#auto-politeia-self-constitution

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Right-wing politics
fromTruthout
2 days ago

No Kings Must Mean No War: Foreign Policy Is Least Democratic Space in Politics

The majority of Iranian Americans oppose the war on Iran, despite media portrayal of pro-monarchy sentiments.
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 days ago

Denmark's unique political model is in crisis I blame the boomerang effect | Rune Lykkeberg

The result was a vote of no confidence in a centrist government led by the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen. Her administration was, in the Danish context, an unusual political construction.
Europe politics
World news
fromThe Nation
6 days ago

What Are Your Obligations When Your Country Is the Villain?

The U.S. executed a devastating missile strike on a school in Iran, killing many children and raising moral questions about its actions.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
6 days ago

How Long Can You Live Your Ideals?

Pat Calhoun chooses parenthood over radicalism, paralleling Elsa Haddish's struggle between her militant past and raising her daughter safely.
fromAllthingssmitty
6 days ago

You probably don't need to lift state - Matt Smith

Keep state as close as possible to where it's actually used. Lift it when multiple components need it or you need to coordinate behavior between components.
React
Social justice
fromemptywheel
1 week ago

The Point of No Kings Is NO KINGS - emptywheel

Protests against authoritarianism emphasize the principle of 'No Kings' as foundational to the nation's values.
fromPhilosophynow
4 days ago

Life Sacrifice

The widespread practice of showing the Eid Al Adha slaughtering to children can desensitize them to violence, as many families take pride in this tradition.
Philosophy
#liberalism
#jurgen-habermas
Law
fromAbove the Law
2 weeks ago

The Rule Of Law Joins America's Dead Pets On The Rainbow Bridge - Above the Law

Trump attorney John Lauro claimed the DOJ improved under Attorney General Pam Bondi, contradicting legal observers who view current conditions as a constitutional crisis threatening prosecutorial independence.
Germany politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Jurgen Habermas, German philosopher and sociologist, dies aged 96

Jürgen Habermas, influential German philosopher and sociologist known for theories of political consensus-building and democratic discourse, died at age 96.
fromemptywheel
3 weeks ago

Mixing The Mixed Constitution - emptywheel

Burke's was a broadside that not only excoriated the social upheavals effected by the French revolutionaries and (by extension) commended by Marx, but the continual economic and social instability prized by modern liberal economic philosophy and practice. Against a new class of elites-mainly, an alliance between ideological progressive theorists and a rising financial oligarchy-Burke urged protection of the stability, tradition, and social continuities vital for the flourishing of ordinary people.
Left-wing politics
US politics
fromAxios
3 weeks ago

Axios Finish Line: A consensus Bill of Rights

Americans across political lines support limited government intervention in personal freedoms, secure borders with pathways for legal immigrants, reduced federal spending, and decreased government trust.
Philosophy
fromNature
1 week ago

How the idea of human superiority over nature was invented

Humans are part of nature, not separate from it, and this relationship shapes our understanding of ourselves and other animals.
fromBig Think
1 month ago

How the U.S. Constitution protects liberty from the powerful's dark impulses

The real Führer is always a judge. Out of Führerdom flows judgeship. One who wants to separate the two from each other or puts them in opposition to each other would have the judge be either the leader of the opposition or the tool of the opposition and is trying to unhinge the state with the help of the judiciary.
History
World politics
fromwww.mercurynews.com
1 month ago

French: War and peace cannot be left to one man especially not this man

President Trump's unilateral military strike on Iran without congressional approval violates constitutional war powers and undermines America's long-term strategic success.
fromenglish.elpais.com
2 weeks ago

Lea Ypi, writer: The two major problems of the 21st century are capitalism and the nation-state'

In her latest book, Indignity, Ypi blends archival material with a fictionalized account of her grandmother's childhood in Thessaloniki and her arrival in Albania, exploring themes of memory and dignity.
Philosophy
Philosophy
fromThe Nation
2 weeks ago

The Hidden History of Free Choice

Choice became central to modern freedom through 17th-century developments in shopping and religious freedom, fundamentally reshaping how societies understand liberty across consumer, romantic, political, and ideological spheres.
Law
fromAbove the Law
1 month ago

Standing Up And Cheering For American-ish Principles - Above the Law

Trump's State of the Union challenge to Democrats about protecting American citizens over illegal aliens was a rhetorical trap that oversimplified complex policy issues requiring nuanced discussion rather than simple yes-or-no responses.
EU data protection
fromInfoWorld
1 month ago

Sovereignty isn't a toggle feature

European cloud alternatives like Hetzner and Scaleway can deliver comparable performance and capabilities to AWS while significantly reducing costs, though they require greater operational responsibility and architectural commitment to sovereignty.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

The Guardian view on the legacy of Jurgen Habermas: philosophical sustenance for illiberal times | Editorial

The Theory of Communicative Action, his 1980s magnum opus, was not (to put it mildly) as accessible as some of his newspaper opinion pieces. But its central idea—that our nature as linguistic beings puts reason and the search for consensus at the core of who we are—remains an antidote both to intellectual relativism and Trumpian realism, which elevates national or individual self-interest above all other sources of human motivation.
Philosophy
UK politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

The Guardian view on violent online rhetoric: all politicians have a duty to set a civil tone | Editorial

Politicians must exercise judgment before sharing social media content, as false posts and violent rhetoric endanger public figures and discourage political participation.
World politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Autocracy is rising in the west. But the global south proves it's not inevitable | Kenneth Roth

Autocrats face growing internal pressure from their populations, while democracy remains valued globally despite Western challenges from far-right movements and disaffected voters.
Philosophy
fromThe Nation
2 weeks ago

In Defense of Being Performative

Democracy requires citizens to actively perform civic engagement; dismissing performative politics misunderstands that democratic participation is inherently performative and essential for democratic survival.
Philosophy
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 weeks ago

Talk is precious: in the age of communication collapse, Jurgen Habermas's message remains vital | Eva von Redecker

The Frankfurt School is a scholarly constellation pursuing critique as transformative description of reality, with Jürgen Habermas serving as a foundational figure who shaped generations of critical theorists despite controversies surrounding his positions on discourse ethics and power.
Philosophy
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

Jurgen Habermas obituary

Jürgen Habermas transformed from a Hitler Youth member into a leading defender of Enlightenment values and democratic theory after witnessing Nazi atrocities, dedicating his philosophy to ensuring collective democratic influence over society.
fromHarvard Gazette
1 month ago

Excerpt from 'The Cradle of Citizenship' by James Traub - Harvard Gazette

The same deep forces that afflict many Western nations have wrenched us apart: the transition to a postindustrial economy and the attendant erosion of working-class security, the demographic shift toward a "majority minority" nation, the cultural upheaval that has dethroned men, and especially white men, from their age-old dominance - and the rise of entrepreneurs of outrage eager to exploit all that free-floating anger.
Education
World politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Politics Without Politicians by Helene Landemore review power to the people

Randomly selected citizen assemblies replacing electoral politics reduce polarization, deepen civic bonds, and produce more legitimate, deliberative collective decisions.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
3 weeks ago

Why We Need a Formal, Mandatory, and Remunerated "Citizen Lobby"

Post-Cold War optimism about democracy and internet freedom has been undermined by geopolitical tensions, neoliberalism, nationalism, and corporate influence that concentrate power among the already wealthy.
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

The Politics of Looking Away

Like us, you may feel paralyzed in the face of the relentless images of violence we see every day. Suffering children, military occupations, the devastated neighborhoods, the cries of parents mourning their dead-these scenes haunt us. Whether it is happening in Palestine or Minneapolis, we are witnesses to suffering, and that witnessing takes a heavy toll. Clearly, the devastating situations in the West Bank and Gaza and in Minneapolis differ
Social justice
Philosophy
fromApaonline
3 weeks ago

Secrecy, Democracy, Necessity

Executive officials justify secrecy through claims of protecting decision-making integrity and national security, but such necessity arguments alone cannot legitimize secret governance in democracies.
Philosophy
fromwww.theguardian.com
3 weeks ago

The Guardian view on Adam Smith: he deserves rescuing from the free-market myth | Editorial

Adam Smith's economic philosophy has been oversimplified by free-market advocates who misrepresent his nuanced views on self-interest, morality, and the role of institutions in generating wealth.
fromenglish.elpais.com
2 months ago

It is easier to overthrow a tyrant than to govern a leaderless country

Any lingering doubts about the true motives behind the 2003 invasion of Iraq were dispelled when looters were ransacking Baghdad, carrying off millennia-old artifacts from the Iraqi capital's archaeological museum, while U.S. troops fortified the Ministry of Oilthe only government building left untouched and from which not a single document emerged. The disastrous and illegal invasion, spearheaded by the United States with military support from the United Kingdom
World news
Philosophy
fromHarvard Gazette
3 weeks ago

Where have all the public intellectuals gone? - Harvard Gazette

Public intellectuals are essential in democratic cultures to articulate unformed ideas and help citizens understand their values, but conditions supporting intellectual life in America are eroding due to social and economic shifts.
fromFast Company
2 months ago

Our embrace of individuals over institutions isn't serving us well

In the early 20th century, sociologist Max Weber noted that sweeping industrialization would transform how societies worked. As small, informal operations gave way to large, complex organizations with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, leaders would need to rely less on tradition and charisma, and more on organization and rationality. He also foresaw that jobs would need to be broken down into specialized tasks and governed by a system of hierarchy,
History
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Put Humans in Charge Again

Strong executive authority and flexible decision-making enable rapid, large-scale public works, mass hiring, and fast crisis responses when bureaucratic processes are bypassed.
Philosophy
Tyranny corrupts all psychic faculties into servants of lawless appetite, with reason producing ideology to rationalize control rather than ceasing to function.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Populism': we used to know what it meant. Now the defining word of our era has lost its meaning | Oliver Eagleton

Populism may well have been the defining word of the previous decade: a shorthand for the insurgent parties that came to prominence in the 2010s, challenging the dominance of the liberal centre. But no sooner had it become the main rubric for discussing both the far left and far right than commentators began to question its validity: worrying that it was too vague, or too pejorative, or fuelling the forces to which it referred.
World politics
fromThe Conversation
4 weeks ago

Today's obsession with authenticity isn't new - being true to yourself has troubled philosophers for centuries

All of us live in an age where we're bombarded by social media and artificial intelligence - when striving to be your authentic self becomes an increasingly difficult task. Yet, even if it has somehow become a common goal, it is unclear how many of us can truly define the "authenticity" that we say we are pursuing.
Philosophy
fromLGBTQ Nation
1 month ago

Political pragmatism is not a moral failing. It may be the only thing that can save us. - LGBTQ Nation

He is not worthy of the presidency. He takes bribes blatantly. And now he's being a racist, blatantly. They were supposed to deport the dangerous criminals. They were not supposed to go after small children, storm schools, bring terror upon, you know, the little kids and the women and children, not just the immigrants in the school. All the children are scared.
US politics
History
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Provocation That Helped Create America

Common Sense decisively shifted American public opinion toward independence by forcefully arguing for separation from Britain, catalyzing the Revolutionary movement.
fromemptywheel
2 months ago

Regime Change By Patrick Deneen - emptywheel

The readings in my last series led me to see the genuine hatred conservatives have for what they call variously liberal hegemony, liberal ideology, left-wing ideology, and other names. David Brooks, newly ensconced at Yale and The Atlantic, is just sure it was liberals who caused Trump's wins, with their snotty "knowledge", and "refined tastes". I mocked this nonsense, but apparently Brooks was serious about the super bad feelings his people have about such things.
Right-wing politics
Philosophy
fromBig Think
1 month ago

The philosophy of indoctrination and how to fix it

Indoctrination occurs when beliefs are sealed off from questioning through prepackaged instructions that frame scrutiny as irrational or immoral, preventing rational evaluation of counterevidence.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

The Founders Would Have Opposed 'Nationalizing' Elections

State-centered election administration and constitutional limits make nationalizing voting inconsistent with the Framers' intent and vulnerable to judicial resistance.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

Far-right 'gangster morality' and the search for meaning: why you should read Camus

Albert Camus' existential and moral philosophy addressing nihilism, absurdity, and totalitarianism remains relevant to contemporary issues of alienation, anxiety, and authoritarian movements.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

America Needs 'Self-Evident' Truths

Public revulsion at ICE killings in Minnesota forced federal agents to withdraw and revealed a broad, shared moral opposition to violence against immigrants.
World politics
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

What Happens to Your Identity Under a Dictator

Authoritarian surveillance and fear force self-censorship, creating a split between public persona and authentic self that causes lasting psychological harm.
fromwww.mercurynews.com
1 month ago

Opinion: Liberty doesn't defend itself right now, it needs our help.

In the United States, we haven't yet seen rifles aimed at large crowds, but we do observe masked federal agents detaining protesters in unmarked vehicles, flashy ICE raids staged like military operations and pardons for political violence all clear warning signs. Ignoring this is the first step toward complacency, which can kill liberty. Fascism is often misunderstood. It is not just political oppression; it is a set of traits, as scholars and observers point out,
US politics
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

The Humanities Challenge: Expanding the Circle of Philosophy

Philosophy offers transformative insights and vision into human life, and public humanities must evolve beyond traditional academic formats to make philosophy accessible to broader audiences through innovative, engaging methods.
fromemptywheel
2 months ago

This Is Not A Constitutional Moment - emptywheel

This script is based on a theory proposed by Bruce Ackerman, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School. Ackerman's idea is laid out in his 1991 book We The People: Foundations, and is discussed in the second of his Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures of 2006. It's gained prominence since the 2024 election and the wholesale assault on our governmental system by Trump.
US politics
US politics
fromemptywheel
1 month ago

Morality Is The Issue - emptywheel

The Trump Regime's actions violate shared fundamental morality; resisting these evils is a collective moral obligation.
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

America feels like a country on the brink of an authoritarian takeover | Francine Prose

When we talk about our inability to pay attention, to concentrate, we often mean and blame our phones. It's easy, it's meant to be easy. One flick of our index finger transports us from disaster to disaster, from crisis to crisis, from maddening lie to maddening lie. Each new unauthorized attack and threatened invasion grabs the headlines, until something else takes its place, and meanwhile the government's attempts to terrorize and silence the people of our country continue.
US politics
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

Meekness isn't weakness - once considered positive, it's one of the 'undersung virtues' that deserve defense today

What do you envision when you think of meekness? You probably see a mousy doormat, someone sheepishly acquiescing to the will of the stronger. When Jesus says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," you might think that those wimps will hand it over without a whimper or word of objection to stronger, more ambitious people. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche called meekness "craven baseness."
Philosophy
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

American Democracy Is Showing Signs of Life

American democracy faced severe authoritarian threats under Trump but shows resilience through declining presidential support, mass protest, citizen defense, political opposition, and judicial resistance.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The 17th-Century Philosopher Who Helps Explain Stephen Miller

Political leaders align with either Lockean faith in citizens' reason and the common good or Hobbesian belief in human viciousness requiring strong authority, shaping governance.
Philosophy
fromThe Conversation
1 month ago

I'm a philosopher who tries to see the best in others - but I know there are limits

Interpreting others charitably—seeing them as protagonists who do their best—promotes understanding, cooperation, and productive learning across differences.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Commons: How Originalism Killed the Constitution

Constitutional amendment process has been dormant but historically awakens during crises; worsening polarization and institutional rot make amendments necessary to repair democracy.
US politics
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Rise of Libertarian Authoritarianism

Trump combines hands-on market interventions with pro-business policies that enrich corporations and wealthy donors while retaining populist rhetoric.
fromwww.mercurynews.com
2 months ago

Bouie: There is a sickness eating away at American democracy

The truth is that as a country we have often found one reason or another to let the powerful escape the consequences of their actions. Consider Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, commander in chief of a rebellion that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Davis spent two years in federal custody after the end of the war. The indictment against him was dismissed following his release, and he spent the rest of his life a free man.
US politics
US politics
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

Democrats have a constitutional power they aren't using to fight back: state resolutions | Sidney Blumenthal

Democratic state legislatures can revive pre-17th Amendment orders of instruction to pressure senators and counter attempts to impose a police state.
Philosophy
fromAeon
2 months ago

The West's forgotten republican heritage | Aeon Essays

Power to shape daily life has shifted to markets, corporations, and data systems, leaving citizens feeling powerless and fueling a turn toward authoritarian politics.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 months ago

In the Midst of a Crisis: Relational Liberalism and the Contemporary Challenges to Democratic Legitimacy

Contemporary democracies face a legitimacy crisis driven by widespread erosion of trust, causing representation breakdowns, unchecked power, and extreme asymmetries in wealth, status, and influence.
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

A Better Grammar for Political Debates

I am using the word pragmatism in a specific sense. I am not speaking about being pragmatic as a political tactic; deciding what issues should be given priority and what battles to choose, or a willingness to compromise, or a recognition that there are limits to what can be accomplished at any time. I am writing now about pragmatism in a meaning closer to its philosophical origin in the writings of William James-that truth is not found in abstract principles or beliefs,
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 months ago

Why We Should Doubt that Academic Philosophy Benefits the Broader Public

A professional philosopher outside the academy walls can act as a popularizer (the goal here is to make philosophy more accessible to the general public), an applied ethicist (the major task is to offer an analysis of various specific moral issues that arise within a society), and a public intellectual (I limit this role to questions that have political connotation). Of course, there are overlaps between these roles and they certainly do not exhaust all possible forms of public engagement of a professional philosopher.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

Why You Can't Rely on Your Own Morality Alone

What does it mean to say that you are restrained solely by your own morality, by your own mind? The conscience is often described as an inner voice telling us what to do when others may be opposed. A moral compass is that which distinguishes between right and wrong, good and bad. Our conscience, our moral compass, sets the groundwork for doing the right thing.
Philosophy
#philosophy
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

What We Get Wrong About Human Dignity

Dignity is inherent and unconditional; making dignity conditional, earned, or reduced to niceness or status destroys true human worth and respect.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
1 month ago

What Accountability-Seeking Protest Can Tell Us About Democracy

Different kinds of political protest pursue distinct aims; accountability-seeking protest aims to hold actors responsible and can reinforce democratic community bonds.
fromLGBTQ Nation
2 months ago

Why the right wants to ban Plato: It's part of their war on being human - LGBTQ Nation

Texas A&M University last week banned a philosophy professor from teaching about Plato's Symposium because it's too gay, and, while obviously philosophy classes should be allowed to teach about Plato and state lawmakers and administrators shouldn't be interfering in curricula... they are right that the specific texts that they banned are pretty gay. If the legislators' and administrators' goal is to make LGBTQ+ people feel more isolated and alone as a way of getting them to conform and pretend to be cisgender and heterosexual,
Philosophy
Philosophy
fromPhilosophynow
2 months ago

Cicero & the Ideal of Virtue

Cicero centers virtus as the Roman ideal combining courage, moral integrity, and civic responsibility as the ethical foundation for political leadership and civic life.
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

If Justice Doesn't Exist, Then Numbers Don't Either

A drawn circle is at least something physical. You can see it, touch it, erase it. The skeptic can still say, "Circles are grounded in physical reality. Justice is different; it's just an idea in your head." So let's talk about the number two. Point to it. Not two apples, not two fingers, not a numeral on a page-that's just a symbol.
Philosophy
Philosophy
fromPhilosophynow
2 months ago

The Post Paralysis Peace Paradox

Stoic philosophy transformed perspective after complete quadriplegia, fostering acceptance, resilience, and meaning despite health complications, caregiving strains, institutional barriers, and ableism.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
1 month ago

Embracing Intellectual Humility in Political Conversations

Intellectual humility recognizes knowledge limits, seeks other perspectives, and restrains certainty, tribalism, extremism, and contempt in political judgment.
fromApaonline
1 month ago

Philosophy, Technology, and Mortality

This APA Blog series has broadly explored philosophy and technology with a throughline on the influence of technology and AI on well-being. This month's post brings those themes into focus recounting a vital Washington Post Opinion piece by friend of the APA Blog, Samuel Kimbriel. Samuel is the founding director of the Aspen Institute's Philosophy and Society Initiative and Editor at Large for Wisdom of Crowds. We collaborated on a Substack Newsletter about intellectual ambition, building on his essay, Thinking is Risky.
Philosophy
fromPsychology Today
2 months ago

A Third Kind of Philosophy

Many philosophers strike me as like Polish apparatchiks in 1983-they turn up to work and do what they did yesterday just because they don't know what else to do, not because they seriously believe in the system they are maintaining. I think it's not been fully appreciated how much of a blow it is to the confidence of the field's youth that scientific ambitions are increasingly abandoned as untenable.
Philosophy
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 months ago

Recently Published Book Spotlight: The Rise of Polarization: Affects, Politics, and Philosophy

Prevailing accounts of affective polarization misdiagnose the phenomenon by focusing on survey patterns instead of the underlying narrative and affective practices that shape political life.
fromApaonline
1 month ago

"Philosophical Projects: Bringing Everyday Life into Intro to Philosophy," Mateo Duque

I have been teaching Introduction to Philosophy at least once a year since 2012, beginning in my second year of graduate school at the CUNY Graduate Center. Teaching in New York City shaped me in countless ways, and each new iteration of "Intro" has pushed me to refine the course-even if only incrementally. The class I teach now at Binghamton University looks very different from the one I first taught as a graduate student using a borrowed syllabus.
Philosophy
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