History of Western Political Thought (Ch.1: Politics and Order)

History of Western Political Thought: A Thematic Introduction

No political thinkers can do without talking about order, for it is one of the main purposes for any political activities to bring order among individuals in society. But when it comes to a question why we need order in the first place, how to answer it can vary among thinkers.

The first chapter of John Morrow’s book on the history of Western political thought (pp.19-49) addresses this topic and gives a useful map of theoretical relationships among thinkers across time.

Morrow’s basic argument is this. In the history of Western political thought, there have been two major ideas about political order (notably the order constructed by the state). One is a ‘negative’ notion of order which treats political order as a means of repressing wrong-doing of individuals. This notion is supported by such thinkers as Augustine, Luther, Hobbes, Carlyle and Maurras. The other is a ‘positive’ notion, supported by Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Rousseau, Hegel and T.H. Green. They see political order as a means of enabling individuals to establish cooperative relationships in which they could pursue fundamental values such as the common good.

The difference between these two seems to derive from their opposing ideas about human nature. The negative notion has an affinity with the view that human beings are innately egoistic, cunning and uncooperative and so unable to establish security without political authority based on fear and force. The positive notion, on the other hand, sees human beings are essentially social and caring beings and so have an ability to make cooperative lives. Political order, based on law and force, is where individuals can develop their valuable lives through participation.

These mutually conflicting rationales for political order seem to have kept conditioning people’s way of thinking to a considerable extent up to now. Why it is hard to draw a conclusion is because it is extremely difficult to empirically clarify the universal nature of human beings, due to the ‘reflexive’(Giddens) relationship between individuals and political order: a certain form of order influences behaviors of members, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the more empirical observations accumulate, the more resources political theorists are able to use and so approach the truth. Political order and human nature is thus one of the main topics on which political theorists and empirical scientists (political scientists, economists, sociologists and psychologists) can and should work together fruitfully.