The Common Origins of Science and Politics

This story actually starts in ancient Greece (and also China) thousands of years ago, however it only really picks up great speed right after the Renaissance, roughly 500 years ago. The philosophers I will mention were Enlightenment-period academics who applied reason to many areas of learning, laying the groundwork for not only modern political systems but science as well. Hobbes reasoned that the natural state of things was one of chaos without consequence. As a result, an informal social contract was attained by some community and a power broker (sovereign/king) who promised to keep them safe from harm -by force if necessary — and thus the first states were formed. Locke said that the state should exist not to serve the king, but to serve the people, through enforcing laws regarding life, liberty and property. (Sound familiar?) Hume talks about empiricism which is the basis of scientific discovery, and also puts forth notable critiques of the scientific method including the induction and is-ought problems. Kant shifted philosophy towards epistemology (how do we know what we know?) and talks about ethics. Are things good because of the motive behind, or the consequences ahead, or some combination of both? Both Bentham and Mill focused on utility-based notions of ethics and political economy.

These philosophers applied reason to the most crucial problems of their day and the foundations of formal logic, science and modern political philosophy all draw their roots from this primordium.

However, catastrophic events such as the World Wars, the Cold War and more recent wars and revolutions have drawn the popular focus away for over a century. Moreover, as a result of coping with these tragedies, people have been firmly categorized in opposing or separate camps. Capitalist- communist, religious- atheist, democrat- republican…we should all remember that the arena of facts has no distinction. We are all people, and perhaps there are a set of “human facts” which may be a foundation for a set of values that can be agreed upon by all. Critical reasoned analysis with regard to facts, perhaps combined with impassioned rhetoric may be a possible solution to many of the global issues we face today. It is also important to note that we should have healthy skepticism of not only the facts but also their use, as facts can all too easily be co-opted to serve malicious agendas.