The Essential Stankiewicz: On the Importance of Political Theory

by Stankiewicz, W. J.

• ISBN13: 9780921870845
• ISBN10: 0921870841
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-01
• Publisher: Litdistco

Summary

This book gathers together a selection of the core materials from a lifetime of writing by one of the more eminent political philosophers of our time. Written in lucid prose, this volume can be appreciated by both the professional political scientist and the educated layman. The selections are arranged under (a) values such as liberty, equality, tolerance, justice, the common good; (b) concepts such as authority, sovereignty, the social contract and natural law; and (c) major political ideologies. The result is an extended commentary on today's crucial issues: social change, violence, coercion and political participation. For Stankiewicz, the main concern of political theory is to "establish principles relevant to the public good and to uphold the tradition of the public philosophy of civility". His writings show a remarkable assimilation of the classical body of political theory -- from Plato to Dewey -- the recognition of its tradition and beauty and of its historic role in human affairs. His neo-classical philosophy combats the ills of our society emanating from hedonistic liberalism, such as the pursuit of group rights, anti-authority stances, identity politics and the irrationalism of present-day political correctness. The volume contains numerous examples of his 'crossing swords' with thinkers of various persuasions, such as Leszek Kolakowski, C.B. Macpherson and Jacques Maritain.

Table of Contents

Introductory	xvii
Preamble	xix
What is Political Theory?	xix
Why Political Theory Matters	xxi
Political Theory in an Age of Directionless Change	xxi
The Central Role of Contractualism	xxiii
Why Bother About Political Theory?	xxiv
The Impact of Linguistic Philosophy	xxviii
Political Theory and Science	xxxi
Behaviourism, Behaviouralism and Post-Behaviouralism	xxxxii
Is `Communitarianism' a Theory?	xxxv
An Argument for the Ontological Imperative	xxxvii
I. PRIMARY VALUES	1	(76)
The Common Good	2	(9)
The Common Good in Our Time	2	(9)
The Common Good and Relativism	2	(5)
Simon's Theory in Our Time	7	(4)
Freedom	11	(31)
Freedom: Conservative, Liberal & Socialist Views	11	(12)
Antinomian Liberalism and `Compulsory Rational Freedom'	11	(6)
Freedom and the Rule of Law	17	(3)
Ends and Means: Socialist Equality and Democratic Freedom	20	(3)
Freedom as Distinct from Liberty	23	(19)
A Note on the Tabulation of Freedom and Liberty	23	(2)
Liberty	25	(1)
Defining Liberty in an Ideological Context	25	(5)
Political Theory and Metaphysics: Freedom and Liberty as Distinctive Issues	30	(5)
Liberty as Independence	35	(2)
Property and Freedom	37	(5)
Equality	42	(15)
Equality: Conservative, Liberal and Socialist Views	42	(9)
Equality, Property and Welfare	42	(5)
Socialism and Relativism	47	(4)
Equality of Opportunity as Justice	51	(6)
Equality of Opportunity: Further Reservations	54	(3)
Justice	57	(8)
Distributive Justice	57	(8)
Distributive Justice as a Liberal Principle	57	(3)
Distributive Justice and the Liberal Tradition of a Minimal State	60	(5)
Tolerance	65	(12)
Tolerance Under a Democratic System of Values	65	(12)
Can Democratic Theory be Absolute?	68	(2)
`Repressive Tolerance'	70	(4)
Can Tolerance be Subversive?	74	(3)
II. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES	77	(72)
The Concept of Ideology	79	(7)
Ideology and Action	82	(1)
Functional and Non-Functional Definitions of Ideology	83	(3)
Conservatism	86	(12)
From a Pragmatic to a Principle-Oriented Government	86	(3)
Authority, Progress and the Return to First Principles	89	(2)
Conservatism and Man's Inner Life	91	(4)
The Dilemma of Conservatism	95	(3)
Liberalism	98	(18)
Authority, Authoritarianism and Scepticism	98	(7)
J.S. Mill's Scepticism	102	(3)
Modus Vivendi Ethics	105	(2)
The Millian Legacy	107	(5)
The Contract as Stage	110	(2)
The Millian Tradition and Modern Liberalism	112	(4)
Power to Relativism	113	(3)
Socialism	116	(11)
What is Socialism?	116	(4)
Socialism and Determinism	120	(2)
Socialism and the Modern Welfare State	122	(5)
Marxist Communism	127	(11)
The Consequences of Communist Ideology	127	(3)
Empiricist Perception of Ideological Instrumentalism	130	(1)
Totalist Conception of the Good	131	(3)
Communism: The Highest Stage of Totalitarianism	134	(4)
The Western Mind and Ideology	138	(11)
Philosophical Heritage: The Elimination of `Mind' and `Order'	138	(3)
Ideology and Hypocrisy	141	(4)
The Consequences of Incomprehension	145	(4)
III. DEMOCRACY & DEMOCRATIC THEORY	149	(110)
Democracy & Relativism	151	(12)
Relativism, Egalitarianism and the Justification of Democracy	156	(3)
The Relevance of Democratic Theory to Democracy	159	(4)
The Electoral System as a Democratic Norm	163	(14)
Electoral Systems and M.B. Mayo's Justification of Democracy	164	(3)
Electoral System as a Norm	167	(5)
Theory as a Justification of Practice	172	(5)
Rights	177	(3)
Human Rights and Liberal Rights	177	(3)
The Burkean Legacy	180	(13)
Radicalizing Burke's Conservatism	180	(4)
The Conservative View of `Rights'	184	(2)
Burke: Freedom, Rights and Liberal Romanticism	186	(7)
The Rule of Law	193	(6)
Erosion of the Rule of Law	193	(6)
Property	199	(12)
Property, Equality and Freedom	199	(1)
Macpherson's Protective Model of Democracy	200	(3)
Is Property a Norm?	203	(8)
`Participation' in Democratic Theory	211	(21)
Participation and Democratization	213	(1)
The Illusion of Participation	214	(2)
Participation and Radicalization	216	(2)
Participatory Democracy and Citizenship	218	(4)
Participation and Human Nature	222	(2)
Social Contract and Participation	224	(5)
Participation and Relativism	229	(3)
Violence and Democratic Theory	232	(10)
Frontiers of Democratic Theory	242	(8)
Can Democratic Theory Re-Order Society?	246	(4)
Teleology & Democratic Theory	250	(9)
IV. POLITICAL THEORY	259	(152)
Sovereignty & Authority	261	(23)
The Crisis of Authority	261	(7)
Authority, Freedom and Rule-Governed Activities	268	(5)
Authority and Political Obligation	273	(2)
Sovereign Authority and Sovereign Law	275	(5)
Is `Authority' a Substitute for `Sovereignty'?	280	(4)
Sovereignty in Political Theory	284	(28)
The Nature of Sovereignty	284	(6)
A Re-Wording of the Classical Definition of Sovereignty	290	(2)
The Significance of Sovereignty	292	(2)
Sovereignty and the Public Interest	294	(3)
Sovereignty as a Tool of Analysis	297	(5)
Legitimacy and Sovereignty	302	(4)
Sovereignty as a Datum in International Relations	306	(4)
The Exercise of Sovereignty and Relativism	310	(2)
Is the Social Contract Obsolete?	312	(19)
Individualist Values v. Social Order	313	(4)
Individualism, the Social Contract and Constitutionalism	317	(3)
Contractualism v. Relativism and Individualism v. Egalitarianism	320	(4)
Obligation and Consent in the Social Contract	324	(2)
Contractual and Representative Views of Government and the `Prisoner's Dilemma'	326	(3)
Uses of the `Prisoner's Dilemma'	329	(2)
Natural Law	331	(18)
`A Peculiar Tone of Horror'	331	(3)
The Persistence of Natural Law	334	(1)
Relativism, Reason and Natural Law	335	(3)
`Relative' Natural Law	338	(2)
Who Shall Determine Natural Law and How?	340	(5)
Positive and Natural Law and Ideology	345	(4)
Relativism in Political Theory	349	(6)
The Problem of Unconscious Relativism in Political Theory	349	(2)
The Impact of Relativism	351	(4)
The Essence of Modern Relativism	355	(16)
Relativism and the Springs of Action: Norms as Tools of Analysis	357	(2)
Relativism as a Methodology	359	(3)
Relativity and Relativism	362	(2)
Relativism and Political Science	364	(1)
Relativism and the Hierarchy of Values	365	(6)
The Consequences of Scientism	371	(15)
Is an `Empirically-Based Theory' Possible?	374	(7)
Computer-Made Theory, Experimental Ideologies and `Instant' Systems	381	(1)
Can Philosophy and Science be Reconciled?	382	(4)
What is Behaviouralism?	386	(3)
The Consequences of Behaviouralism	389	(12)
Is Post-Behaviouralism Possible?	392	(2)
Normativism, Relevance and Rationalism	394	(4)
Post-Script: Spragens's Postbehavioural Dilemma	398	(3)
Biosociology	401	(10)
Behaviouralism, Biosociology and the Perils of Biobehaviouralism	401	(10)
V. VARIA	411	(32)
Canada-U.S. Relations	413	(12)
Gnomics -- Introduction to Aphoristic Jottings	425	(12)
Graffiti and Slogans of the Velvet Revolution: Prague 1989	437	(6)
VI. CROSSING SWORDS	443	(34)
... with Leszek Kolakowski	445	(4)
Kolakowski's View of Three Persuasions	445	(4)
... with Jacques Maritain	449	(5)
Moralist Objections of Jacques Maritain: Absolutism and the Value-Order	449	(1)
The Essence of Sovereignty	449	(1)
The Right to Self-Government and the Social Contract	450	(1)
The Missing Relation Between Power, Obligation, and Social Order	451	(1)
Adherence to a Value-Order Does Not Limit Sovereignty	452	(2)
... with Karl W. Deutsch	454	(3)
Sovereignty and Cybernetics: Karl W. Deutsch's Analogy Between the Sovereign and the Brain	454	(3)
... with C.B. Macpherson	457	(6)
Macpherson's Deterministic Relativism	457	(6)
... with Proponents of Nuclear Disarmament	463	(14)
Debating with Tigers: the Morality of Unilateral Disarmament	463	(14)
VII. SELECTED APHORISMS	477	(30)
Relativism	479	(4)
Relativism & Democracy	483	(2)
Relativistic Liberalism	485	(3)
Democratic Vocabulary	488	(5)
Communism	493	(8)
What is Post-Totalitarianism?	501	(4)
Political Correctness	505	(2)
VIII. DEFINITIONS & NEOLOGISMS	507	(6)
Sovereignty, Nationalism, Ideology, Gnomics	509	(1)
Ideology or `Polisology'	510	(3)
Afterthought	513	(2)
Bibliography of Original Sources	515	(2)
About the Author	517	(4)
Index	521