Trump and Political Philosophy

Beschreibung

This book aims to recover from ancient and modern thinkers valuable arguments about statesmanship, leadership, and tyranny which illuminate reassessments of political science and practice after the election of Donald Trump. Like almost everyone else, contemporary political scientists were blind-sided by the rise of Trump. No one expected a candidate to win who repeatedly violated both political norms and the conventional wisdom about campaign best practices. Yet many of the puzzles that Trump’s rise presents have been examined by the great political philosophers of the past. For example, it would come as no surprise to Plato that by its very emphasis on popularity, democracy creates the potential for tyranny via demagoguery. And, perhaps no problem is more alien to empirical political science than asking if statesmanship entails virtue or if so, in what that virtue consists: This is a theme treated by Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli, among others. Covering a range of thinkers such as Confucius, Plutarch, Kant, Tocqueville, and Deleuze, the essays in this book then seek to place the rise of Trump and the nature of his political authority within a broader institutional context than is possible for mainstream political science.
This book aims to recover from ancient and modern thinkers valuable arguments about statesmanship, leadership, and tyranny which illuminate reassessments of political science and practice after the election of Donald Trump. Like almost everyone else, contemporary political scientists were blind-sided by the rise of Trump. No one expected a candidate to win who repeatedly violated both political norms and the conventional wisdom about campaign best practices. Yet many of the puzzles that Trump’s rise presents have been examined by the great political philosophers of the past. For example, it would come as no surprise to Plato that by its very emphasis on popularity, democracy creates the potential for tyranny via demagoguery. And, perhaps no problem is more alien to empirical political science than asking if statesmanship entails virtue or if so, in what that virtue consists: This is a theme treated by Plato, Aristotle, and Machiavelli, among others. Covering a range of thinkers such as Confucius, Plutarch, Kant, Tocqueville, and Deleuze, the essays in this book then seek to place the rise of Trump and the nature of his political authority within a broader institutional context than is possible for mainstream political science.
Uses political philosophy to provide the analytic tools for researchers to understand the deeper significance of contemporary events Includes a range of representatives from across ancient, medieval, modern, classical liberal, and continental thought on the topics of leadership, statesmanship, and tyranny Offers a diversity of contributors whose political leanings are liberal, conservative and radical

Autor*in

Angel Jaramillo Torres

Themen in »Trump and Political Philosophy«

Political philosophy Trump Statesmanship Leadership demagogue Plato Machiavelli Nietzsche Aristotle Spinoza Frankfurt School Heidegger American Founders Lincoln Weber

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“These essays address important subjects, ask many of the right questions, and treat writers and thinkers worthy of serious, sustained attention. … For this reason alone—but also for many others—these two volumes are welcome.” (Michael Anton, The Claremont Review of Books, Vol. 18 (04), Fall, 2018)
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“Bringing the wisdom contained within the history of political philosophy to bear on the shocking events of the past few years, these essays give us what we need most of all: illumination in place of obfuscation.” (Damon Linker, Senior Correspondent, The Week)

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