1618426343755 exam guide mpp 6 sem final April 21 PDF

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POL SC HELPBy the Author ofPOL SC HELPEXAM GUIDE Chapter wise Key points and Model Answers to Past Year’sQuestions 3 sets of Sample Papers with answer Hints Tips for Writing Essay Type Answers in University ExamMODERN POLITICALPHILOSOPHYBA Hons Semester 6PLEASE SPARE FEW MINUTES TO READ THISDear stu...

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EXAM GUIDE POL SC HELP

MODERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY BA Hons Semester 6

• Chapter wise Key points and Model Answers to Past Year’s Questions

• 3 sets of Sample Papers with answer Hints

• Tips for Writing Essay Type Answers in University Exam

By the Author of

POL SC HELP

Pol Sc Help Exam Guide

Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

PLEASE SPARE FEW MINUTES TO READ THIS Dear students…WELCOME BACK! This guide is intended to be like a cheat code (oh no ! not cheating, like the cheat code of winning the computer game) for your semester exams! What it contains? Key points on each of topics/theme of the revised CBCS Syllabus. Theme/topic wise Answer templates to past year’s questions (taken from DU) and other important questions. • 3 sets of sample question papers with Answer Hints. • Answer writing tips and tricks for OBE. What is Answer Template? • •

Answer written in a particular way (Intro, Body, Conclusion) as expected against essay type questions in university exam. • I have given you a template(format/structure). You may add or delete contents to make the answer as your own. How to use the Guide for the best results? •

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For best results, this guide must be used with Pol Sc Help Videos on You Tube. First, watch the videos on the theme/topic from POL SC HELP- at least 4-5 times, first in normal speed, later on with faster speed and selectively. Final watching shouldn’t take more than 5 min. Second, read the key points on the theme/topic very carefully. In fact, even if you only remember the key points you can write answers in the exam. Third, read the answers of past year questions, at least 5 times. Again, the final reading may not take more than 5-10 minutes. o I have chosen the questions to cover the entire syllabus. o Note the key phrases repeated, made bold underlined, and in violet colour in the answers. You should remember and reproduce them in your answers. Violet bold are most important phrases. You should google them for further understanding. o Also, note the standard (academic or legal) words I have used in the answer. Their easier meaning/synonyms are given in bracket.

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Fourth, read carefully the sample question papers (3 sets). I have given hints to those questions, too. Read them carefully. Finally, read the answer writing tips; use them in the exam.

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Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

SECTION 1

Chapter Wise Key Points and

ANSWERS Past Year Questions All rights reserved @polschelp.in

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Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

THEME 1: MODERNITY AND ITS DISCOURSES

1.A: CBCS Syllabus •

Concept and discourse on modernity

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Enlightenment and its impact on the discourse of modernity and modern political philosophy

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Critical evaluation of discourse on modernity

1.B: KEY POINTS:

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The word Modern symbolizes recentness, current, just now, in recent memory, etc. It comes from the Latin word modernus , meaning “just recently.” Thus, being modern implies break from the past, up-to-date, current.

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The word ‘discourse’ has varied meaning and connotation. But for our purpose it means how a ‘word’ (such as modernity) is given a specific meaning by use of language, sign, symbol, and manufacturing general consent about the meaning and understanding of that word. It is a claim about the meaning of certain word, not simply describing its meaning. It is prescriptive.

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Thus, discourse on modernity means the way meaning of modernity has been constructed by western philosophers by using certain linguistic and communicative devices.

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Though literal meaning of modernity relates to time, and therefore it denotes a temporal phenomenon, discourse on modernity is the specific way in which the word is understood. As a discourse modernity is progress and development of human civilization which is positive, good, which made human life better, more comfortable, enriched, more fulfilled.

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Thus, modernity became a value loaded term. It not only demoted ahead or modern in temporal sense but also ahead in human progress, both intellectual and material. Thus, it denoted civilizational progress towards betterment.

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Interestingly, when used first time in 16th century, ‘modern’ had negative connotations, someone/something ‘different’ not conforming to established tradition. Calling someone modern would be offending. Only after few centuries it acquired positive connotations. Thus, discourse (narrative) on modernity itself changed in modern period!

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Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

•

In political philosophy, Modernity implies normative values such as Individualism, Humanism, Secularism, primacy to science, reason, rationality, critical thinking. It also denoted materialism, industrialization and urbanization, progress and development. Normative political values of Justice, liberty, equality, rights are also got linked to Modernity.

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Many factors, phenomena, and movements in Europe, starting since 14th century, contributed to the modernity project. Some of the most important of them were Renaissance movement (15-16th century), Reformation movement ( 16th century), scientific revolution( 16th-17th century), Enlightenment movement( 18th century), and industrial revolution( 19th-20th century).

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American and French revolution also contributed significantly in bringing modernity.

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However, Enlightenment was perhaps the single most important contributor to the modernity project.

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Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement in the 18th centuries (roughly from 1725 to 1775), cantered in Paris France. Ideas concerning God, religion, politics, reason, nature, and humanity, etc. were re-formulated and understood in entirely new way, breaking from past, during the Enlightenment period.

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It gave new framework of ideas about man. society and nature, which challenged existing conceptions rooted in a traditional world-view, dominated by religion.

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The Enlightenment movement helped revolutionary developments in all walks of lifeart, philosophy, and politics. Most of the phenomena and normative values associated with Modernity came from the Enlightenment movement.

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Modernity and Enlightenment share almost similar paradigm. Reason, rationality, science, individuality, secularism, humanism, toleration, liberalism, normative values of liberty, justice, equality, rights, etc all came directly or were linked to the Enlightenment tradition. Thus, it would be no exaggeration to say that Enlightenment was the prime engine of the modernity Juggernaut(stream-roller).

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Enlightenment also contributed immensely towards Modern political philosophy. Ideas, concepts, and values associated with Modern political philosophy, such as social contract, liberty, justice, rights, equality, secularism, individualism, etc. have come out from the Enlightenment tradition.

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Most prominent Enlightenment philosophers were Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, David Hume, Adam Ferguson, Emmanuel Kant, Rousseau, and Mary Wollstonecraft

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Modern Political Philosophy

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• Critique of Enlightenment and discourse on modernity: o Many post-Enlightenment thinkers were critical of the excessive focus on reason, rationality, science and logic which undermined feeling, emotion, aesthetic, and empathy. o Romanticism, which attempted to restore feeling, emotion, aesthetic in political thoughts, rose in late 18th century as a movement against Enlightenment traditions. o Many post-Enlightenment political philosophers such as J.S.Mill, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hegel, etc. were not entirely comfortable with ideas/concepts of Enlightenment tradition. o Even some of the Enlightenment era philosophers, such as Rousseau and David Hume, were not happy with excessive focus of reason/rationality, science, the core theme of the Enlightenment. o Rousseau asserted that Enlightenment and progress in human civilisation has actually debased human nature. David Hume attempted to restore the importance of feeling, emotions in political philosophy of Enlightenment tradition. o Many modern and post-modern thinkers have been very critical of the modernity discourse. They rue (regret) excessive individualism, Excess reason/rationality, Excess materialism, Competition, vanity, egoism, jealousness, enmity, Violence, Oppression and Exclusion, all of these becoming part of the modern civilization. o Some of these thinkers are : C.B.Macpherson ( ‘Possessive Individualism’), Friedrich Nietzsche (‘The Gay Science’), Jürgen Habermas( ‘The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity’), Friedrich Hegel(‘Philosophy of Right’), J.S.Mill ( ‘Utilitarianism’), Post- Modernists- Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jean-François Lyotard, Heidegger, etc. In India, Gandhiji was an ardent (fiery) critic of western concept of modernity. o We should also note that narrative and discourse on modernity has been overtly Eurocentric and Ethnocentric. It was defining modernity from the perspective of ‘Europe’ and western culture. Events, phenomena, movements happening elsewhere, in India, Asia, Africa, Latin America, were not included in the discourse on modernity. o The paradigm of Enlightenment and modernity was essentially European or western. They used the language, symbols, signs, and worldview of western culture to define what they meant by modernity. Hence, modernity, as described by western philosophers should be called western discourse on modernity.

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Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

1. C: ANSWER TEMPLATE OF PAST YEAR’S AND OTHER

IMPORTANT QUESTIONS Q.1: Explain the concept of modernity. How was it influenced by the enlightenment traditions? Answer Template

Introduction: The word Modern symbolizes recentness, current, just now, in recent memory, etc. It comes from the Latin word modernus, meaning “just recently.” Most of the time, modern simply refers to something related to the present or recent past, as opposed to the past or the distant past. Thus, modernity has a temporal (related to time) connotation. However, in the context of human civilization, Modernity is a value loaded term. It denotes being up-to-date, current, progressive, developed, better off, etc. Thus, Modernity is considered positive condition. Interestingly, when used first time in 16th century, it had negative connotations, someone/something ‘different’ not conforming to established tradition. Calling someone modern would be offending. Only after few centuries it acquired positive connotations. Thus, discourse (narrative) on modernity itself changed in modern period! In political philosophy, Modernity implies normative values such as Individualism, Humanism, Secularism, primacy to science, reason, rationality, critical thinking. It also denoted materialism, industrialization and urbanization, progress and development. Normative political values of Justice, liberty, equality, rights are also got linked to Modernity. Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement in the 18th centuries (roughly from 1725 to 1775), centered in Paris (France). Ideas concerning God, religion, politics, society, reason, nature, and humanity, etc. were re-formulated and understood in entirely new way, breaking from past, as part of the Enlightenment movement. It gave new framework of ideas about individual, society and nature, and science which challenged existing conceptions rooted in a traditional world-view, dominated by religion during the medieval period. All rights reserved @polschelp.in

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Modern Political Philosophy

2021 Edition

The Enlightenment movement helped revolutionary developments in all walks of lifeart, philosophy, science & technology, and of course, politics. Most of the phenomena and normative values associated with Modernity came from the Enlightenment movement. Hence, Enlightenment played a crucial role in the modernity project. It also contributed immensely towards Modern political philosophy. Ideas, concepts, and values associated with Modern political philosophy, such as social contract, liberty, justice, rights, equality, secularism, individualism, etc. have come out from the Enlightenment tradition. In the next part of the answer, I will attempt to explain the features of modernity and vital role played by the Enlightenment movement in bringing Modernity.

Characteristic features of modernity: Following are some of the defining features and elements of Modernity:

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Individualism •

Individual having absolute autonomy on his body, mind, and possessions.

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Free will of an individual, autonomous self

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Conception of Society as individual construction for furthering individual’s rights, interests, and preferences; society as aggregate of wills of individuals.

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Universalism: equal worth of each individual, universal human nature

Humanism •

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human agency, informed by enlightened self-knowledge, can master both natural and social world

Secularism •

Reason NOT religion as basis of understanding natural and social phenomena

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Nature as machine, which can be mastered by science & reason- no divine intervention needed

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Society is human creation, nothing divine about it;

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Kings have no divine rights to rule

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Universal moral values can be understood and applied separate from religion

Primacy to science, reason, rationality, critical thinking •

In place of religious dogma, superstition, ritualism, fatalism

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2021 Edition

Materialism •

Empiricism: observation and experience derived from senses as bas is of knowledge

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Conceiving everything in terms of matter, for example, human as bundle of matter in motion

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Derive happiness from material possessions

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Capitalism- market mediated relationships

Industrialization and urbanization •

Rapid industrialization and more and more people living in cities.

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Rise of professional and working class and industrial mass society.

Universal normative political values •

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Modern Political Philosophy

Justice, liberty, equality, rights

Progress and development •

Conditions of natural and social worlds can be continuously improved by human agencies, with application of science and reason to make human life better

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Economic prosperity, better condition of human life.

How Enlightenment tradition influenced Modernity? Almost everything associated with Modernity, as stated above, were associated and came out from the Enlightenment movement. Following are some of contributions of Enlightenment tradition in the Modernity project: •

The discourse on Modernity, that is how narrative on Modernity was built, how the idea of Modernity was developed by using language, has distinct imprint of Enlightenment traditions. The paradigm of Modernity was defined by Enlightenment tradition.

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Primacy to Science, reason, rationality, critical thinking, idea of progress, individuality, humanism, secularism, materialism, etc are part of the modernity discourse which came directly from Enlightenment movement

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Using science and technology to solve social problems, integral modern belief, came from Enlightenment tradition.

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A belief in the pre-eminence of empirical, scientific method of enquiry and knowledge of both natural and social phenomena, hallmark of modern philosophy, originated from the Enlightenment traditions

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An enthusiasm for technological and medical progress: scientists, inventors, doctors- to make life better is integral Enlightenment thought.

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A desire for legal and constitutional reform: which resulted into spread of liberal democracy, constitutional Govt, citizenship rights, political equality and rights, etc are also originated from Enlightenment movement.

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All the modern political normative values- justice, liberty, rights, equality- were conceptualized and defined as part of the Enlightenment tradition. Enlightenment philosophers, such as Immanuel Kant, Locke, Rousseau, David Hume, had crucial role in making these concepts as universal political values of all modern political regimes.

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Enlightenment helped emancipation of man from the ties of religious superstition, dogma, ignorance, and feudal hierarchical social relationships; this became important aspect of modernity.

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Enlightenment's concept of progress, the idea that through the application of reason and empirically based knowledge social institution could be created which will make man happier, make human life better, and free them from injustice, oppression, despotisms, etc define progress and development in modern period.

Discussion and Conclusion: By doing closer and critical examination one may feel that contribution of Enlightenment in bringing Modernity is perhaps overemphasized. Of course, Enlightenment was new way of thinking, with reason/rationality but it hardly advocated for bringing new socio-political order which we associate with modernity. Enlightenment philosophers came from privileged class, were status quoist about socio-political order. They praised absolute monarchy and made a feeble attempt towards constitutionalism and granting some political rights to the bourgeois class. They excluded women, landless masses, and slaves from socio-political equality and rights. In fact, growing inequality between the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’, a defining feature of modern civilization has its roots in Enlightenment. liberal capitalist society, privileged class of the Enlightenment tradition, is dependent upon social hierarchies and class privilege; equality at the top presupposes inequalities below. Many ideas and values associated with Modernity, such as democracy, republicanism, decolonization, multi-culturalism, Liberty, socio-political equality & social justice, human rights, etc...