Tuesday, April 8, 2014LSJ 375--Day #3 !The Tragedy of Power Crime is a human phenomenon and is not naturally occurring!! -the way we frame any phenomenon in the world depends on the stance we take to observe it !!!Phenomenology: the study of Phenomenon!•The approach that we have taken today is called phenomenology !•Phenomenology seeks to understand things in themselves, beyond our descriptions and assumptions!•Phenomenology does this by suspending or "bracketing" those description and assumptions in order to see what underlies them!•The ideal result is a more authentic understanding of "the things themselves," we well as of the enormous power of our descriptive practices!•"Exoticizing the Familiar," is an example of phenomenological approach to everyday social practices!! -no matter how hard we will try to capture events/actions/people in their entirety it is unlikely we will ever get it with absolute clarity and sincerity !! -how do you apply power in a meaningful and effective way but not to meaningfully or figuratively crush the things you dealing with!!!!Phenomenology discussion: !-take all the things away that we might intuitively say think or believe and look at what is left!! -getting an authentic awareness of what is actually going on!-the way you order and arrange the world is not always headful of the actual order of the world!-dont assume things can only be framed in one way, you will lose lots of insights and opportunities !!!!!Politics as a Vocation !Vocation: is calling (voice) your vocation is not just your job but is a calling. Something you are drawn too--your mission!"It is entirely true and a fundamental fact of all history...that the ultimate product of political activity frequently, indeed as a matter of course, fails utterly to do justice to its original purpose and may even be a travesty of it" (eber 78) !! -It is a matter of course--a regularity !! -even with best intentions, political activity will mess up what it is set to accomplish as a set of political course !"A nation (or a person) can forgive damage to its interests, but not an assault of its honor, least of all in the spirit of sanctimonious self-righteousness" (Weber, 79)!1Tuesday, April 8, 2014! -Nations lose things when they lose a war, but cannot recover from an assault of its honor or loss of dignify!! -This applies with equal force at the street level (individual people can take hits to their personal interests, but what they do not tolerate is an assault on their honor.) !! -There is no way you can have a CJS that doesn't inflict harm or pain on people, or it would not be a CSJ. How do you go through these transactions where people are harmed without assaulting peoples harm or dignity?!! •There are essential social and histroical realities that aconsititute the foundation of politics!! •these realities exist apart from any specific ideology or policy (the things he says about politics apply to all and any political entities) UOA is the state!! •Weber's particular focus is politics in the context of the modern nation state !-If you want to engage in political activity, you will have to make tough moral decisions. If you are playing on that field you will have blood on your hands. That is the world of politics. !!!!!!slide 2!! •To be understood properly the state must be defined by its MEANS, which are universal to all states, rather than by its ENDS, which are unique to each state. !! (you can not answer in a clear cut way what peoples ends are.) !-What defines a state is that it is based on force !! •"Every state is based on force"!! •The state is a community that successfully clams a monopoly on force (the state gets to decide when where why force is used) within a given geographic territory!!!-there are some states and countries that are unable to control the monopoly on force. !! •Politics "means to strive for a share of power or to influence the distribution of power, either between states or between groups of people within a state." (33) !! -what makes politics unique is that politics is linked to violence. In most of the world or during most political transactions, violence rarely occurs. If violence did not realm around in the background then we wouldn't be talking about politics. !! -politics is the domain where violence rarely occurs but if things get tense enough then violence comes into play. even if you don't have to commit it ourselves you can order someone else to do so. !! -Politics is about sharing power and influence. There is no place in the world that doesn't use violence to protect their interests. !! •Three decisive qualities for a Politician: passion, sense of responsibility, and sense of proportion !!!!!Slide three !•passion: deep commitment to the matter at hand, not just "sterile excitement"!•This is only possible when the politician is animated by a sense of responsibility!•Sense of proportion: the distance from people and things that enables action guided by inner calm and composure !•Ethics of conviction vs. ethics of responsibility !2Tuesday, April 8, 2014•Ethics of Conviction: "A Christian does what is right and leaves the outcome to God.' In other words, do the right thing; the rest is out of your hands (not just a christian ideal!)!•A noble and potentially morally consistent position, but impossible to follow in the political arena !-you cannot excise hypocrisy from politics: in order to win in politics you have to play the game !Tragedy of Power: when you exercise power you are never going to get it right!! -even with the best of intentions there is no way of getting away from the violence--literally or figuratively!Ethics of Conviction vs. Ethics of Responsibility!! EOC: a general attitude of people who have a rock hard conviction for which they will not waver. Waver thinks the world needs people like this who will not waver from their convictions. !! -This particular moral logic, once you take it and stick it in the arena of politics--it doesn't work!! -you cannot live by ethics of conviction !! -sets a moral example for the world !!!!!!Slide Four!•Ethics of Conviction has exemplary moral value, but is practically impossible in politics !•Ethics of Responsibility: you must answer for the foreseeable consequences of your action !•"No ethics in the world can dodge the fact that in numerous instances the attainment of "good" ends is bound to the fact that one must be willing to pay the price of