Philosophy
Teaching Arendt today right after the President's speech on Afghanistan, so this seemed like a good question. In the social/political context, what is the difference between power, strength, and force? We tend to use the words interchangeably, but are they really synonymous? It seems that you can show strength without using force. The weak can have power, surely, indeed sometimes the weakness can be a source of power. So what's the difference?
- Be Careful What You Ask For
Watching Dick Cheney, the outgoing President in charge of Vice, yesterday, I thought of the story "The Monkey's Paw." You do have to be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. Cheney is a legitimate ideologue. He is not someone whose...
- Crispin Sartwell's Challenge On The Moral Justification Of State Power
Crispin Sartwell has a new book out and issues this challenge:My irritating yet astounding new book Against the State (SUNY Press) argues that (1) The political state or government rests on violence (force and coercion). (2) Violence is always wrong...
- Is Being Really Good At Math A Power Or A Skill?
There's a scene in the film "Stranger Than Fiction" in which the main character is having dinner with a friend and asks what the friend would do if he he knew he would die soon. In negotiating the terms of this hypothetical, the friend asks if he...
- Weakness Is Provocative
Tom Dachle was at Gettysburg last week with Dick Armey to give a public discussion on current events. The attraction to hear Tom Daschle talk about politics is much like the desire to go see the Temptations, never a big fan but it evokes a sense of nostalgia...
- Doing Harm To Our Enemies: The Just Vs. The Unjust
Why do harm to your enemies when you know that all it would give back to you is the characteristic of being unjust? The way society is formed brings forth this fear for all that is unjust because no one person wants to be known as being unjust. Society...
Philosophy
Power, Strength, and Force
Teaching Arendt today right after the President's speech on Afghanistan, so this seemed like a good question. In the social/political context, what is the difference between power, strength, and force? We tend to use the words interchangeably, but are they really synonymous? It seems that you can show strength without using force. The weak can have power, surely, indeed sometimes the weakness can be a source of power. So what's the difference?
- Be Careful What You Ask For
Watching Dick Cheney, the outgoing President in charge of Vice, yesterday, I thought of the story "The Monkey's Paw." You do have to be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. Cheney is a legitimate ideologue. He is not someone whose...
- Crispin Sartwell's Challenge On The Moral Justification Of State Power
Crispin Sartwell has a new book out and issues this challenge:My irritating yet astounding new book Against the State (SUNY Press) argues that (1) The political state or government rests on violence (force and coercion). (2) Violence is always wrong...
- Is Being Really Good At Math A Power Or A Skill?
There's a scene in the film "Stranger Than Fiction" in which the main character is having dinner with a friend and asks what the friend would do if he he knew he would die soon. In negotiating the terms of this hypothetical, the friend asks if he...
- Weakness Is Provocative
Tom Dachle was at Gettysburg last week with Dick Armey to give a public discussion on current events. The attraction to hear Tom Daschle talk about politics is much like the desire to go see the Temptations, never a big fan but it evokes a sense of nostalgia...
- Doing Harm To Our Enemies: The Just Vs. The Unjust
Why do harm to your enemies when you know that all it would give back to you is the characteristic of being unjust? The way society is formed brings forth this fear for all that is unjust because no one person wants to be known as being unjust. Society...