What is political philosophy?
Political philosophy thinks carefully about how people should live together. It does not just describe what governments do; it asks what they ought to do.
Key ideas: state (the organisation that makes and enforces laws in a territory), power, authority, legitimacy, justice, liberty, equality, rights, property and community.
Political disagreements are often about values, not facts. Philosophers test arguments with reasons and examples so that we can disagree peacefully.
Why have a state? The social contract
Imagine a state of nature with no government. Because goods are scarce and people desire power and safety, conflicts arise.
- Thomas Hobbes (1651): life would be a war of all against all. People agree to give almost all power to a strong sovereign (the "Leviathan") in exchange for peace.
- John Locke (1689): people have natural rights to life, liberty and property. They set up a limited government to protect these rights. If it abuses power, people may replace it.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1762): citizens together form the general will. A law is legitimate when free and equal citizens give it to themselves.
Other views: Marx saw the state as a tool of the ruling class; anarchists think we can live without a state; Kautilya (Arthashastra) described the state's duty to protect people and keep order through law and wise rule.
Power, authority and legitimacy
Power is the ability to make others do something. Authority is power that people accept as rightful. Legitimacy is that rightfulness.
Max Weber listed three sources of legitimate authority:
- Traditional: "it has always been so" (a king or elder).
- Charismatic: people follow an inspiring leader.
- Legal-rational: rules and elections under a constitution.
Legality vs legitimacy: legal means "allowed by the law in force". Legitimate means "morally rightful". A law can be legal but unjust (for example, past laws that denied some groups the vote). Civil disobedience, like Gandhi's Salt March, broke a law to show that the law itself lacked legitimacy.
The ideal state: Plato, Aristotle and Cicero
Plato (Republic)
An ideal city has three classes: philosopher-rulers (wisdom), guardians (courage) and producers (farmers, traders). Justice is harmony: each class does its own job. Plato distrusted rule by the unwise many.
Aristotle (Politics)
Humans are "political animals": we flourish only in a community. He classified constitutions by who rules (one, few, many) and for whom (common good or selfish interest): monarchy / tyranny, aristocracy / oligarchy, polity / democracy (mob rule). He preferred a mixed polity with a large middle class.
Cicero
The Roman thinker called the republic res publica, "the public thing": a people joined by agreement on law and a shared interest. He praised a mixed constitution (consuls, senate, assemblies) and natural law above human law.
Ideal societies (utopias) from More's Utopia to Confucius's "great harmony" help us criticise our own society, but can be dangerous if forced on people.
Justice: who gets what?
Justice means giving each person what they are due. There are three main principles for sharing goods:
- Equality: everyone gets the same.
- Merit / desert: reward effort and contribution.
- Need: those who need more get more.
John Rawls (1971) asked us to choose rules behind a veil of ignorance, not knowing whether we will be rich or poor, healthy or sick. He argued we would choose: (1) equal basic liberties for all; (2) fair equality of opportunity; (3) inequalities only if they help the worst-off (difference principle).
Ownership: Locke said we own what we mix our labour with; Robert Nozick said any fair exchange is just, so the state should not redistribute. Others argue some goods (water, knowledge, land) should be shared.
Freedom, equality, rights and community
Negative liberty: freedom from interference. Positive liberty: the real ability to shape your life (needs education, health). J.S. Mill's harm principle: the state may limit your freedom only to prevent harm to others.
Republicanism: freedom means not being under anyone's arbitrary power (non-domination), and citizens should take part in public life.
Rights are strong claims every person holds, such as free speech or a fair trial.
Individual and community: liberals start with the free individual; communitarians say we are shaped by family, culture and community. Confucius stressed duties within relationships and rule by virtue; the African idea of Ubuntu says "I am because we are". Living together in diverse societies needs tolerance and dialogue.
Try it
With friends or family, invent rules for sharing one TV or phone. First vote on rules without knowing who will get the first turn (a mini veil of ignorance). Then discuss: what freedom did each person give up? Who decides if someone breaks a rule? Is the rule fair to the youngest?
Key formulas and definitions
- State: an organisation that makes and enforces laws over a people and territory
- Power: ability to make others act; Authority: power accepted as rightful; Legitimacy: that rightfulness
- Social contract: people give up some freedom to a state in return for security and rights
- Aristotle: rulers (one / few / many) × aim (common good / self-interest) = 6 forms
- Justice principles: equality, merit, need; Rawls: veil of ignorance, difference principle
- Negative liberty (freedom from) vs positive liberty (freedom to); harm principle
Worked examples
1. A new rule makes motorcyclists wear helmets. Use Mill's harm principle to discuss it.
Mill allows limits only to stop harm to others. A helmet mostly protects the rider, so a strict Mill follower may call it paternalism. Supporters reply that injuries burden families and public hospitals, so others are harmed too.
2. Compare Hobbes and Locke on what happens if a ruler abuses power.
Hobbes: people should still obey, because any government is better than the war of all against all. Locke: the ruler has broken the contract, so people may resist and replace the government.
3. A military group takes over and passes laws through its own council. Are these laws legal? Legitimate?
They may be legal in the narrow sense that the new rulers enforce them, but they lack legitimacy because the people did not consent and the constitution was broken.
4. Place "rule by a few rich families for their own profit" in Aristotle's scheme.
Few rulers + selfish aim = oligarchy (the corrupt form of aristocracy).
5. Behind the veil of ignorance, why might you choose free public schools?
You might be born poor. Free schools give everyone a fair chance, so a rational person who does not know their position would choose them (fair equality of opportunity).
Common mistakes
- Thinking the social contract was a real signed document. It is a thought experiment to explain why a state can be rightful.
- Using 'power' and 'authority' as the same word. Authority is power that people accept as legitimate.
- Believing legal always means just. Many unjust laws in history were legal.
- Treating Aristotle's 'democracy' as today's democracy. For him it meant rule by the poor many for their own interest.