Should politics interfere into global free economy?

Résumé du document

First I will start by underlining an important distinction Aristotle makes between theoretical sciences and practical sciences. On one hand, theoretical sciences aim at understanding the concepts they study by analyzing the principles or causes of similar aspects. On the other hand, practical sciences aim at applying the concepts in real life and understand the benefits that people can access from its researches. Practical sciences only deal about human beings as they are able to act in accordance to the choices they make. With regard to this aspect, the aim of practical sciences is to improve the action of a man.

Extraits

[...] I chose to use Aristotle political thinking for two reasons. First because despite a modern conception of politics that devalues political virtue to a simple will of preservation of civil order, I remain idealistic about the perception of politicians and politics in general. It may be because my father is the mayor of a village and because I think he works in a very virtuous way (referring to the Ancients meaning of virtue). The second reason is that I am persuaded that politics still have a crucial role in terms of sociability. [...]

[...] And it is the role of the political power to work at preserving this contract by maintaining civil order. What is needed according to Hobbes is the establishment of conditions that really make it safe to obey the laws of nature. In short civil or political government, visible powers, are required. And this political government must have absolute powers. It is particularly said in Leviathan that it must be a fact that he that have the power to protect all also has the power to oppress all. [...]

[...] First politics is no more seen as a way to reach Human Welfare as it could be the case for Aristotle. It has become the mean to insure security to people without excluding any risk of mistreatment of the population. Second, industry and business is presented as the mean to get more comfort and satisfy more easily its desires. Politics is being naturally dispossessed of all its abilities to reach more welfare. Thirdly, the globalization phenomenon brought a new difficulty for usual political authorities national authorities for example. [...]

[...] Happiness depends less on richness as an external condition, than on human relationships that are directly linked to virtue. And this remark leads us to a fundamental theory developed by Aristotle: is naturally a social and political animal”. By adapting this idea to modern western societies we clearly see that the phenomenon of growing free markets and constant contraction of politics leads, in a way, people to loneliness and thus goes against human nature. The over-individualization I talked about upper in the report is a drift that can cause psychological trouble to people. [...]

[...] Moreover, they are constitutive of politics in the way they help managing life in society. That is why Aristotle talks about political justice referring to this concept. Concerning the definition of this concept, again Aristotle gives us a two level definition by making the distinction between what is fair by nature and that is permanent- and what is fair according to laws and that changes with societies. For Aristotle the natural justice must be a fundamental basis from which humans have to set up laws. [...]