more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
A monarch has the highest power, while an autocrat or absolute ruler is one who has all the power.
Gist of Idea
Monarchs have the highest power; autocrats have complete power
Source
Immanuel Kant (Metaphysics of Morals I: Doctrine of Right [1797], §51)
Book Ref
Kant,Immanuel: 'Political Writings', ed/tr. Reiss,Hans [CUP 1996], p.161
A Reaction
If society is strictly hierarchical (like an army) then the monarch also has all the power. At the other extreme the one holding the highest power may have very little power, because so many others have their share of the power.
| 11388 | Let there be one ruler [Homer] |
| 6320 | The best rulers are invisible, the next admired, the next feared, and the worst are exploited [Laozi (Lao Tzu)] |
| 19964 | The natural power of a father suggests rule by one person, but that authority can be spread [Montesquieu] |
| 21089 | Monarchs have the highest power; autocrats have complete power [Kant] |
| 20936 | Caesarism emerges when two forces in society are paralysed in conflict [Gramsci] |
| 19627 | Opportunists can save a nation, and heroes can ruin it [Cioran] |