Political Philosophy Research Paper

1479 Words6 Pages

The purpose of this paper is to present arguments about the continuous development of political thought and a stance with regards to the status of political philosophy. It aims to show that the progression of political philosophy was influenced by factors that contributed for the emergence and evolution of political science as a discipline, as well as the current standing of political theory. Through discussing the progression of political philosophy, it will be made clear in the end that political philosophy is an enterprise that can and must be retained for the continuous development of political thought.

Many factors have influenced the progress of political philosophy; however, this paper will only tackle the major influences that became …show more content…

Successful paradigms became victorious than their competitors in bringing up solutions with regards to something they regard as acute; these paradigms will gain a status that is only for them to enjoy (Kuhn, 1996). In Kuhnian term, it can be that only one paradigm will remain among other paradigms if it succeeded in its revolution. Since political science already emerged and gained a status in both the academic and practical world with its weapon called reliability, does this mean that political philosophy will gradually fade away and totally disappear? Does this also mean that the principle of paradigm shifts with regards to destroying its opponents apply in the case of political philosophy? This will not be the case political philosophy will not be eliminated just like pre-paradigmatic schools. Political philosophy, despite all the shifts in theories and practice, can and must remain in the interior of the discipline of political science. Just like in a paradigmatic shift, older school of thoughts do not only have one end instead it can be destroyed or incorporated in the leading paradigm (Kuhn, …show more content…

The shifts were able to produced three evolving status for political philosophy starting from its formation up to the present times. For its first status, political philosophy was held in veneration after its promising formation when it gave way to the formation of political theory. Through this the latter enterprise became the most prominent activity in the study of politics. Also, it was able to prescribe certain norms on the political order in a more systematic way. The next status of political philosophy, suffered a dangerous position of being eradicated in the inquiry of politics because of the behavioral revolution. Finally, political philosophy was placed in a position where it cannot be removed from political science, at the same time it’s not the only enterprise in which the discipline is grounded

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