Political thought refers to the systematic reflection on political ideas, institutions, and values that shape human society.
It includes the study of thinkers who have developed ideas about state, power, justice, liberty, equality, and revolution.

1. Confucius (551 – 479 BCE) – Chinese Political Philosopher

🔹 Context:

• Ancient China; founder of Confucianism.

• His philosophy focused on moral order, good governance, and social harmony.

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Moral Foundation of Politics:
   Rulers must be virtuous; moral leadership ensures stability.

2. Virtue (Ren):
   Humanity, kindness, benevolence – the core of good governance.

3. Ritual (Li):
   Proper behavior and customs maintain social order.

4. Ideal Ruler – “Junzi” (Superior Man):
   Rules by moral example, not by force.

5. Family as the Model for State:
   Filial piety (respect for parents) extends to political obedience.

🔹 Relevance:

• Early advocate of ethical leadership and merit-based governance.

• Inspired East Asian political and civil service systems.

2. Plato (427 – 347 BCE) – Greek Idealist Philosopher

🔹 Major Work: The Republic, The Statesman, The Laws

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Theory of Justice:
   Justice = everyone performing their assigned function.

   • Rulers → Wisdom

   • Soldiers → Courage

   • Producers → Temperance

   • Justice = Harmony among classes.

2. Theory of Forms (Ideas):
   Real knowledge is of eternal ideas, not material objects.
   The philosopher-king understands these forms.

3. Ideal State:

   • Based on reason, spirit, and appetite.

   • Governed by Philosopher-Kings, the wisest and most virtuous.

4. Education:
   Essential for producing rational and moral citizens.

🔹 Relevance:

• Pioneer of normative political theory.

• Advocated rule by wisdom and merit, not wealth or birth.

3. Aristotle (384 – 322 BCE) – Realist and Empiricist Thinker

🔹 Major Work: Politics, Nicomachean Ethics

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Man as a Political Animal:
   Humans realize their potential only in the polis (community).

2. State as Natural:
   The state exists by nature and aims at the highest good.

3. Classification of Governments:

   • Monarchy (Rule by one for common good) → can degenerate to Tyranny

   • Aristocracy (Rule by few) → can degenerate to Oligarchy

   • Polity (Rule by many) → can degenerate to Democracy

4. Middle Class Theory:
   Stability comes from a strong middle class.

5. Constitutionalism:
   Rule of law and mixed government as ideal.

🔹 Relevance:

• Father of Political Science (empirical and comparative).

• Foundation of constitutional democracy and rule of law.

4. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) – Founder of Modern Political Thought

🔹 Major Works: The Prince, Discourses on Livy

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Politics as Autonomous:
   Separated politics from ethics and religion.

2. Ends Justify Means:
   A ruler may use deceit, cruelty, or manipulation if it ensures stability and power.

3. Virtù and Fortuna:

   • Virtù = Political skill, courage, intelligence.

   • Fortuna = Fortune or luck.
     A wise ruler balances both.

4. Republicanism:
   In Discourses, Machiavelli favored republican government based on civic virtue.

🔹 Relevance:

• Father of modern secular realism.

• Emphasized statecraft, power, and political survival.

5. Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679) – Founder of Social Contract Theory

🔹 Major Work: Leviathan (1651)

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. State of Nature:
   Life was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”
   Humans driven by fear and self-preservation.

2. Social Contract:
   Individuals surrender all rights to a sovereign for protection.

3. Absolute Sovereignty:
   Strong, undivided power necessary for peace.

4. Materialism:
   Society and state are human constructs, not divine.

🔹 Relevance:

• Justified absolute authority but also introduced rational basis of state.

6. John Locke (1632 – 1704) – Liberal Contractualist

🔹 Major Works: Two Treatises of Government

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. State of Nature:
   Peaceful, guided by reason and natural law.

2. Natural Rights:
   Life, liberty, and property are inalienable.

3. Social Contract:
   Government protects natural rights; people can resist tyranny.

4. Limited Government:
   Power based on consent of governed.

🔹 Relevance:

• Father of liberalism.

• Foundation for constitutional democracy and rule of law.

7. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778) – Champion of Popular Sovereignty

🔹 Major Work: The Social Contract

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains.
   Society corrupts natural freedom.

2. General Will:
   Collective will of the people aimed at common good.

3. Popular Sovereignty:
   Sovereignty lies with the people, not rulers.

4. Direct Democracy:
   Citizens directly make laws.

🔹 Relevance:

• Inspiration for French Revolution and modern democracy.

• Advocated participatory politics.

8. G.W.F. Hegel (1770 – 1831) – Idealist Philosopher

🔹 Major Works: Philosophy of Right, Phenomenology of Spirit

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Dialectical Method:
   History progresses through thesis → antithesis → synthesis.

2. State as Ethical Spirit:
   State is the embodiment of moral and rational life.

3. Freedom through the State:
   True freedom realized in obedience to rational laws.

4. Historical Development:
   History as realization of human freedom.

🔹 Relevance:

• Influenced Marx’s dialectical materialism.

• Gave foundation for modern idealist political theory.

9. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797) – Pioneer of Feminist Thought

🔹 Major Work: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Equality of Sexes:
   Women possess same reasoning abilities as men.

2. Education:
   Equal education essential for equality and citizenship.

3. Critique of Patriarchy:
   Opposed gender-based discrimination and dependence.

🔹 Relevance:

• First modern feminist.

• Laid foundation for liberal feminism.

10. John Stuart Mill (1806 – 1873) – Liberal and Utilitarian Philosopher

🔹 Major Works: On Liberty, Utilitarianism, The Subjection of Women

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Liberty:
   Freedom of thought, expression, and action (limited by harm principle).

2. Representative Government:
   Democracy best serves human development.

3. Utilitarianism:
   “Greatest happiness of the greatest number.”

4. Gender Equality:
   Advocated women’s rights and political participation.

🔹 Relevance:

• Father of modern liberal democracy and rights-based politics.

11. Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) – Founder of Scientific Socialism

🔹 Major Works: Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Historical Materialism:
   Economic structure (base) determines political superstructure.

2. Class Struggle:
   History is conflict between classes (bourgeoisie vs proletariat).

3. Surplus Value:
   Exploitation of workers through unpaid labor.

4. Revolution and Communism:
   Workers’ revolution → classless, stateless society.

🔹 Relevance:

• Foundation of Marxism and socialist movements worldwide.

12. Antonio Gramsci (1891 – 1937) – Neo-Marxist Thinker

🔹 Major Work: Prison Notebooks

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Cultural Hegemony:
   Ruling class maintains dominance through ideas and culture, not just force.

2. Civil Society:
   Key site for contesting power (education, religion, media).

3. Organic Intellectuals:
   Leaders emerging from working class to challenge ruling ideology.

🔹 Relevance:

• Extended Marxism to culture and ideology.

• Basis for critical theory and cultural studies.

13. Hannah Arendt (1906 – 1975) – Political Philosopher of Action

🔹 Major Works: The Human Condition, The Origins of Totalitarianism

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Totalitarianism:
   Dangers of mass conformity and destruction of individuality.

2. Public Sphere:
   Politics as space of action, speech, and plurality.

3. Freedom and Action:
   True freedom = participation in public life.

4. Evil as Banality:
   Ordinary individuals can commit evil by following orders unthinkingly.

🔹 Relevance:

• Reinvented republican and participatory ideals of politics.

14. Frantz Fanon (1925 – 1961) – Anti-Colonial Revolutionary Thinker

🔹 Major Works: The Wretched of the Earth, Black Skin, White Masks

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Colonialism and Violence:
   Colonization dehumanizes the oppressed; liberation requires revolutionary violence.

2. Psychological Oppression:
   Colonialism damages the colonized psyche and identity.

3. National Culture:
   Post-colonial identity rooted in indigenous culture and struggle.

🔹 Relevance:

• Key figure in postcolonial theory and liberation movements.

15. Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976) – Marxist Revolutionary Leader of China

🔹 Major Works: On Contradiction, On Practice

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Sinification of Marxism:
   Adapted Marxism to Chinese conditions (peasants as revolutionary class).

2. Mass Line Theory:
   “From the masses, to the masses” – leadership must reflect people’s needs.

3. Continuous Revolution:
   Prevent bureaucratization by ongoing revolutionary struggle.

🔹 Relevance:

• Created Maoism, blending Marxism with rural revolution and nationalism.

16. John Rawls (1921 – 2002) – Liberal Egalitarian Philosopher

🔹 Major Works: A Theory of Justice, Political Liberalism

🔹 Key Ideas:

1. Justice as Fairness:
   Fair distribution under conditions of equality.

2. Original Position & Veil of Ignorance:
   Rational individuals design just principles without knowing their social position.

3. Two Principles of Justice:

   • Equal basic liberties for all.

   • Inequalities allowed only if they benefit the least advantaged (Difference Principle).

🔹 Relevance:

• Most influential 20th-century liberal thinker.

• Foundation for welfare state and social justice theory.

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