Philosophic Roots of Modern Ideology, The: Liberalism, Communism, Fascism, Islamism

by Ingersoll, David E.; Matthews, Richard K.; Davison, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780131090750
• ISBN10: 0131090755
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Pearson College Div

Summary

A collection of philosophically oriented essays on the three main political ideologies of liberalism, communism, and fascism, this book provides an overview for readers who have little or no knowledge of the basic political idea systems of modern times. It offers analyses of some of the major political thinkers of the modern age: Hobbes, Locke, Burke, Jefferson, Madison, Rousseau, Marx, Lenin, Gorbachev, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Hitler, Mussolini, Khomeni, and more. For anyone who wants a better understanding of the conflicts and actions of groups and individuals who see the world through different ideological lenses.

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
The Origins of Political Ideologies	1	(20)
The Cave: The Illusion and the Reality of Education	2	(7)
What Is Ideology?	4	(1)
Ideology's Distinguishing Features	5	(4)
Mass Movements	9	(11)
Leadership Roles	11	(1)
Why Study Ideologies?	11	(5)
The Competition for Hearts and Minds	16	(1)
Why Unpopular Ideas?	17	(1)
Mill on Toleration	18	(1)
Become a ``True Believer''	19	(1)
Suggested Readings	20	(1)
Individualistic (Market) Liberalism	21	(27)
Preliberal Society and the Rise of Liberalism in Religion and Science	22	(16)
Luther, Bacon, and Descartes	25	(2)
Individualistic Roots of Liberalism	27	(5)
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke	32	(6)
Hobbes and Locke Reconsidered	38	(2)
Self-Interest Motivation	39	(1)
Liberalism Becomes Liberal Democracy	40	(7)
Conservatism	42	(5)
Suggested Readings	47	(1)
Liberalism in the United States	48	(39)
The American Context: ``Born Equal''	49	(3)
Participation: A Basic Value	51	(1)
James Madison and the Constitution of 1787	52	(5)
Madison's View of Humanity	54	(1)
The Problem of Factions	55	(2)
Madisonian Politics: Ambition Counteracting Ambition	57	(8)
Restraints on Majority Tyranny	58	(2)
Control Through Representation	60	(2)
Control Through Institutions	62	(1)
Other Devices of Control	63	(2)
Madison's Remedy: Liberal or Liberal Democratic?	65	(5)
Criticisms of Madison's System	66	(1)
Madison's View of Suffrage	67	(3)
The Rise of the Imperial Presidency	70	(1)
The Rise of Majoritarian Liberalism	70	(4)
Avoiding Instability and Revolution	71	(2)
Majoritarianism in the British Tradition	73	(1)
Majoritarian Liberal Democracy in America	74	(3)
The Tension Between Liberty and Equality	75	(2)
Elite Theory in Modern Liberal Thought	77	(7)
Power-Elite Analysis	79	(2)
Normative Democratic Elitism	81	(2)
The ``Irony of Democracy''	83	(1)
John Rawls: A Contract for Justice	84	(2)
Suggested Readings	86	(1)
Liberalism: Alternative Visions	87	(26)
Rousseau's State of Nature	88	(8)
The Social Contract	92	(4)
Jefferson's Self-Evident Truths	96	(10)
Jeffersonian Government	97	(3)
Property: Economic and Political Freedom	100	(1)
Happiness: The Ultimate Good	101	(1)
Jefferson's View of Humanity	102	(2)
Jeffersonian Politics	104	(2)
John Dewey and the Liberal Tradition	106	(5)
Economics and the Common Man	110	(1)
Final Thoughts on Liberal Democracy	111	(1)
Suggested Readings	112	(1)
Marxism	113	(30)
Marx's Life	114	(4)
Marx's Writing and the ``Real'' Marx	117	(1)
Hegel's Philosophy and Politics	118	(6)
Transforming Logic	120	(1)
Hegel on Labor	121	(2)
Hegel's Political Theory	123	(1)
Critics of Hegel: Feuerbach and Marx	124	(6)
Marx on the Human Condition	125	(5)
History and the Development of Capitalism	130	(5)
The Progress of Humanity	133	(1)
Marx's View of the Bourgeois Class	134	(1)
The Capitalist Economic System: Its Decline and Fall	135	(7)
The Surplus Value of Labor	137	(1)
Increasing Profits at Worker Expense	137	(2)
Beyond Capitalism	139	(3)
Suggested Readings	142	(1)
Marxism and Leninism	143	(20)
The Divisions within Marxism---Peaceful or Violent Revolution?	144	(4)
Marxism of the Center	145	(1)
Marxism of the Right	146	(1)
Marxism of the Left	147	(1)
The Readiness of the Proletariat	147	(1)
Twentieth-Century Russia	148	(1)
Lenin's Life	149	(3)
Lenin's Years in Exile	150	(2)
Three Themes from Leninism	152	(3)
Revolutionary Leadership and the Party	152	(2)
The Doctrine of Permanent Revolution	154	(1)
The State and Revolution	155	(4)
Dictatorship of the Proletariat	156	(3)
The Theory of Imperialism	159	(3)
Wars of National Liberation	161	(1)
Suggested Readings	162	(1)
Marxian Praxis: The Soviet Experiment	163	(26)
Stalin's Rise to Power	164	(5)
Stalin's Life	166	(1)
Lenin's Distrust of Stalin	167	(2)
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism	169	(4)
The World's First Totalitarian State	170	(1)
Interests of the Soviet State Come First	171	(1)
The Problems of Directing World Revolution	172	(1)
Soviet Marxism After Stalin	173	(6)
Denunciation of Stalin	175	(1)
Changes in the International Movement	176	(2)
The Doctrine of Peaceful Coexistence	178	(1)
Perestroika	179	(8)
Boris Yeltsin and Post-Soviet Marxism	185	(2)
Suggested Readings	187	(2)
Chinese Praxis: The Political Thought of Mao Zedong	189	(22)
Chinese Marxism	190	(5)
The Life of Mao Zedong	191	(1)
Imperialism and Mao's Rural Strategy	192	(3)
China's Path to Socialism	195	(3)
Mao on Contradiction	196	(2)
The PRC and the USSR	198	(3)
Revisionists and ``Paper Tigers''	200	(1)
Mao Zedong as a Symbol	201	(2)
China After Mao	203	(7)
The Rise of Deng Xiaoping	204	(3)
The Fall of Deng Xiaoping	207	(1)
Concluding Thoughts	208	(2)
Suggested Readings	210	(1)
Fascism	211	(20)
Evolution of the Doctrine	215	(2)
Benito Mussoline	215	(2)
Characteristics of Fascism: The Nation-State, Anti-Liberalism, Anti-Bolshevism, Corporativism	217	(7)
The Nation-State	218	(1)
Anti-Liberalism	219	(2)
Anti-Bolshevism	221	(1)
Corporativism	222	(2)
National Goals, Elitism, and Leadership	224	(6)
Fascism and Race	227	(1)
Fascist Traits	228	(2)
Suggested Readings	230	(1)
National Socialism	231	(19)
German Romanticism	232	(4)
Emotionalism versus Rationalism	234	(2)
Racism	236	(5)
Influence of Richard Wagner	237	(1)
Emphasis on Aryan Leadership	238	(2)
The Struggle Between Aryans and Jews	240	(1)
Adolf Hitler: Race, Leadership, and the National-Socialist State	241	(7)
Mystical Exchange of Spiritual Energy	244	(1)
Use of Propaganda	245	(1)
Racist Internationalism	246	(2)
Suggested Readings	248	(2)
Theopolitics and Islamism	250	(39)
The Islamic Revival	251	(33)
The Abrahamic Monotheistic Background	253	(4)
Basic Beliefs and Values of Islam	257	(2)
Politics and Struggle(Jihad) in Early Islam	259	(2)
Leadership and Authority after Muhammad	261	(2)
The Growth of Islam	263	(3)
Theopolitics and Modern Ideology	266	(2)
Reasons for Islamist Resurgence	268	(7)
Puritanical and Reformist Tendencies	275	(4)
Revolutionary, Participatory, and Socialization Strategies	279	(5)
Comparative Ideological Reflections and the Question of Islamic ``Totality''	284	(3)
Suggested Readings	287	(2)
Ideological Conflict in the Twenty-First Century	289	(12)
Some Thouthts Reconsidered: Liberalism's Challenge	291	(3)
Competing Ideological Claims	293	(1)
Shadows of Things That Will (or Could) Be: Some Final Thoughts	294	(5)
Suggested Readings	299	(2)
Index	301

Excerpts

Preface It has been less than a decade since publication of the earlier, second edition ofPhilosophic Roots of Modern Ideology.During that brief time, dramatic changes--some unforeseeable--have occurred and significantly altered our world. Among the most significant events was the surprising and rapid collapse of the Soviet Union, bringing to a conclusion, at least for the time being, this particular experiment in building a socialist state. When that superpower disintegrated, so too did the "Cold War" between the Soviet Union (cumRussia) and the United States, leading some political thinkers to assumePax Americanawould soon become the global reality or that we were witnessing the end of ideology itself. This, however, has yet to happen. Military actions around the world--from the Middle East to Somalia, from East Timor to Yugoslavia, to name just a few-show that global peace under American hegemony remains elusory. Moreover, the recent detonation of nuclear devices in India and in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan call further into question just how stable the world is, even with only one superpower. Influential analysts suggest that with the Cold War now over we have entered an age characterized by a clash of civilizations. Others suggest fundamental and irreconcilable conflicts exist among the forces of the global free market, those of ethnonational tribalism, and those of democracy. Meanwhile, the People's Republic of China, the other great experiment in building socialism, found itself simultaneously enjoying the fiftieth anniversary of its founding while trying to learn to plot a course for itself without the presence of a helmsmen who can trace his roots back to its revolution. With the death of Deng Xiaoping, the last of China's celebrated founding generation, its new leaders must define China's place in a global economy where China is not only the most powerful communist nation but also seen by capitalists as an extraordinary market for future investment. The fall of the USSR led to events that poignantly illustrate the fragility of the absolute sovereignty of states. Governments appear to be threatened on two fronts: the political and the economic. For the first time in modern history, in 1999 the sovereign right of a nation to govern itself was challenged as NATO, acting on behalf of other powerful states, elected to force its policies on Yugoslavia. Regardless of one's views on the appropriateness of NATO's actions, there is no doubt that this event will have enormous consequences for the very concept of state sovereignty. In a less dramatic fashion, the European Union can tell its member nations what are acceptable social policies; and the United Nations, through sanctions and military actions, can try to force its mandate on any nation it perceives as a threat to world security. In a less obvious, but perhaps more effective manner, huge transnational corporations have been created; some have more money, power, and influence than many of the smaller nations, calling into question the ability of states to control individual economic entities. Who knows, perhaps like the city-state that preceded it, the nation-state may be in the process of undergoing profound changes that may lead to its transformation into a new form of political organization. Finally, the world has witnessed the emergence of politically significant religious movements. The deadly actions of the Aum Shinrikyo in Japan and Heaven's Gate in California signify the provocative character of the smaller movements. On the larger scale, the resurgence of mass-based religiopolitics has played an increasingly visible role in the West, most obviously seen in the Christian Coalition's influence on American politics. It is also profoundly visible in the modern states of the Muslim world, where Islamists argue that God's way is the only way to social justice and they challenge