Politics Is Best Left to the Experts - Case Study Example

Politics is best left to the experts Name Course Name and Code Institution Name Instructor’s Name Date Introduction Human life and existence has always had a place for politics. From the days of Adam and Eve to what we experience presently, monarchies to democracies politics has always had a bearing in how people were governed and how they responded to this. The works of the early thinkers such as Locke, Hobbes and Machiavelli bear testament to this. Locke’s view of politics was that of human judgment and endless revitalization which created bonds between human beings that led to the emergence of political structures and economic logic that created a system of exchange and production. Politics should therefore be looked at from the different perspectives of human society by examining the existence of these structures. Politics cannot therefore be isolated but looked at in the context of government, democracies and the basic foundations of human society such as the place of religion and culture in the formation of certain political movements as well as inclinations. Thomas Hobbes According to Hobbes, the creation of man which is the Commonwealth was created to protect him has grown in stature and strength that its creator to become the great Leviathan (Hobbes 1976). As an artificial person it functions in same way as would a natural person by the mechanisms that have been put in place to provide controls. The legislature that makes laws, judiciary that interprets these laws and executive which executes the laws that have been put in place by the legislature are the artificial joints and limbs that enable this artificial person perform its duties and roles (Hobbes 1976). The nature of the artificial man- Leviathan is described by: Man; who is the inventor of this artificial person. How it came to be by the covenants and sovereign rights. Christian commonwealths The kingdom of darkness 1. Man The behavior of men in power and their actions towards their inferiors shows their thoughts and passions towards other men and this can be read in the various books that their lives have been documented. Though there are thoughts and passions that are similar in all men the character of the heart of a man are different and cannot be read by everyone because the intents of the heart of men cannot be discerned by mere mortals. The character of men however can be determined by their actions towards other men and this act as a distinction and a form of comparison (Hobbes 1976). Sense Man has been given five common senses which enable him operate well in his God given environment; sight, hearing, touch, smelling and taste. These senses are stimulated by the external environment that stimulates the organs responsible for each sense thus causing a resistance or counter pressure (Hobbes 1976). Vision is the result of an object being seen and hearing the result of audible voices entering the ear. Imagination It takes place in the internal parts of a man when he sees and dreams; though the eyes may be shut the images of what had been seen is retained. Though the objects are removed from the sight, the impressions made by the image remain (Hobbes 1976). Changes that take place destroy the senses that moved men to certain actions because of distance and the time that these events do take place. Distance makes places become smaller and makes its appearance looks dim. It is the senses that receive the species of things and delivers them to the senses, which deliver them to the imagination then to the memory and eventually to the judgment (Hobbes, 1976). The consequences of imagination When a man thinks it is followed by an afterthought which may be good or bad. The train of thought may be guided or misguided. Guided thoughts are constant guided by desire and design, which are more permanent and may even hinder or sleep (Hobbes 1976). Regulated thoughts come in the form of seeking the means to produce the imagined effect and imagining anything that it can produce. Speech Speech consists of names and appellations is a very profitable invention because men are able to register their thoughts and are able to recall them when they are past or declare them to each other in mutual conversations. Without speech, there would not be the Commonwealth and the communications between humankind would be the same as that of animals (Hobbes 1976). Speech was so important that it enabled the people in ancient Babylon to build a tower that would have reached the heavens if confusion had not hit their speech. Transfer of mental disclosures and thoughts can only expressed through speech. Hearing of any speech by a man and having the thoughts of that speech as well as the connection that the speech was meant to signify is viewed as being understood (Hobbes 1976) Reason Reason is the act of conceiving sums, words and names of a part or a whole. Political writers add together captions to find the duties of men and what is right and what is wrong in the sight of men which means that in every situation there is a place to add and to subtract and also a place for reason. Reason is the act of understanding and recognizing how things should and ought to be done (Hobbes 1976) Religion Man is the only creature that the signs and fruits of religion are evident. The inherent nature of man to be inquisitive into the vents that are seen has led to the curious search for the causes of good and evil. The fear that always seems to accompany humankind in the ignorance of causes rouses the need to have something that explains the cause of the good or bad fortune. Acknowledgement of one God who is eternal and infinite has been borne from the desire to know the causes of natural bodies and other operations (Hobbes 1976). 2. The causes and generation and definition of a commonwealth The final design of men is the introduction of restraints upon themselves in the Commonwealths in which they live in. This is seen in the wars and troubles that they cause themselves which helps in tying them down because of the fear of punishments to the performance of their contracts (Hobbes 1976). Cities and kingdoms enlarge their dominion upon the pretence of fear and danger and this they do by subduing their neighbors by weakening them. Bees and ants live sociably with each other and this largely because they are led by particular judgment and particular appetites which is not the case human beings because of competing for honor and dignity (Hobbes 1976) Several kinds of Commonwealth by institution and succession to sovereign power The difference of Commonwealths consists of the difference of sovereign. Sovereignty is therefore not one man but in all the people. Through representatives people are able to exercise their sovereignty. Monarchs are so because this representative is usually only one man, when it is an assembly of all that will come together it is a democracy and if only a part is represented then it is an aristocracy (Hobbes 1976) Systems subject political and private Systems are representative of the whole which in this case may be regular or irregular. Those of one man are constituted to represent the whole number, which is absolute and independent subject to none but their own representative (Hobbes 1976). Those that are dependent are subject to some sovereign power to which everyone also is subject. Subordinate systems are political and some private, political are those that are made by authority from the sovereign power of the commonwealth. Subjects constitute their own private laws for themselves without authority from a stranger. The irregular systems are those that have no representative and so no gathering of people (Hobbes 1976). In politics the power of the representatives is always limited such that they don’t exercise absolute sovereignty. The sovereign is the representative of all the subjects and so can be representative of any part of them (Hobbes 1976). Subjects therefore have the absolute authority that is exercised on their behalf by their representatives. The limits of the sovereign power which is given to the representative of a body politic are by the laws of the Commonwealth or by a court order or letters from the sovereign. 3. Christian commonwealth – principles of Christian politics The Christian Commonwealth is dependent on the supernatural revelations of the will of God. This commonwealth is based on justice peace and true religion. The things in the word of God are above reason and so natural reason cannot invalidate or demonstrate it (Hobbes 1976). Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures The scriptures form the rules of Christian life which men are bound consciously to observe through civil and natural laws. A Christian king shall constitute in his own dominions what laws he ought to constitute which may not be necessarily be in the scriptures (Hobbes 1976). God who is the sovereign of all sovereigns when he speaks ought to be obeyed which may be challenging especially when it comes to what God has said and when he said it and the subject have no supernatural revelation of what He said. 4. The kingdom of darkness- spiritual darkness from the misinterpretation of scripture The scriptures mentions the rulers of the darkness of this world and the mentions the existence of demons and Satan. The kingdom of darkness is described by the scriptures as being dominated by deceivers that obtain dominion over men in this present world. The dark erroneous doctrines extinguish them from light in both nature and the gospel and so disqualify them for the kingdom of God to come (Hobbes 1976). John Locke Sovereignty by creation- Adam When God created Adam, he gave him dominion over all creation and this is regarded as sovereignty (Locke, 1821). Adam was created and began to exist based on the immediate power of God. Adam was created as a de facto monarch because he was charged with the responsibility of being in charge of his posterity but not a de facto monarch of the world because there was no government that was existent at that time and no subjects to be governed. The law of nature appointed by God made Adam the monarch of the world because he was governor of his posterity giving him the right of government by the law of nature. Sovereignty by donation- Adam’s title This is based on the story of Adam and his sovereignty, Adam was made the general lord of things not without such a private dominion of himself (Locke, 1821). The dominion Adam had on the earth was to subdue and it and this made him a monarchial father of all flesh and this was by the donation of God. Sovereignty by fatherhood- Adam’s title The sovereignty of Adam supposes that a natural right of dominion over his children by virtue of him being a father. This is not only seen in Adam alone but in the other patriarchs which by fatherhood have royal authority over their children (Locke, 1821). This means that every man that is born is not free because children are the fountain of all regal authority. The natural dominion of Adam as father makes him to exercise his right of a father naturally. The beginning of political societies Men by nature are free, independent, and equal and no one can be put out of this state and be made subject to the political will and power of another without consenting to it (Locke, 1821). Consenting to form a government incorporates everyone by making one political body which the majority has the right to act and conclude for the rest. This consent of making one political body puts a man under an obligation to everyone of that society and under submission of the majority Niccolo Machiavelli Principalities Principalities are long established rule that has been established over a long period of time. These may be new are annexed from other kingdoms (Machiavelli, 1952). These dominions may have used to live in freedom and are acquired by fortune or ability. Principalities are easier to handle because of being accustomed to the family of their prince because of the prudent way in which they handle matters as they arise. Mixed principalities experience difficulties because of the changes that arise from the inherent difficulty that is existent in new principalities. For men to change their rulers willingly they have the hope of bettering themselves and hope to induce others to take up arms against them that are in the ruling class (Machiavelli, 1952). This causes the new prince to burden those that have submitted to him through acquisition either by soldiers or by money. Machiavelli looks at how princes expanded their territories either by war, ability, wealth and greed. All these means had their own repercussions which may have been not so great because such moves determined whether these princes will be hated or not. Conclusion Politics have always had a part in human society; from the ancient civilization to the modern day society’s politics have been at the center of it. Thomas Hobbes looks at politics from the perspective of human behavior and interactions, Christian kingdoms and the kingdom of darkness and shows the sharp contrasts in all these aspects. John Locke looks at the sovereignty of the people based on the various aspects. From the perspective of fatherhood, donation and creation his view is that Adam had dominion and monarchial authority based on what was handed to him by God, his position as a father and the fact that he was created as human being and given dominion to subdue all other species. By this the authority that he had to subdue others made him enjoy monarchial privileges even though there were no subjects and there was government that was existent. Machiavelli was concerned about how commonwealths and principalities are acquired and maintained and this guaranteed their prosperity. References Hobbes, T. 1976. Leviathan. Charleston: Forgotten books. Locke, J. 1821. Two treaties on government. Machiavelli, N. 1952. The Prince. London: Plain label books. Read More