Question #8: What is the fundamental character of human beings?
July 5, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · 1 Comment
| 10 Foundational Questions | Introduction | Question #1 | Question #2 | Question #3 | Question #4 | Question #5 | Question #6 | Question #7 |
“Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it… The foundation of every government is some principle or passion in the minds of the people. The noblest principles and most generous affections in our nature, then, have the fairest chance to support the noblest and most generous models of government.” - John Adams in Thoughts on Government
At the core of political philosophy and constitutional government is the issue of human nature; we can’t know how to govern unless we fully understand whom is being governed. Designing and managing a polity must take into consideration who human beings are, how and why they act, and how to best promote their happiness.
Human nature is composed of two things: 1) motivations, and 2) tendencies.
Human Motivation
The brilliant Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises formulated a methodology for understanding human action that he called “praxeology.” Mises deduced fifty laws of human action, which include the following highlights:
- Choice determines all human action.
- Human action is purposeful; people make choices for reasons.
- Action is the attempt to change the state of being for a more satisfactory state.
- No person does anything except what they think will improve their satisfaction.
The core of Mises’ laws is that we act to increase our satisfaction. From getting up from the couch to get a soda, to going to church, to perpetrating violent crime, every human action is designed to bring the actor more satisfaction than he or she currently feels.
A well-designed body politic, then, will allow its citizens to seek and gain satisfaction in any way they see fit, as long as they do not encroach upon the unalienable rights of others. As the Roman statesman Cato said, “By liberty, I understand the power which every man has over his own actions, and his right to enjoy the fruit of his labor, art, and industry, as far as by it he hurts not the society or any members of it, by taking from any member or by hindering him from enjoying what he himself enjoys.”
Human Tendencies
Are human beings good, or evil? Are we fallen beings, or are we enlightened beings of light and love? Do we seek depravity, or degeneracy?
Yes.
It seems like most philosophers have held the either/or view of human nature; some say we are good, and some say we are bad. It seems clear to me that we are both, that inherent to every individual is the potential for divinity and degeneracy.
Why It Matters
Question #7: What are “legitimate foundation” and “legitimate authority” in political philosophy?
June 24, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
| 10 Foundational Questions | Introduction | Question #1 | Question #2 | Question #3 | Question #4 | Question #5 | Question #6 |
“The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority. –Alexander Hamilton
Simply put, legitimate foundation means the will of the People at large, while legitimate authority is the express permission granted by the People to the government to perform some function.
Put together, they form the philosophical foundation of the powerful idea that man does not exist for the state, but that the state exists for man.
Legitimate Foundation
The idea that the government should exist according to the will of the People and solely to benefit the People at large was revolutionary in the 18th Century. Previously, governments primarily benefited those governing, or special interests.
The American Founders taught that the will of the People, as expressed through constitutional means, is the only solid, sustainable, and legitimate foundation of republican government.
This does not mean, however, that they were referring simply to the concept of majority rule alone, as we learn from Federalist Paper #51; the idea is to guide the nation by the will of the majority, while protecting minority rights (i.e. preventing the majority from taking private property).
Legitimate Authority
Thomas Jefferson spoke of legitimate authority in the Declaration of Independence when he wrote, “…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government…”
The United States Constitution was the first (and to my knowledge the only) constitution to be instigated by, or to have originated in, the People, then ratified by the People. In other words, the People, through their colonial representatives, called for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Representatives at the Convention represented the People within their respective territories–not the government itself.
They were authorized by the People to do the will of the People. Our Constitution was initiated and created from the bottom up, rather than dictated from the top down. Then, after its creation by the representatives of the People, the Constitution was taken back to the People–once again through their colonial representatives–to be ratified, or accepted.
Previously, the historical norm was for the government–whether through a monarchy, aristocracy, or other form of ruler’s law–to dictate from the top down the laws and constitutional forms that the People must obey. As David Hume wrote in 1752, “Almost all the governments which exist at present, or of which there remains any record in story, have been founded originally either on usurpation or conquest or both, without any pretense of a fair consent or voluntary subjection of the people.”
Why It Matters
To drive the point home with these critical concepts, think of Read more
Question #5: What are the four foundations of freedom?
June 16, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
| 10 Foundational Questions | Introduction | Question #1 | Question #2 | Question #3 | Question #4 |
The Four Foundations of Freedom are:
- Private Virtue
- Public Virtue
- Widespread Education
- Auxiliary Precautions
The Founders consistently taught that, in the absence of these foundations, no society can survive, or at least maintain its freedom.
Private virtue means being a person of integrity; being honest in your dealings with others, being faithful in your duties to your family, controlling your appetites, etc.
Public virtue means to voluntarily sacrifice personal benefit for the good of society. For example, George Washington served two terms as President even when, as he was accepting the post, he wrote that it “would be the greatest sacrifice of my personal feelings and wishes that ever I have been called upon to make.”
Contrary to our modern conception of education, widespread education to the Founders didn’t mean job training; it meant classical, liberal education designed to teach individuals how to think, not what to think (see A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille).
And finally, auxiliary precautions are a society’s forms of government that ideally protect life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Auxiliary precautions include Legitimate Foundation, Legitimate Authority, Legitimate Role, Separation of Powers, Checks, Balances, Federalism, Written Constitution, Enumerated Limited Powers, Periodic Elections, Electoral College, and Factionalization.
Why It Matters
What matters most about the four foundations is their order of importance. The Founders understood that no free government, however enlightened, can survive unless the people that it governs are moral and virtuous.
Constitutional government is nothing but words on paper unless its principles are alive in the souls of the people; free nations get the government that they deserve. When a free people fails to internalize and exhibit public and private virtue, no government on earth can keep them from destroying themselves. On the other hand, people who cultivate and maintain virtue and value their principles above their privileges enjoy unlimited prosperity, peace, and happiness.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.”
James Madison added, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.”
In a free government, the People get the government that they deserve. The only way to maintain freedom is to maintain private and public virtue. This leads to the next question…
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Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
Question #1: What is the source of man’s rights?
June 4, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
| Ten Foundational Questions | Introduction |
The Declaration of Independence states that “…all men are created equal…they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”
Sir William Blackstone wrote that, “Man…must necessarily be subject to the laws of his Creator…This will of his Maker is called the law of nature…This law of nature…is of course superior to any other…No human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are valid derive all their force…from this original.”
Others who have taught that man’s rights come from God and/or Natural Law include Aristotle, Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Montesquieu, and John Locke.
The competing view(s)–that rights come from the State, or collective society, or a monarch, or a “vanguard”–have been taught by philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes, Karl Marx, Jean Jacques-Rousseau, and John Rawls.
Why It Matters
If our rights come from a human source, whether that be collective society, a monarch, or any other person or group of people, then they can also be taken away by human sources. In other words, unless rights come from a Creator or Natural Law–a source that transcends humans–they are not unalienable by definition. If they are granted by humans, they can also be rightfully taken by humans.
If your right to life is granted by collective society, or a democracy, then your life can rightfully be taken by nothing more than a majority vote. If your property is granted by a vanguard, or a group of elite individuals in charge of the state, then it can be taken at any point by the same people. If a king grants you your right to raise a family and grow a garden, he can legitimately take your wife, sell your kids as slaves, and pillage your garden any time he sees fit.
Our constitution was not written to grant rights–it was written to secure rights that have always existed regardless of any government. This basic knowledge, however, has largely been lost as evidenced by an overblown federal government, egregious taxation, wealth redistribution programs, eminent domain, an other tyrannical policies.
Question: Which philosophy do Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Ron Paul adhere to respectively?
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Ten Foundational Questions: An Introduction
June 4, 2008 by Stephen Palmer · Leave a Comment
Before I give my answers to the questions in my last post, let me explain why I ask them.
In creating them, my thought process was to identify the foundational premises for the main competing views in political philosophy. The answers to each of these questions boil all of the political issues down to the roots of why and how different people develop their political views. By knowing these base premises, one is able to understand where others are coming from and be more persuasive in the fight for liberty.
In other words, knowing the answers to these ten questions will help you cut through peripheral issues and strike at the heart of political arguments that are eroding America’s freedom. The answers provide a foundation of political philosophy that, when understood by enough Americans, will restore our Republic.
Beware the Boredom Factor!
Let’s be honest with each other–political philosophy is boring (unless you’re a geek like me). Discussing these questions will not be exciting, sexy, or entertaining.
Understanding these ten questions and knowing the answers to them, however, is absolutely vital if we wish to preserve freedom for ourselves and our posterity. As boring as it may be, without this knowledge we cannot and will not survive as a free nation.
So what will it be for you: entertainment or freedom?
Now, on to the questions…
Move the Cause of Liberty by (1) subscribing to the Sentinel, a free weekly newsletter boldly illuminating the principles of freedom in a darkening nation, and (2) pledging your Life, Liberty, and Sacred Honor to the Cause by signing the Declaration of Dependence.
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Copyright © 2008 by The Cause of Liberty. All rights reserved.
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