Final Review

Comprehensive midterm review vocabulary flashcards covering the political philosophies of Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Aquinas, and Augustine, based on the course lecture transcript.

Cultural Relativism

A perspective holding that everyone is correct and behavior depends on one's culture, which risks accepting atrocities like genocide if one becomes too tolerant.

Three Questions of Cultural Relativism

What human problem is it solving? What kind of human being does it produce? What must politics do to make the world livable?

Risk of Material Conflict

The persistent human problem involving killing each other that cultural relativism attempts to solve by lowering stakes and deflating conflict.

Contingency (in Belief)

The cultural relativist view that one's beliefs about right and wrong could be radically otherwise and are as valid as anyone else's.

John Locke's Central Problem

How we can live together if we are all naturally free and equal.

Human Nature (Locke)

Characterized as free, equal, reason-capable, and inherently a property-owner.

Constitutional Liberalism

A political system associated with Lockean virtues such as tolerance, rationality, and opposition to violence.

State of Perfect Freedom (Locke)

A condition where individuals can act as they see fit as long as it does not conflict with the Law of Nature.

State of Perfect Equality (Locke)

A state where no one has a divine decree to rule and everyone can act freely, making everyone equal.

Law of Nature (Locke)

The principle teaching that since we are the property of a divine creator, we must not harm another's life, liberty, health, or possessions.

Universal Executive Power

The right of everyone in the state of nature to restrain violators of the law of nature and protect the innocent.

Labor Theory of Value

Locke's theory that human energy put into a thing is what gives it value and makes it one's property.

State of Nature Transformation (Locke Chapter $5$)

A transition caused by the invention of money where value becomes abstract, inequality arises, and conflict becomes structural.

Money (Locke)

A storable form of value that "freezes the here and now" and allows for the accumulation of wealth and systemic inequality.

Incorporate

Literally meaning "to make into a body," referring to the process of individuals joining together into a community.

Express Consent

A form of consent where an individual literally says they are joining a society, binding themselves to the body politic.

Tacit Consent

Consent given by using or possessing property that is designated and secured by the laws of a particular territory.

Settled Law

One of Locke's requirements for a community; it must be established, known, and not change between disputes.

Impartial Judge

A necessity for leaving the state of nature because individuals are partial, vindictive, and lazy when judging their own cases.

Legislative Power

The power individuals give up when joining society, which is the power to direct themselves.

Executive Power (Locke)

The power individuals transfer to society to punish those who break the law.

Liberal Constitutionalism

The framework of government that limits power and preserves private property, based on Lockean principles.

Rights-bearer

The type of human being produced by the Lockean political order, habituated to follow standing public rules.

Radical Insecurity (Hobbes)

The central problem of politics according to Hobbes, produced by the natural equality and vulnerability of all humans.

Enmity

A feeling of hostility or opposition produced by the combination of equality and scarcity in the state of nature.

Diffidence

Mistrust of others that leads to preemptive war in Hobbes' state of nature.

Three Causes of Quarrel (Hobbes)

Scarcity and competition, diffidence (mistrust), and for some individuals, glory.

Liberty (Hobbes)

The absence of external impediments to one's actions, categorized as a "right."

Law (Hobbes)

A constraint that binds one's actions, categorized as an "obligation."

First Fundamental Law of Nature (Hobbes)

Seek peace and follow it, or use every advantage of war if peace cannot be obtained.

Second Law of Nature (Hobbes)

The willingness to lay down natural rights to all things provided others do the same, following the "golden rule."

Inalienable Rights (Hobbes)

Rights that cannot be transferred, such as the right to resist someone trying to kill you.

Contract

A mutual transfer of rights.

Covenant (Pact)

A contract where one or both parties are trusted to perform their part at a later time.

Justice (Hobbes)

The performance of covenants made; it requires a coercive power to punish violations.

Awe

A combination of dread, fear, and reverence that a sovereign must use to keep subjects in line.

Sovereign (Hobbes)

One man or an assembly of men to whom everyone confers their power to ensure peace through fear of punishment.

Effectual Truth

Machiavelli’s focus on the actual causes and effects of decisions rather than how things "ought" to be.

Virtù (Machiavelli)

Capacity, strength, initiative, and force; the self-generated ability to impose order on chaos.

Fortuna

The inherent instability of the world and circumstances that a prince must navigate or overcome through virtù.

Prudence (Machiavelli)

Knowing when to do good or bad based on necessity to avoid ruin.

Cruelty Well-used

Swift and decisive violence applied early to stabilize a state and prevent further disorder, such as Cesare Borgia's actions in Romagna.

Francesco Sforza

An example of a prince who rose to power through his own great virtù and laid the proper foundations.

Cesare Borgia

A prince who rose through the fortune of his father (Pope Alexander VI) but is praised for his efforts to secure power through calculated cruelty.

Ramiro d'Orco

The cruel governor used by Cesare Borgia to bring order to Romagna, who was then executed by Borgia to satisfy the people.

Chiron the Centaur

Ancient figure used by Machiavelli to symbolize that a prince must learn to use both the nature of the beast and the nature of man.

Fox and Lion

Metaphor for the traits of a prince: the fox to recognize traps and the lion to frighten wolves.

Appearance of Virtue

Machiavelli’s claim that it is not necessary to be virtuous, but it is essential for a prince to appear merciful, faithful, and religious.

Hatred (in Ruling)

The one thing a prince must avoid while seeking to be feared, often prevented by not seizing subjects' property or women.

Aquinas as Synthesizer

Thomas Aquinas's role in integrating "pagan" Aristotelian philosophy with Christian revelation.

The Aristotle Shock

The influx of Aristotle's texts into Christendom during the $12^{\text{th}}-13^{\text{th}}$ centuries through Arabic and Jewish scholars.

Scholastic Method

A method of structured questioning and argumentation involving objections, counterstatements, and replies to objections.

Law (Aquinas definition)

An ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community, and promulgated.

Measure of Law

The setting of limits and proportionate relations among human actions guided by reason.

Common Good (Aquinas)

The ultimate end of law, aimed at community happiness rather than individual benefit.

Promulgation

The act of making a law known publicly so that it has binding force on the community.

Eternal Law

God's governance and the ordering of all existence within the divine intellect, existing outside of time.

Natural Law (Aquinas)

The participation of rational creatures in the eternal law through the faculty of reason.

Human Law (Aquinas)

Particular determinations of law derived by human reason from the general principles of natural law.

Divine Law (Aquinas)

Law revealed by God (Old and New Law) to direct humans toward eternal happiness, which is beyond natural reason.

Old Law

The first part of divine law, focusing on external behavior and initial societal stability.

New Law

The second part of divine law, emphasizing inner virtue, love, and spiritual obedience.

Fomes Peccati

The "tinder of sin," referring to the disorderly inclination of the sensual appetite resulting from the Fall.

Augustine's Birth and Death

Born in $354$ in modern-day Algeria and died in $430$ during the siege of Hippo by the Vandals.

Linear History

Augustine’s view of history as a progression from Creation to the Fall, Redemption, and finally the Final Judgment.

The City of God

A community founded on the love of God, seeking eternal happiness.

The City of Man (Earthly City)

A community founded on self-love and the pursuit of material peace and stability.

The Fall (Augustine)

Humanity's initial disobedience that resulted in a ruptured relationship with God and a disordered human nature.

Grace (Augustine)

Divine assistance required for humans to achieve salvation and move toward the City of God.

Sofrosyni

The Greek word for temperance or moderation, used by Augustine to describe the control of bodily desires.

Commonwealth (Augustine)

A political community defined by collective love and shared values rather than just fear or self-interest.

Augustine's View on Politics

Political institutions exist primarily to temper chaos caused by sin; they maintain a limited earthly peace but cannot provide true justice.

Thrownness

The modern sense of existing in a pre-established, often disorderly world that requires artificial management and order.

Separation of Powers

A political innovation of modernity responding to historical experiences of conflict and suspicion of absolute power.

Pope Alexander VI

Father of Cesare Borgia and a historical figure Machiavelli identifies as highly effective at using deception to achieve his goals.

Hannibal

Military leader cited by Machiavelli as someone who used cruelty and fear to maintain total loyalty and order among his troops.

Virgil's Dido

A literary figure whose inhumane decisions are used to illustrate that cruelty may be necessary to control new territories.

Founding (Machiavelli)

The act of establishing laws, institutions, and civic character, exemplified by leaders like Moses or Romulus.

Symptomatic Law (Sin)

Aquinas' concept that the inclination to sin participates in the divine law framework as a penalty for the Fall.

Participation Doctrine

Aquinas' theory that all entities reflect God's universal order according to their specific nature (instinct for animals, reason for humans).

Supreme Reason

Augustine's concept, cited by Aquinas, that identifies eternal law with the unchangeable and divine intellect of God.

Indifferent Judges

Public officials in Locke's system who must be impartial to resolve disputes fairly within a society.

Standing Known Laws

A requirement of Lockean politics to reduce fear and anxiety by making social rules predictable and public.

Scarcity

The condition in Hobbes' state of nature where equality of desire for the same resources leads to enmity.

Glory (Hobbes)

The third cause of war in the state of nature, identifying those who seek power for its own sake or for reputation.

Covenant with God (Hobbes' critique)

Hobbes argues subjects cannot claim a prior religious obligation to change governments because the sovereign is the only legitimate mediator.

The Effectual Truth vs. Idealism

The Machiavellian contrast between how people actually live and how they "ought" to live.

Ruptured Relationship

Augustine's description of the post-Fall human state where the internal hierarchy of reason over passion is lost.

Earthly Peace

The goal of the City of Man; it is used by the City of God as a necessity during its pilgrimage through mortal life.

Determination (Legis)

The process by which human law specifies general natural law principles (e.g., setting a specific speed limit based on the principle of safety).

Divine Revelation

The delivery of eternal law to creatures through the act of Creation or the scriptures.

Intellectual Equalty (Hobbes)

The claim that humans are equal in intellect because most learn through experience, and most believe they are smarter than average.

Coercive Power

Necessary in Hobbes' system because "covenants without the sword are but words."

Division of Private and Public

A product of the Lockean political order where the individual is split between their private life and their public role as a rights-bearer.

Natural Law

The classical/Aquinas view that humans are governed by an inherent reason that understands natural stability.

Management and Negotiation

The modern domain of politics, focusing on balance of power rather than reaching a shared moral end.

Universal Participation

Aquinas' assertion that all people share in a rational order, making the common good a community-wide responsibility.

Self-Binding

The logical act of consent where individuals choose to be bound by the authority of a government.

Fear of Violent Death

The primary motivator in Hobbes' theory that drives individuals out of the state of nature and into a commonwealth.

Insecurity of Property (Locke)

The problem in the state of nature where possessions are unstable because there is no settled law or reliable enforcement.