COMPARATIVE POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: CATEGORIZING POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES USING TWELVE ARCHETYPES

Abstract: Comparative political philosophy can be stimulated by imposing a categorization scheme on possible varieties of political philosophies. This article develops a categorization scheme using four essential features of political philosophies, resulting in twelve archetypal political philosophies. The four essential features selected are a political philosophy's views concerning human nature, the proper function of morality, the best form of society, and the highest responsibility of citizenship. The twelve archetypal political philosophies range from the communal (Rousseau), the democratic (J. S. Mill), the representative (Aristotle), the aristocratic (Plato), and the autocratic (Calvin), along with seven more archetypes: the aloof anarchy, social anarchy, contractarian, progressive, natural law, sage ruler, and tyrannical political forms. A wide variety of Western political philosophers are assigned their places within this categorization scheme to illustrate its utility and comprehensiveness.     

Political Rhetoric,Immigration Attitudes,and Contemporary Prejudice: A Mexican American Dilemma

Abstract

The authors examined political candidates' social stereotypes of Mexican immigrants in mainstream media accounts. From those popular themes, they formed semantic differential scales, which they administered to participants (N = 201) with 1 of 4 scenarios describing an illegal immigrant: of Mexican vs. English Canadian descent and with vs. without several parking tickets. Consistent with contemporary theories of prejudice (J. F. Dovidio & S. L. Gaertner, 1996), the participants indicated the greatest agreement with the pejorative themes when the immigrant described was of Mexican descent and had accumulated parking tickets. Psychologically, the parking tickets served as a nonethnic rationale for discriminating against that ethnic group. The authors discuss the social and public policy implications of Mexican immigration as a political phenomenon.     

Sexual Orientation and Human Rights in the Ethics Code of the Psychology and Counseling Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI)

The aim of this study is to investigate the necessity of revising the Ethics Code of the Psychology and Counseling Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI) with respect to people’s rights and dignity and to avoid unfair discriminations toward sexual orientation and gender identity. It is said that confused diagnoses; wrong decision making; unethical practice; and the subsequent harm caused to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clients result from the lack of a clear code and relevant guidelines. In addition, certain conditions in Iran (such as religious perspectives, laws, cultural biases, misunderstandings, a lack of local academic and scientific resources, and Western conspiracy theories) lead professional psychologists and researchers to avoid researching sexual minorities and gender identity, which negatively impacts the Ethics Code of the PCOIRI. Iranian and Western researchers have identified four primary sources to which psychologists and counselors can refer when faced with ethical dilemmas: developmental psychology, professional ethics codes, philosophy of psychology literature, and available researches and compilations on professional ethics. Finally it is suggested that, when dealing with homosexual clients and the related ethical dilemmas, Iranian psychologists and counselors need clear and specific guidelines and a professional ethics code developed from more appropriate reference points than legal and religious sources.     

The role of organizational politics,contextual resources,and formal communication on change recipients' commitment to change: A multilevel study

Over the past decade there has been an increased interest in studying the factors that affect people's commitment to change. Drawing from the Job Demands–Resources model, in this enquiry we explored the moderating role of two contextual resources (i.e., trust in top management, history of change) and formal communication in the relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change. Data were collected from 2543 employees of 84 companies representing a wide variety of industry sectors. In a first survey we collected data about the work context. Two weeks after the first survey, in a second survey we captured data on people's commitment to change. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to analyse the multilevel character of the data. Consonant with our hypotheses, the findings indicate that the negative relationship between perceived organizational politics and commitment to change is moderated by “trust in top management”, “history of change”, and “formal communication”. As a group the Level 2 predictors account for 18%, 2.5%, and 10%, respectively, of the between-unit variance in continuance, normative, and affective commitment for change.     

Antiquarian studies on ancient banqueting during the Renaissance

Abstract

During the Renaissance, studies on ancient banqueting became part of mainstream ancient history. Among the early treatments of the subject, the monumental treatise, Antiquitatum convivialium libri, written by the Swiss humanist and Reformed theologian, J. W. Stucki, was a notable breakthrough. The article argues that Stucki was the first humanist to conceive of ancient banqueting as having universal significance, influencing all later writers on the topic. In addition, he used his book as a resource to intervene in confessional disputes with data from antiquarian erudition. After Stucki’s publication and its censorship by the Roman Catholic Church, there was a significant boost in such works throughout Europe. The phenomenon was very heterogeneous in light of diversities relating to contrasting Protestant and Catholic regions. This article focuses on the development of different approaches to the topic arising from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds at the time.     

Citizen Vermigli

Abstract

Peter Martyr Vermigli’s flight from Italy in 1542 left him divested of his Catholic religious heritage, but the same is not to be asserted for his Florentine republicanism. Vermigli has been viewed either as a republican (Bravi) or inclined to monarchism (Kingdon and Kirby) consonant with his time in England. This essay treats Vermigli’s presuppositions on what the human animal is, and what polity best suits such a creature. This essay engages Vermigli the Humanist in light of his Christian anthropology, and in particular his thinking about the ultimate end for humans created in the image and likeness of God, as well as what this likeness tell us about the human ability to reach its telos faced with the reality of the Fall.     

Edward said: Identity,politics and history 1

Abstract

This paper draws on the work of Edward Said in order to extend understandings of the social and historical roots of identity, and to introduce possible new insights into the inextricable relationship between the West and the Rest. Edward Said, a critical thinker and exponent of postcolonial theory, was profoundly concerned with a range of political, historical and literary matters. His concerns focused on elucidating and analysing the social and political conditions that he argued are shot through culture. For Said nothing and no-one is immune from history, ideology or the political and social conditions that we inhabit. Said's preoccupation focused on illuminating that which is irreconcilable and he emphasized the tensions and contradictions in texts and in societies (especially America and the Middle East). His political and literary writing is ethical as it emphasizes the psychoanalytic endeavour to continually think anew and to investigate one's projections and illusions. There is no place for complacency in Said's work.     

A Review of: Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom

This article takes a critical look at identity politics and conflict in Jos, a setting once regarded as “the home of peace and tourism in Nigeria.” The study situates the conflict within the relationship between the “indigene-settler” syndrome and the state, with its ugly hydra-headed manifestations. It argues that the conflict with a coloration of ethnic/religious garb was orchestrated under the façade of politics. It is suggested that the commitment of good governance remains the surest means of nipping in the bud the crises in Jos. The findings have important implications for aggregate research on ethnic/religious conflicts in Nigeria.     

Threats and Challenges to Feminist Therapy

No abstract available for this article.     

Making Muslims: The Politics of Religious Identity Construction and Victoria's Islamic Schools

Islamic schools in Australia have become a subject of notable societal and academic interest, but discussions on the purpose of these schools are often approached from the perspective of concerns about national security or the integration of ethnic minorities. Given the growing popularity of Islamic schools in the Australian educational landscape, critics of such schools often assume that their pedagogical climate, curriculum and “separatist” environment does not foster the formation of cultural citizenship. This essay analyses the complex interplay between religion, Islamic identity formation and the politics of schooling in diasporic settings on the basis of an analysis of the experiences of graduates of Islamic schools in Victoria. It provides an insight into the multidimensional role Victoria's Islamic schools play and enables a better understanding of how the schooling of Muslim students in Victoria's Islamic schools relates to the development of an Islamic identity, which is critical to a conceptualizing of how Islamic schools are considered sites for religious identity construction.