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Research Report - Spencer Phillips

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Research Report: [Tyranny: A New Interpretation]

 

By [Spencer Phillips], [Big Brother's Project] Team

 

Abstract

This work examines the shift in political philosophy from the concept of “Ideal Good” expounded by classical philosophers like Plato to the essentially pragmatic fear-or-love approach put forth by Machiavelli. As an academic piece of writing, this work is intended for a certain audience. As such, its dense and florid writing is not easily accessible to those without sufficient grounding in classic philosophy. It does, however, offer a scope both wide and deep enough to be highly informative, if limited to Western schools of thought.

 

Description.  

The major focus of Tyranny: A New Interpretation is on illuminating the different approaches of Classical and post-Machiavellian political philosophy. The former is explained to focus on channeling men to understand and enlighten the world; the latter is put forth as focusing on the ability of a leader to alter the world so as to better fit him and his people. While the focus is achieved, the work suffers heavily from a lack of clarity, accessibility, and utility.

 

To an extent, the goal of illuminating the differences between Classical and Machiavellian thought is achieved. The philosophy of Classical philosophers is heavily analyzed, especially toward the beginning of the work, and the conclusions are explained in a satisfactory, if meandering, way. The tenets and concerns of Machiavelli are picked out, contrasted against Classical thought, and found to be starkly different, pragmatic, cold, and successful. Insofar as this work is a treatise on the evolution of political thought in relation to leaders and tyranny, it is a success.

 

The work also partly succeeds in relating tired thought to new deeds. Through the comparison and labeling of modern tyrants like Vladimir Putin to ancient ones such as Augustus Caesar, the work attempts to give dusty words fresh air. This succeeds in that it points out how ancient classifications still apply to the modern era. It fails, however, by doing this only in passing. Its heavy focus on contrasting Plato and Aristotle with Machiavelli prevents these attempts from being anything more than brief respites from wading through the endlessly twisted phrases that populate the text.

 

The major failure of the work is its utter indifference to schools of thought outside the classics and Machiavelli, Rousseau, Hobbes, et al as well as to general accessibility to an audience wider than academia. The latter is a crippling factor caused by a pervasive discoloration due to a penchant for abstruse language and a habit of circularly recursive phrasing. The former, meanwhile, makes this work emblematic of a lack typical to many writings by Western academics: the inability or unwillingness to look beyond Europe, Rome, Greece and the sand their head is buried in. This is to the overall detriment of a work dedicated to the analysis of the idea of "tyranny"; Eastern or simply non-European scholars - especially scholars from the time of China's well-written period of emperor's - would have added much to the study of what a tyrant is, and what leadership requires.

 

Commentary.  

While the work does provide food for the thought and a base from which to explore Classic writings, it is not of particular worth to the Big Brothers Project, a project run by Weslina Hung, Priscilla Leung, Max Hillman, Rosie, and Spencer Phillips that focuses upon determining and analyzing causative factors and resultant themes in dystopian fiction.

 

The writing is in general of too theoretical or analytical a nature to be of great use in a practical and creative project. The greatest advantage it will convey is of a greater understanding of the psychology of a tyrant. Knowing the difference between a hedonistic tyrant and a pragmatic tyrant, as well as the different schools of thought behind the utilization and reformation thereof, would be of paramount importance in the event that a tyrannical character is utilized. Such knowledge adds depth and color to a figure that otherwise would be naught but a cardboard cutout.

 

However, the possible facilities granted by this work pale in comparison to the far simpler utilization of that upon which it is based. Or more simply put: it would have been better to simply read Machiavelli’s The Prince, Aristotle’s Essays, and Plato’s diatribes, perhaps in conjunction with a genuine psychological treatise.

 

 

Resources for Further Study.  

Newell, Waller R. Tyranny: A New Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print.

 

Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince, translated by N.H. Thomson. Vol. XXXVI, Part 1. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/36/1/.

 

Aristotle, E. H. Warmington, ed. The Politics, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1972).

 

Lewis, Daniel C. Direct Democracy and Minority Rights: A Critical Assessment of the Tyranny of the Majority in the American States. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.

 

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