Glossary of Twenty Key Terms for a University Course in the History of Western Political Theory

     What follows is a set of twenty key terms in political theory, and their definitions. These definitions were written by the author of this blog, Joe Kopsick, but were based on the contents of a political theory course that was imparted to him at the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the spring of 2009.
     The course was taught by Jimmy Casas Klausen, who assigned students works written by Western political theorists throughout history until the present day. These works included Plato's Republic, Sir Thomas More's Utopia, Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, Hannah Arendt's The Human Condition, and famous works by Aristotle, Marcus Tullius Cicero, Thomas Hobbes, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Action

     Hannah Arendt says that action is an end in itself and it is the highest mode of activity and creation. She says that freedom comes through action, that the freedom of action cannot be eliminated, and that we define and create ourselves through action.


Alexander [the Great]

     Alexander was a Macedonian ruler and a student of Aristotle. Aristotle says that the Athenian polis was brought to an end through self-corruption, and its goal changed from common interest to profit. Aristotle believes that Alexander's goodness saved Greece.


Amour Proprie

     Rousseau says that amour proprie, vain self-love, is unnatural, and that vanity arises only in civil society. In vanity, we empty ourselves of meaning, as meaning and love can only be given to us by other people. He says that vanity is the cause of dependence, domination, and inequality, and that man is naturally independent and unselfish.


Chrematistics

     Aristotle believes that chrematistics, the art of acquisition, trade, and exchange, is an unnatural form of acquisition for the household. He argues that chrematistics makes gains on the exploitation of others. He says that living well is self-limitation and self-sufficiency without conspicuous consumption.

Collective Deliberation

     Aristotle believes that reason that is agreed on by everyone is more valuable than orthodoxy. He believes that a group of citizens gathering to combine their competencies and positive qualities will make policies better than any one person could. Hannah Arendt believes in active citizenship, civic republicanism, and the value of political association to develop the power of action, deliberation, and efficacy.

Corpus Mysticum

     The corpus mysticum describes the body politic of the church. The church is the corpus mysticum of Christ, and the people are part of the mystical body. The church's spiritual head is Christ represented, and its second spiritual head is the spiritually-ordained king. This puts the state in a lower position of authority than the church. Hobbes says that the corpus mysticum is an artificial body, and this is why we are able to take it apart and study it.

Cynics

     The Cynics was a school of philosophy that questioned and rejected every social convention and claim to authority. Cicero believes they questioned shamelessly and called Cynicism an "anti-tradition." Cicero believes that indecency and shame can be justified.


Despotism

     Rousseau says that despotism is the unjust rule of one man. He, Aristotle, and Plato agree that despotism is the worst type of governance. Rousseau says that the farther away we move from the state of nature and from despotism, the closer we get to perfectibility. He says that between the state of nature and despotism, there is happiness in "a middle position between... our primitive state and... egocentrism...”.

Fortuna

     Machiavelli says that fortuna (fate, fortune, luck, or favor), has direct bearing on a ruler's success or failure to maintain power. He believes that with virtú, one may triumph over fortuna.

Liberality

     Liberality is generosity. Machiavelli warns that excessive generosity may turn government into a slave. Machiavelli says that generosity should be practiced virtuously, and not known about. Cicero believes that generosity helps to build a network of friends, and that a man should measure his actions by honorableness rather than by his own advantages.


Maieutics

     Maieutics is the belief that the truth is latent in the human mind. Plato says that Socratic maieutics resembles obstetrics. Thus, Socrates is the "midwife of reason," and his dialectical method is the obstetrics that gives birth to logos.

Matter in Motion

     "Matter in Motion" is an individual driven by a passion. For Hobbes, the individual is the principal unit of analysis, and thus the matter of political science. He says that the decay of sense is an obscuring of motion made in sense.

Nonsenso, Raphael

     Raphael Nonsenso is a character in Thomas More's Utopia. He is a philosopher whom has seen the world as a sailor. He describes Utopia as the happiest society. He is a representation of Thomas More and his opinions.

Oikos

     The oikos is the private realm of the household, and the polis is the public realm of the political community. Aristotle believes that wealth and trade are associated with the household economy, and that it is wise to make a distinction between expertise in household management and expertise in business management. Hannah Arendt agrees that matters of labor and economy belong to the oikos. She believes that the rise of the social has destroyed the political by subordinating the public realm of human freedom to the concerns of mere animal necessity.
     [Note: oikos is the root of the word "economy".]

 

Perfectibility

     Rousseau says that perfectibility is the characteristic of man that desires self improvement. Perfectibility and reason allow men to evolve, and modern day culture was brought about by perfectibility. Men improve upon themselves by having a capacity for change which allows them to be molded to fit their environment. Perfectibility becomes possible when people move away from the state of nature and from despotism.


Plurality

     Plurality is a condition that preserves unity without being detrimental to either liberty or uniqueness, Hannah Arendt wants the polis to be an artifact of uniqueness, She says that the rise of the social is bad. Aristotle agrees, and also says that the household must be distinct from the whole of society.

Sovereignty

     Sovereignty is political authority within a territory. Hobbes believes that sovereignty is unconditional, absolute, and irrevocable. He believes that the sovereign must be separate from the people in order to prevent civil war. Rousseau believes that the sovereign and the people should be one and the same, in order for there to be common happiness.



State of Nature

     The state of nature is a state of anarchy that existed before the rule of law, and before the state had a monopoly on force. The natural condition of mankind, according to Hobbes, is a state of war in which life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" because individuals are in a "war of all against all". Rousseau believes that natural man is gentle, timid, piteous, non-confrontational, and amoral.

Telos

     Teleology is the study of ends. It is the belief that the essence of something is found in the thing into which it grows. The telos is the purpose, goal, or end. Aristotle said that the telos of man is to be happy and to live well and live justly. He also says that living happily requires living a life of virtue.
     [Note: To read "The Squirrel and the Acorn", a short essay that I wrote in May 2009 about teleology and political science, please visit the following link:
     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-squirrel-and-acorn.html]

Three Causes of Quarrel

     According to Hobbes, the three causes of quarrel are competition, diffidence, and glory. Men quarrel for gain, safety, and reputation. He says that in anarchy, these three quarrels lead to a state of war. Rousseau says that competition does not occur in a state of plenty. Aristotle says that diffidence occurs when people act out of fear of aggression and seek retribution. Hobbes believes that glory is exclusive pride for oneself, one's family, or one's homeland.

Author's Note:

     To read another glossary - or "encyclopedia" - of political theory terms, which I devised by myself, please visit the following link, and read my August 2018 article titled "Encyclopedia of Economic Systems and Key Terms in Political Theory":

     http://www.aquarianagrarian.blogspot.com/2018/08/encyclopedia-of-economic-systems-and.html

Notes taken in May 2009

First published to this blog on August 3rd, 2021

Introduction and notes in brackets written on August 3rd, 2021