A survey of the distinction between ethics and politics with an aristotelian appraisal

Download
2010
Çelik, Sinan Kadir
In the history of philosophy, ethics and politics have either been considered as two unrelated, irreducible realms or as identical to each other. In the thesis the historical transformation of the problematic relation between ethics and politics is critically evaluated. It is argued that from the emergence of the conflict in Ancient Greece following the “Socratic ideal” to the modern attempt for its resolution by the “Machiavellian revolution,” the prominent theories developed for dealing with the problem have defined politics as an amoral practice, as a science, a technique or an art. An alternative Aristotelian approach is tried to be developed so as to elucidate the nature of the distinction between ethics and politics. According to this view, ethics and politics can neither be strictly separated from each other nor be reduced into one another. The Aristotelian conception of politike as “philosophy of human affairs” has ethical, practical and technical dimensions. The thesis tries to clarify at which point ethics and politics should be conceived as two different practices and at which point they cannot be treated as independent from each other. Hence, the present study aims to determine the peculiarities and the strong sides of Aristotelian practical philosophy in order to offer an alternative to resolve the problem under consideration.

Suggestions

A study of the self in Nietzsche's fatalistic universe of eternal recurrence
Canbolat, Argun Abrek; Parkan, Barış; Department of Philosophy (2009)
The doctrine of eternal recurrence is not only an aspect of Nietzsche’s philosophy, but a notion that structures the base of his philosophy. The doctrine is analyzed by many interpreters in various ways. The cosmological and the ethical-existential approaches to the doctrine are at the very base wrong. The doctrine’s impact cannot be adequately understood in these terms. Besides, the doctrine of eternal recurrence has multiple problems within it, problems which can be solved if the doctrine is understood an...
The relation of freedom and evil in Kant’s moral philosophy
Aydın Bayram, Selma; Turan, Şeref Halil; Department of Philosophy (2006)
The purpose of this study is to examine concepts of freedom and evil, and to clarify their relation in terms of Kant’s moral philosophy. In this study, I firstly examine Kant’s understanding of freedom and the problems that this understanding leads to. I also discuss how the concept of freedom can be reconciled with the concept of evil expressed in the form of “propensity to evil”. Additionally, I attempt to show the significance of the notion of evil for Kant’s moral theory. Evil is one of the most critici...
A Cartesian Rereading of Badiou's Political Subjectivity
Grıffıth, James Edmond Carr (Philosophy Documentation Center, 2019-12-01)
This article traces the consequences for Badiou's political subjectivity if his understanding of the Cartesian subject is incorrect. For Badiou, the faithful subject, political and otherwise, is formed through fidelity to the appearance of an event of truth, and the process of this fidelity creates a world. These truths are immanent to the worlds in which they appear. An obscure subject, however, is faithful to a negation, while a reactive subject denies the appearance of a truth's event. Badiou's subject r...
The Uses of the World Soul in Plato's Timaeus
Evren, Şahan; Bağçe, Samet; Department of Philosophy (2009)
The purpose of the present study is to assess the explanatory value of the concept of the World Soul in the cosmological account of Plato’s Timaeus. The World Soul plays a crucial role in the account of the world of Becoming in the Timaeus and in Plato’s philosophy of science. The World Soul explains why there is motion at all in the universe and sustains the regularity and uniformity of the motion of the celestial objects. Its constitution and the way it is generated by the Demiurge endow it an intermediar...
Dualities in bergson revisited: towards a reconciliation?
Karahan, Gülizar; Çırakman, Elif; Department of Philosophy (2008)
The aim of this study is to make an inquiry on the nature and the development of dualities in Bergson’s philosophy. Since the nature of each duality differs from the others and the dualistic pattern inherent in Bergsonian philosophy is subject to change, we base our study on a chronological structure in order to comprehend better how this pattern changes. We claim that such an inquiry will yield relevant outcomes with regard to ontological and epistemological evolution of Bergson’s thought. To state more pr...
Citation Formats
S. K. Çelik, “A survey of the distinction between ethics and politics with an aristotelian appraisal,” Ph.D. - Doctoral Program, Middle East Technical University, 2010.