Lecture on Demystifying Politics This lecture answers the following questions: 1. What is politics? 2. What is the study of politics?

Politics as freedom (Hannah Arendt) I. What is politics? (a question that only pertains to the concept of politics) -Politics is based on the fact of human plurality. -Politics deals with the coexistence and association of men. -Politics arises between men/outside of men (it is a space) -Politics is not about MAN (Theology and Philosophy are about MAN) -politics is not essential to man -politics is not about MAN II. Prejudice against politics and what in fact, politics is today Our ideas of politics today are often derived from our prejudices. About politics today: -Todays prejudices against politics confuse politics with what would put an end to politics. -There is a HOPE that we could get rid of politics due to the FEAR that politics could destroy the world. 1. World governments would lead to tyranny of a faceless monster 2. Global domination of an active agent would lead to old-fashion tyranny -old prejudices are the same with the new -that power can be possessed/used/seized/controlled. a. Prejudice vs. Judgment -Prejudice is inevitable for it is where we usually derive those thoughts that we use in our daily conversations. -Judgment is an orderly assessment of our thoughts (and actions) by applying standards.

Importance of prejudices and judgments: -prejudices are used in making judgments (genuine prejudices) -prejudices always crumble first when they no longer serve their purpose in this world b. What is the MEANING of politics? -the meaning of politics is freedom -in answering the question about the meaning of politics people of this generation should address first this questiondoes politics still have any meaning at all?

Two factors that make the question (does politics still have any meaning at all?) relevant today: (these two factors reveal the very abomination of the political) 1.totalitarian governments whether politics and FREEDOM are compatible (to further life necessities) (totalitarianism a paradigm of governance that systematically uses a totalized power through a political party, ideology, and/or terror or fear.) 2.Weapons of mass destruction whether politics and LIFE are compatible (to further freedom) (WMD a military invention that seeks to maximize the use of force in killing humans). *WMD renders politics an impossibility. -for it eradicates the very thing that it wants to serve LIFE (freedom) A solution is a miracle (a supernatural tendency) -miracle can be reduced to human reality by seeing every variable of existence as a sort of infinite improbability (limitless tendency to be unlikely to be) uncertainty of reality. -new beginning is always an interruption to something that is already in place. What is reality in relation to miracle? 1. The world -history tells that mans normal course of things or reality is determined by same impulse of infinite improbability vis--vis extant web of earthly conditions (natural development of the world + infinite improbability) no pattern to pre-determine the eventualities. 2.human affairs -history also informs us that the processes in human affairs are those sequences or patterns of events whose structure is so frequently interspersed with infinite improbabilities (human initiatives + new initiatives) ACTION as a miracle to begin something new or to initiate a new beginning. FREEDOM AS SPONTANEITY has been forgotten because of the notion of freedom of the will. - this notion was lost because of the mans decision to detach himself to action. c. The Meaning of politics What happened to the meaning of politics? a. Greek Tradition of Politics -Politics is only for the Greeks (a communal life found only in Greece) -Politics is freedom (but negative freedom not subject to someone elses domination) -being free and being in the polis were one and the same (pp.116) -to be free therefore was seen as to leisure (to do anything not related to life necessities)

-liberation as an end Politics therefore was seen as end! -Politics was spatial construct (through the Agora) -The space was destroyed with the rise of the tyrants (404 BC) -Modern era misappropriated the concept of freedom -claims of totalitarianism that freedom can be sacrificed to historical development -ideologies views freedom as a river flowing freely -political events became historical facts b. Homeric accounts Homer educator of Greece/idea of politics - Iliad (800 BC) description of mans tendency of adventure and enterprise (during the 1200 BC Greece) - each character symbolizes the necessary and inherent conditions of our human reality (i.e., divine and human qualities) -source of the idea of the polis (sanctuary of freemen) -articulated the relevance of action/speech (through freedom of thoughts?) -freedom of movement (engaging in war, etc.) -Greek experience of travel (leaving the Greek Archipelago and sailing the Aegean Sea) -free speech (talking, speaking, etc.) -initial tendency in a communicative interaction -it was born due to the interaction of various Greek communities -freedom of opinion (dialogue) -implies the rights to hear and to be heard -the logical consequence of the interaction -freedom as action -the result of the transformation of freedom of opinion to freedom that has the tendency to begin something new -freedom and the world are the true reality of the living. -action and speech are one and the same. freedom (politics) and our world? 1. First betrayal Retreat of the Philosophers -academic freedom -speaks about the creation of the academy and the celebration of the separation of the few from the many (philosophers). -politics now becomes a means/necessity for the preservation and protection of freedom. -created the academy based on academic excellence 2. Second betrayal Christianitys Rejection of Politics -religious freedom -speaks of the expansion of the space of politics Duality of humanity: -public space -personal

-the Church became the guiding light of the Christian world 3. Todays betrayal Secularisms redefinition of politics -advancement of secularism freedom that is related to liberty (individualism) -the birth of the secular/republican state (for the protection of freedom) Two faces of modern politics: a.foreign policy b.domestic politics -life and freedom become a contradiction. -War became the instrument (a means) of modern politics. -the use of force and power was the best option for the modern state. -Force as an option and politics as a solution. -real problem of today speaks of the problem of categories a.means b.end -war/weapon of mass destruction as the means d. The question of war What is at stake? a. murder of the people b. murder of the world -war of annihilation, as it is used today, always has the tendency to the END of all things. e. Does politics still have any meaning all? -the age of war/revolution has rendered politics to be meaningless/pointless. -SOLUTION: Differentiate the ends, goals and meaning. Elements of political action: a. Meaning is always present/contained within the object itself as long as that object exists. b. End begins when the condition that produces it has already concluded c. Goals set the standards by which everything that is done is judged or conditioned. d. Principle of Action source of action -politics today is judged (goals) according to life necessities or expediency. a.this tells us that there is something that is non-political outside politics b.this tells us that politics will cease once that non-political exists. c.brute force is always used to accelerate the process between politics (means) and the non-political (end). -When it comes to does politics still have a meaning at all? question what resonate are the following questions: a. Does politics even have any purpose, any END, at all?

b. Within the political realm, are there any GOALS at all by which we might reliably orient? c. Does not every political ACTION cease to bother with goals and standards and instead follow the course that is inherent in it? d. Is it not typical in our time that political action are becoming devoid of all principles? e. is action an absurdity nowadays? -Hope for politics -acceptance that action should have no end and no goal -the goals should always use PEACE as a standard. -the goals must negate the end by going back to the source of goals (prejudice) Paradox of the concept of Politics (Andrew Heywood) The protean concept of politics comes from its inherent hollowness. Two contradicting statements I. Politics as a multifaceted concept (four views of politics) 1. Politics as an arena a. As the art of government (i.e., Greek concept polis) -pertains to the participation of the people in the government -excludes the nonpolitical -antagonizes the practice of the political (prevalence of conflict) b. As public affairs -introduces a more inclusive definition that recognizes the nonpolitical -presupposes the existence of a civic community (church and civil society) -emphasizes the participation of other groups (i.e., clubs, associations, etc.) 2. Politics as a process a. As compromise and consensus -implies the inevitability of conflict in the society -highlights the processes of compromise, conciliation, and negotiation in managing conflict b. As power -presumes the omnipresence of politics -uses the concept of power or the ability to achieve a desired goal -includes scarcity in the conflict-society formula. -incorporates the personal to the debate between and among the first three concepts of politics II. Politics as a concept devoid of any meaning. Politics as a social construct (four historical periods that affected the four views of politics) - Western antiquity

- Medieval era - Modernity - Post-Modernity III. Points of Divergence in the Concept of Politics On the level of abstraction a. Ontology a level of inquiry that talks about the essential meaning or nature of reality. In relation to the concept of politics, it usually asks the question What is the meaning or nature of Politics? Possible answers to these questions always revolve around these two ontological realms: Spatial realm: universal vs. particular Temporal realm: infinite vs. finite b. Epistemology a level of inquiry that touches on the knowledge of reality. Again, in connection with the concept of politics, this level of abstraction is known to pose the question What is the nature of knowledge of politics? Possible answers to these questions always concern these two epistemological orientations: a priori (prior to) or preconditioned knowledge knowledge that is outside experience. a. Prescriptive knowledge is essentialized or is a product philosophical investigation or understanding. a posteriori (posterior to) or conditioned knowledge knowledge that is dependent upon experience. a. Descriptive knowledge is experienced or is a product of sensual investigation or understanding. b. Explanatory knowledge that can be falsified or tested or is a product of scientific examination. c. Interpretative/Constructive knowledge is relativized or particular or is a product of a specific phenomenon. On the Study of Politics (Shapiro) Endless search for truth of politics (understanding politics).

Debate in the Philosophy of Social Sciences study of politics is marred with controversies and contestations On the level of abstraction (see the discussion above) a. ontology b. epistemology c. methodology Four Traditions in the study of politics: Normative Tradition -tries to understand politics through philosophical lens idealized truth - searches for the essential nature and the end of politics -poses normative questions that pertain to structure, system and outcome of the state, society, etc -what should or must be the ________ of the state or government? -prescribes and makes judgments - Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, OP, Thomas Hobbes, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, etc. ONTOLOGY: Particular (politics happens only in a specific place i.e., inside the government or the state) & finite (politics happens only in a specific time moments when the government or the state does something) EPISTEMOLOGY: Prescriptive APPROACH: Normative Theory, Political Philosophy, Political Theory METHOD: Internal consistency, social science disciplines, deductive Empirical Tradition -is an attempt to objectify the inquiry on politics - seeks to offer an objective description of politics -describes politics through empirical means Empiricism is the belief that experience is the only basis of knowledge acquiring knowledge therefore should be based upon careful observation. -descriptive political science seeks to answer descriptive questions (what is? How does?) - Aristotle, Machiavelli and Montesquieu, etc. ONTOLOGY: Universal (politics happens anywhere because the reality of politics is experiential) & Infinite (politics happens anytime because politics always speaks of anything that can be experienced) EPISTEMOLOGY: Descriptive (The truth about politics, as an experienced phenomenon, can be determined through the description of our experience of its happening). APPROACH: All except normative theory METHOD: Descriptive-Inductive, Formal-Legal, and Historical-Comparative Scientific Tradition - is an attempt to further objectify the inquiry on politics - seeks to offer a more objective description by explaining politics - aims to understand politics using scientific methods

-Science is the systematic study of a thing or idea, etc. testing verifiable data though observation and experimentation. - Scientism believes that knowledge comes not just from experience and experiment but also from testable investigation element of falsifiability (ability to test the validity of knowledge through a series of conjectures and refutations [in the words of Karl Popper] of various conditions or variables in arriving at a specific outcome or explanation) -logical empiricism (a more rigid and stricter version of empiricism) -objectifies the conceptualization of politics by posing explanatory questions (why does?) ONTOLOGY: Universal (see empiricism + element of validation through scientific investigation) & Infinite (see empiricism + element of validation through scientific investigation) EPISTEMOLOGY: Explanatory (In addition to the description of our experience of the reality, the truth about politics, according to this view, can be determined through a series of tests to validate the knowledge of politics). APPROACH: Behavioral, Rational Choice Theory METHOD: Predictive-Inductive, Causal, Post-Modern - is an attempt to problematize the reality of politics - provides a more objective way of understanding politics by interrogating the bases of knowledge -Post-modernism believes in the knowledge that is based from the traditions silenced by modernity or that are at the periphery of our understanding element of novelty - seeks to debunk or provide novel understanding of politics by posing deconstructive questions (why ask? Whose standards are we using? Etc.) ONTOLOGY: Particular (Politics is relative in space) & Finite (Politics is relative in time) EPISTERMOLOGY: Interpretative, Constructive (By being critical of the universalistic claim of Empiricism and Scientism, Post-modernism describes and explains politics through a relativized investigation of the reality of politics by interpreting its specific happening) APPROACH: Discourse Analysis, Feminism, Critical Theory, Post-Structuralism METHOD: Constructivist, Relativist