complex and advanced idea [Montesquieu] |
19963 | People are drawn into society by needs, shared fears, pleasure, and knowledge [Montesquieu] |
20008 | People are guided by a multitude of influences, from which the spirit of a nation emerges [Montesquieu] |
20483 | Collective rationality is individuals doing their best, assuming others all do the same [Wolff,J] |
20532 | Should love be the first virtue of a society, as it is of the family? [Wolff,J] |
19993 | In small republics citizens identify with the public good, and abuses are fewer [Montesquieu] |
19992 | In a large republic there is too much wealth for individuals to manage it [Montesquieu] |
20005 | The rich would never submit to a lottery deciding which part of their society should be slaves [Montesquieu] |
19995 | All states aim at preservation, and then have distinctive individual purposes [Montesquieu] |
20490 | For utilitarians, consent to the state is irrelevant, if it produces more happiness [Wolff,J] |
20493 | Social contract theory has the attracton of including everyone, and being voluntary [Wolff,J] |
20494 | Maybe voting in elections is a grant of legitimacy to the winners [Wolff,J] |
20500 | We can see the 'general will' as what is in the general interest [Wolff,J] |
19964 | The natural power of a father suggests rule by one person, but that authority can be spread [Montesquieu] |
19986 | Monarchies can act more quickly, because one person is in charge [Montesquieu] |
19972 | The nobility are an indispensable part of a monarchy [Montesquieu] |
19974 | Monarchs must not just have links to the people; they need a body which maintains the laws [Montesquieu] |
19976 | Ambition is good in a monarchy, because the monarch can always restrain it [Montesquieu] |
19978 | In monarchies, men's actions are judged by their grand appearance, not their virtues [Montesquieu] |
19985 | In a monarchy, the nobility must be hereditary, to bind them together [Montesquieu] |
19988 | A despot's agents must be given power, so they inevitably become corrupt [Montesquieu] |
19977 | Despotism and honour are incompatible, because honour scorns his power, and lives by rules [Montesquieu] |
20007 | Tyranny is either real violence, or the imposition of unpopular legislation [Montesquieu] |
20497 | How can dictators advance the interests of the people, if they don't consult them about interests? [Wolff,J] |
19975 | Despots are always lazy and ignorant, so they always delegate their power to a vizier [Montesquieu] |
19989 | The will of a despot is an enigma, so magistrates can only follow their own will [Montesquieu] |
19970 | If the nobility is numerous, the senate is the artistocracy, and the nobles are a democracy [Montesquieu] |
19971 | Aristocracy is democratic if they resemble the people, but not if they resemble the monarch [Montesquieu] |
19984 | Great inequality between aristocrats and the rest is bad - and also among aristocrats themselves [Montesquieu] |
19980 | If a government is to be preserved, it must first be loved [Montesquieu] |
19996 | A government has a legislature, an international executive, and a domestic executive [Montesquieu] |
20506 | 'Separation of powers' allows legislative, executive and judicial functions to monitor one another [Wolff,J] |
19997 | The judiciary must be separate from the legislature, to avoid arbitrary power [Montesquieu] |
20530 | Political choice can be by utility, or maximin, or maximax [Wolff,J] |
20487 | A realistic and less utopian anarchism looks increasingly like liberal democracy [Wolff,J] |
20488 | It is hard for anarchists to deny that we need experts [Wolff,J] |
20529 | Utilitarianism probably implies a free market plus welfare [Wolff,J] |
20510 | A system of democracy which includes both freedom and equality is almost impossible [Wolff,J] |
20511 | Democracy expresses equal respect (which explains why criminals forfeit the vote) [Wolff,J] |
20502 | Democracy has been seen as consistent with many types of inequality [Wolff,J] |
20496 | A true democracy could not tolerate slavery, exploitation or colonialism [Wolff,J] |
19965 | The fundamental laws of a democracy decide who can vote [Montesquieu] |
19968 | It is basic to a democracy that the people themselves must name their ministers [Montesquieu] |
19969 | Voting should be public, so the lower classes can be influenced by the example of notable people [Montesquieu] |
19999 | All citizens (apart from the very humble poor) should choose their representatives [Montesquieu] |
20498 | We should decide whether voting is for self-interests, or for the common good [Wolff,J] |
20499 | Condorcet proved that sensible voting leads to an emphatically right answer [Wolff,J] |
19967 | In a democracy the people should manage themselves, and only delegate what they can't do [Montesquieu] |
19966 | A democratic assembly must have a fixed number, to see whether everyone has spoken [Montesquieu] |
19998 | If deputies represent people, they are accountable, but less so if they represent places [Montesquieu] |
20509 | Occasional defeat is acceptable, but a minority that is continually defeated is a problem [Wolff,J] |
20003 | Slaves are not members of the society, so no law can forbid them to run away [Montesquieu] |
20000 | Slavery is entirely bad; the master abandons the virtues, and they are pointless in the slave [Montesquieu] |
20006 | The demand for slavery is just the masters' demand for luxury [Montesquieu] |
20009 | Freedom of speech and writing, within the law, is essential to preserve liberty [Montesquieu] |
20524 | Market prices indicate shortages and gluts, and where the profits are to be made [Wolff,J] |
19994 | Freedom in society is ability to do what is right, and not having to do what is wrong [Montesquieu] |
20518 | Liberty principles can't justify laws against duelling, incest between siblings and euthanasia [Wolff,J] |
20531 | Either Difference allows unequal liberty, or Liberty makes implementing Difference impossible [Wolff,J] |
19981 | No one even thinks of equality in monarchies and despotism; they all want superiority [Montesquieu] |
19991 | Equality is not command by everyone or no one, but command and obedience among equals [Montesquieu] |
20526 | Utilitarians argue for equal distribution because of diminishing utility of repetition [Wolff,J] |
20528 | Difference Principle: all inequalities should be in favour of the disadvantaged [Wolff,J] |
19990 | Democracy is corrupted by lack of equality, or by extreme equality (between rulers and ruled) [Montesquieu] |
20503 | Political equality is not much use without social equality [Wolff,J] |
19983 | Democracies may sometimes need to restrict equality [Montesquieu] |
19982 | Some equality can be achieved by social categories, combined with taxes and poor relief [Montesquieu] |
20512 | Standard rights: life, free speech, assembly, movement, vote, stand (plus shelter, food, health?) [Wolff,J] |
20513 | If natural rights are axiomatic, there is then no way we can defend them [Wolff,J] |
20514 | If rights are natural, rather than inferred, how do we know which rights we have? [Wolff,J] |
20522 | Utilitarians might say property ownership encourages the best use of the land [Wolff,J] |
20534 | Rights and justice are only the last resorts of a society, something to fall back on [Wolff,J] |
19959 | Prior to positive laws there is natural equity, of obedience, gratitude, dependence and merit [Montesquieu] |
19960 | Sensation gives animals natural laws, but knowledge can make them break them [Montesquieu] |
20492 | Following some laws is not a moral matter; trivial traffic rules, for example [Wolff,J] |
20002 | The death penalty is permissible, because its victims enjoyed the protection of that law [Montesquieu] |
20010 | If religion teaches determinism, penalties must be severe; if free will, then that is different [Montesquieu] |
20001 | The only right victors have over captives is the protection of the former [Montesquieu] |
19973 | The clergy are essential to a monarchy, but dangerous in a republic [Montesquieu] |
19987 | Religion has the most influence in despotic states, and reinforces veneration for the ruler [Montesquieu] |
20011 | Religion can support the state when the law fails to do so [Montesquieu] |
20004 | French slavery was accepted because it was the best method of religious conversion [Montesquieu] |
19979 | In monarchies education ennobles people, and in despotisms it debases them [Montesquieu] |
19957 | Teaching is the best practice of the general virtue that leads us to love everyone [Montesquieu] |
19958 | Laws are the necessary relations that derive from the nature of things [Montesquieu] |