Branch of philosophy that studies the nature of social organization and the proper functions of government


Political philosophy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Political philosophy is the study of the fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, property, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should take and why, what the law is, and what duties citizens owe to a legitimate government, if any, and when it may be legitimately overthrown - if ever. ..."


Political Science, by Sheldon Richman, 18 May 2007
Reviews Frank Van Dun's 1986 paper titled "Economics and the Limits of Value-Free Science" and its implications for making an objective case for ethics, freedom and private property
"This brings us to political theory and the objective case for freedom. ... This has serious implications at the social and political level ... a truth seeker cannot advocate any political system that imposes limits on peaceful action and thought -- that is, which sanctions the initiation of force -- without implicitly contradicting herself."
Related Topics: Ethics, Private Property
Epistemology and Politics: Ayn Rand's Cultural Commentary, by David Kelley, Navigator, Dec 2004
Discusses Rand's 1960 essay "Faith and Force: The Destroyers of the Modern World" and the continued currency of her writings
"The moral code of altruism also pushes a society toward collectivism. If self-sacrifice is an ideal—if service to others is the highest, most honorable course of action—why not force people to act accordingly? ... In the United States, the impact of altruism is blunted by the spirit of individualism and by a political system based on individual rights; nevertheless, appeals to sacrifice and service are the primary cultural cause for the growth of government, especially the welfare state."
Related Topics: Epistemology, Capitalism, Ayn Rand
Murray Rothbard's Philosophy of Freedom, by David Gordon, The Freeman, Nov 2007
Examines the arguments made by Rothbard from the premise that slavery is wrong, self-ownership, private property rights and a free market without government interventions follows
"'[A] truly free market, a truly libertarian society devoted to justice and property rights, can only be established there [in the underdeveloped world] by ending unjust feudal claims to property. But utilitarian economists, grounded on no ethical theory of property rights, can only fall back on defending whatever status quo happens to exist,' Rothbard writes in Ethics of Liberty. Rothbard's book is in one sense mistitled. He sharply distinguishes political philosophy from ethics as a whole, and his book is addressed only to the former topic."
"In his abstract, universal reasoning, his development of a true political philosophy, and his frequent references to classical antiquity, La Boétie followed the method of Renaissance writers, notably Niccolò Machiavelli. ... La Boétie cuts to the heart of what is, or rather should be, the central problem of political philosophy: the mystery of civil obedience. Why do people, in all times and places, obey the commands of the government, which always constitutes a small minority of the society?"


Essays in Religion, Politics, and Morality: (Selected Writings of Lord Acton)
    by John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, 1988


An Introduction To Philosophy Part 6: Politics 2, by Stefan Molyneux, Freedomain Radio, 8 Sep 2006

Introduction To Philosophy 6: Politics 3, by Stefan Molyneux, Freedomain Radio, 11 Sep 2006

Intro To Philosophy 6: Politics 1, by Stefan Molyneux, Freedomain Radio, 8 Sep 2006