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Single Idea 23152

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 1. A People / c. A unified people ]

Full Idea

From early days down to modern times war has been the chief engine in enlarging the size of communities, and fear has increasingly replaced tribal solidarity as a source of social cohesion.

Gist of Idea

Increasingly war expands communities, and unifies them through fear

Source

Bertrand Russell (Authority and the Individual [1949], 1)

Book Ref

Russell,Bertrand: 'Authority and the Individual' [Unwin 1977], p.15

A Reaction

It is a feature of modern nationalism to try to generate fear of various outsiders, even in times of peace. Most of us despise such things, but the underlying desire for greater national unity is not unworthy. What enemies would a world state have?

The 37 ideas with the same theme [how many individuals count as a single people]:

22523 The community (of villages) becomes a city when it is totally self-sufficient [Aristotle]
2805 A community must share a common view of good and justice [Aristotle]
22526 People who are anti-social or wholly self-sufficient are no part of a city [Aristotle]
22532 A city can't become entirely one, because its very nature is to be a multitude [Aristotle]
22535 Friendship is the best good for cities, because it reduces factions [Aristotle]
22584 A community should all share to some extent in something like land or food [Aristotle]
23351 We are citizens of the universe, and principal parts of it [Epictetus]
21874 The ideal for human preservation is unanimity among people [Spinoza]
19935 Peoples are created by individuals, not by nature, and only distinguished by language and law [Spinoza]
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]
20501 Rousseau assumes that laws need a people united by custom and tradition [Rousseau, by Wolff,J]
7237 The act of becoming 'a people' is the real foundation of society [Rousseau]
19792 To overcome obstacles, people must unite their forces into a single unified power [Rousseau]
19812 Human nature changes among a people, into a moral and partial existence [Rousseau]
23276 The soul of the people is an organisation of its members which produces an essential unity [Hegel]
22787 The family is the first basis of the state, but estates are a necessary second [Hegel]
20414 Hegel's Absolute Spirit is the union of human rational activity at a moment, and whatever that sustains [Hegel, by Eldridge]
22676 The people are just individuals, and only present themselves as united to foreigners [Tocqueville]
23721 Old tribes always felt an obligation to the earlier generations, and the founders [Nietzsche]
18296 An enduring people needs its own individual values [Nietzsche]
23153 Gradually loyalty to a creed increased, which could even outweigh nationality [Russell]
23152 Increasingly war expands communities, and unifies them through fear [Russell]
23155 In early societies the leaders needed cohesion, but the rest just had to obey [Russell]
23838 The need for order stands above all others, and is understood via the other needs [Weil]
20662 The biology of societies: kin selection, parenting, mating; status, territory, contracts [Wilson,EO]
21936 A community must consist of singular persons, with nothing in common [Derrida, by Glendinning]
21937 Can there be democratic friendship without us all becoming identical? [Derrida, by Glendinning]
21137 Rawls rejected cosmopolitanism because it doesn't respect the autonomy of 'peoples' [Rawls, by Shorten]
20155 Society is alienating if it lacks our values, and its values repel us [Kekes]
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]
20582 World government needs a shared global identity [Oksala]
20564 Anti-colonial movements usually invoke the right of their 'people' to self-determination [Swift]
20663 If a group is bound by gossip, the natural size is 150 people [Harari]
20598 In a democracy, which 'people' are included in the decision process? [Tuckness/Wolf]
20614 People often have greater attachment to ethnic or tribal groups than to the state [Tuckness/Wolf]