Ideas and Politics - W1

Learning Outcomes:

  • Meaning of ‘ideas’

  • Importance of ‘ideas’

  • Manifestation of ‘ideas’

  • Contested role of ‘ideas’

Ideas

Meaning of Ideas

We use ideas to help form and shape our understanding of political problems, and the surrounding norms and principles in our society, especially in establishing them. Ideas can also aid us in influence and communication, affecting the attitudes and behaviours of ourselves and others and provide us with a base point to go off from, respectively.

In politics, the differing (competing) ideas are what shape the interests of party’s, influencing our understanding in how politics is about the tension between power / control and interest pursuit.

What are Ideas

Ideas make up three different types: cognitive, normative, and preferential.

→ Cognitive: Helps in understanding one’s surroundings (how things are, how things work, )

→ Normative: Helps in establishing one’s values and principles (defines for us on what is good, just, and fair, and on the other hand. what is bad, unjust, and unfair)

→ Preferential: Helps in establishing one’s preferences and desires.

Ideas are often referred to as ‘causal beliefs’ due to their ability to change, adapt, and be influenced based on surroundings, principles, and desires. These ideas also affect the way one acts and behaves and don’t often need to be directly, strongly linked to current reality.

→ See: Emmerji et al. 2005, 214

Part of these ‘causal beliefs’ are three other dimensions, explaining how ideas are products of the cognition (brain) and are employed to make connections to other things (cause and effect) and provide a basis for a course of action (like responding to, thinking about, and resolving issues).

→ See: Beland & Cox, 2011

Ideas are not objective pieces of information, hence they cannot be empirical. Ideas are formed based on own experiences, surroundings, and cognition which cannot be true for everyone, hence it not being factual.

Ideas and Conflict

As aforementioned, ideas are easily influenced and can easily influence us, by affecting the way we act, think, feel, respond to socio-cultural norms and changes, and our perspective on the future. However, not all ideas are on the same plane; ideas can be so closely linked but also far apart from one another, hence going from bringing about societal progress to causing conflict especially within politics. The act of a democracy was a move by society in order to maintain the disagreements and conflict that comes with differing political ideas, yet even such means cannot be sure that the ‘correct’ and ‘right’ idea is in control and win.

Interpretation of Ideas

Ideas are not exclusive, they affect anyone and everyone’s mindset, leading to sometimes where people in completely different political positions may have the same belief and idea, or when people have the same belief and idea but see it in different lenses from each other.

There is also the belief around society that ideas hold no importance and effect on the mindset and attitudes of individuals, and are just there as a reflection of external surroundings, whereas others may believe that ideas are the sole force of one’s actions and interests.

Karl Marx on Ideas and Politics

For example, Karl Marx, a German political philosopher and theorist, believed that there are parts of society that exceed the importance of ideas to one’s actions, attitudes, and interests, such as the economy and material wealth. His titular theory discussed that the tension in a capitalist society between the bourgeoise and the proletariats were the sole influences for political change and societal adaptation, where dominant ideas were just the reflection of the ruling class and served to strengthen the current power dynamics in society.

Marx’s theory of the means, relations and therefore, mode of production make up a dominant section of his own Marxist ideology. The means of production refers to the resources and process used to deliver goods and services whereas the relations of production is, as aforementioned, the relationship between the elites and the working class and how that delivers the means of production.

These two forms of production when come together at any given point in time make up the complete mode of production. Part of this mode in Marx’s ideology is the spectrum of communism, developing from everyone working for themselves at the start, to serfdom, to current day capitalism, and then final communist society’s where every asset is shared among people:

→ Primitive Communism

→ Slavery

→Feudalism

→ Capitalism

→ Socialism

→ Communism

Marx also thinks that the economic base (means and relations of productions with the organisation of society) within society determines what he calls the ‘super-structure’ which involves other institutions:

→ Politics

→ Law

→ Philosophy (edit the rest once slides come in)

The ‘super-structure’ maintains the economic base of society, which then the base shapes the formation and ideas surrounding the superstructure. The base and superstructure are in every mode of production, according to the Marxist theory.

Hegel on Ideas and Politics

Hegel believes, in simple terms, the opposite to Marx. He finds that ideas determine the material world, which then reinforces those ideas and further on, ideologies. Human behaviour is rooted in ideas and cognition, making them the most powerful to drive history forward.

At Home Questions

  1. What is your idea of freedom?

    My idea of freedom is minority groups not getting hate-crimed and being judged because they are not the majority.

  2. How do you define justice, or fairness, or equality?

    Justice is when people’s rights are fully respected and are not contested, fairness is everyone receiving the right amount of something they deserve based on whatever factors, equality is everyone getting the same thing.

  3. What are the odds that everyone else shares your ideas?

    I find it would be extremely rare that everyone shared the same ideas as me. Ideas can be interpreted in multiple ways and is likely to have a different affect on someones attitudes than they do on mine. Therefore, I find it close to impossible that everyone shares the exact same ideas as me - because they haven’t experienced my exact way of life and growing up, it would be foolish to say that everyone else has the exact same mindset, values, principles, desires, and cognition as me.