With regard to political philosophy....?

Question

Explain briefly what it means to state that all political theories are influenced by psychological/biological accounts of the nature of man??

Answer 1

The politics one subscribes to is often influenced by one's view of how man & society is, or should be. Like religion, we often choose our political dogma because it's the closest fit to our own personal beliefs.

For instance, a distrust of those more powerful than yourself can make you want to endorse political views that seem to bring the powerful down more to your level, such as wanting to protect civil liberties, or to heavily regulate & tax the rich and corporations. A fear of those different from oneself may lead one to vote for conservative laws & candidates, who can use gov't to spread (your) morality, keep out foreigners, clamp down on "radicals," etc.

One of the reasons that communism failed was that it didn't take into account certain basic aspects of human nature, namely that all humans spend much of our time acting (consciously or subconsciously) in our own self-interest, and that altruism is the exception regardless of how badly we may wish it was the norm. Communists thought that they could re-program human nature to be rid of greed, individualism, and materialistic desires. Alas, human nature is written in read-only memory, and can not be "indoctrinated" away. Communism may work fine for a colony of ants, but not for humans with self-concern.

Answer 2

Political theories, by their nature, are geared to suit societal needs. Of course, these would include biological and psychological concerns. The duty of the political system is to provide, safeguard and accommodate the smooth operation of the group dynamic, and the aforementioned aspects must be paramount in order for this to be possible.

Answer 3

It means you have no idea that ancient traditional political science comes directly from ethics, and that is why today's "politics" has little ethics and no science behind it.

Answer 4

I would not agree with this. I personally believe that much of what goes on is guided by forces of evil,