Dlittle30

LATEST ARTICLES ( 866 )

• Trumpism and Hannah Arendt's Reflections on Totalitarianism

  

  In a recent post I considered Hannah Arendt's reflections on what she termed the totalitarianism of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Read more

  Posted on 30 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Hobbes, Thucydides, and Conflict

  

  Anyone interested in the development of modern political philosophy is unavoidably interested in Thomas Hobbes, author of Leviathan and one of the earliest... Read more

  Posted on 29 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Is "totalitarianism" a Thing?

  

  Hannah Arendt's most important contribution to political theory was her book on totalitarianism, The Origins of Totalitarianism. Read more

  Posted on 28 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Evil in the Peloponnesian War?

  

  Recent posts have focused attention on the topic of the evils that occurred in the twentieth century: genocide, deliberate mass starvation, mass enslavement, an... Read more

  Posted on 23 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Conservative and Progressive Forms of Democracy

  

  An earlier post suggested that we cannot really address the issue of the stability of liberal democracy without considering issues of economic justice as well. Read more

  Posted on 08 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Social Democracy, Unbridled Capitalism, and Right-wing Populism

  

  An earlier post raised the question of popular support for -- satisfaction with -- the state of democracy in many democratic nations. Read more

  Posted on 04 December 2020 SOCIETY

• Making the Case for Liberal Democracy

  

  Recent posts have considered the question of whether liberal democracy is stable, or whether the assaults on liberal democracy by the populist far-right are... Read more

  Posted on 23 November 2020 SOCIETY

• The Moral Force of the US Constitution

  

  Why should we revere our constitution as the fundamental set of political and moral principles underlying our democracy? Is it simply because it was written... Read more

  Posted on 21 November 2020 SOCIETY

• Astounding Assault on Democracy

  

  Donald Trump's attack on the electoral system has gone far beyond normal and evidence-based legal challenges to details about the election and the vote counting. Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2020 SOCIETY

• The Difference Between "apartheid" and Apartheid

  

  I am spending several weeks in one of my courses on the struggle in South Africa to bring the apartheid system to an end. This is a struggle many of us... Read more

  Posted on 18 November 2020 SOCIETY

• Thirteen Years of Understanding Society

  

  This month represents the end of the thirteenth year of publication of Understanding Society. Since 2010 the blog has received 11,874,515 pageviews. Read more

  Posted on 09 November 2020 SOCIETY

• The 2020 Election

  

  There is something encouraging about the health of American democracy on Election Day, 2020. That is the passion for our democracy that so many millions of US... Read more

  Posted on 06 November 2020 SOCIETY

• Issues of Ethics in Philosophy of History

  

  Most writings in the philosophy of history have focused on issues of epistemology, method, and explanation. But our history as human beings is thoroughly... Read more

  Posted on 31 October 2020 SOCIETY

• Slipping Towards Authoritarianism

  

  Many observers have raised concerns about the direction that American politics has taken in the past decade, and especially since the election of 2016. Read more

  Posted on 28 October 2020 SOCIETY

• An Allegory for the Philosophy of History

  

  What is the role of history and narrative for human beings and peoples? What do we gain by learning of "our" past and the often horrendous crimes that we human... Read more

  Posted on 22 October 2020 SOCIETY

• Orwell on Revolutionary Spain

  

  Barcelona barricade, 1937Spanish Civil War poster (UC San Diego Library)It is very interesting to reread George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia (1938) after a gap... Read more

  Posted on 20 October 2020 SOCIETY

• Theories of Authoritarian Personality

  

  A key problem faced today by liberal democracies throughout the world is the fact that millions of citizens in those democracies seem to support parties and... Read more

  Posted on 14 October 2020 SOCIETY

• The Moral Emotions of Liberal Democracy

  

  Recent discussions in a class on democracy and the politics of hate (link) have been very stimulating and thought provoking. We have spent several weeks... Read more

  Posted on 02 October 2020 SOCIETY

• Marc Bloch's Phenomenology

  

  Marc Bloch's Historian's Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It is challenging to read, in... Read more

  Posted on 28 September 2020 SOCIETY

• Marc Bloch's Philosophy of History

  

  Marc Bloch wrote The Historian's Craft: Reflections on the Nature and Uses of History and the Techniques and Methods of Those Who Write It. after the defeat of... Read more

  Posted on 20 September 2020 SOCIETY