FACT SHEETS:

POLITICAL
THOUGHTS
WESTERN AND INDIAN
FACT SHEET 1: FACT SHEET: WESTERN CLASSICAL THINKERS-
AS PER CBCS SYLLABUS

Thinker Facts to remember

Plato (around Concepts Theory of Forms • Forms or ideas are essence

400-350 BC) and reality of every
observable object by our
senses, they are eternal and
unchangeable, absolutely
true definitions of
concepts- nature of being
anything
• What objects we see in
observable world are
copy or shadow of their
Form of the intelligible
world
• Forms represent true/real
knowledge , can be known
by reason

Idea of the Good ‘Good’ is the supreme form, all

other ‘Forms’ subordinate to it
Idea of Good is like Sun, in whose
light all other things made visible

Allegory of Cave Visible world- life in the cave, in

chains, in shadow, not real
Vs.
Intelligible world- World of
sunlight outside the cave, the real
world- world of ideas/Forms

Theory of Justice • Justice is doing one’s own duty

as per one’s station of life
• Each individual and each class
performing its duties best to
their abilities/aptitude without
interfering in other’s domain

Ideal State • “State is individual writ large”

 • “Statecraft is soul-craft”
• 3 class- philosopher kings,
Auxiliary (soldiers), producers
• Open class system- allotment of
class on the basis of education
and tests
• Community of wives &
properties, no family life and
pvt property to guardian class
(kings & soldiers)
• Free, compulsory education &
training

Books Republic, Statesman, Laws, Timaeus (dialogue)

Books on • The Open Society and its Enemies- Karl popper-

Plato critic
• Plato Today- R.H.S. Crossman- critic
• The Platonic Legend- W. Fite- critic
• Lectures on the Republic of Plato- R.L. Nettleship-
praise
• The Man and His Work - A.E. Taylor- praise

Other • Plato was first to use Socratic dialectical method

important • Sabine said, “What Aristotle calls the ideal state is
facts always Plato’s second-best state”
• He was idealist, romantic, and utopic thinker
• Was student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle
• His school in Athens: The Academy

Aristotle Concepts Theory of Form • World of being (ideas) and

(384–322 BC) and Causes world of becoming (material
world of our senses) are one
and same
• Reality can be understood from
our senses, no need for
imagining any
other(intelligible) world
 • 4 Causes- Formal, Material,
Efficient, Final

Theory of Justice • Justice is virtue, virtue in action

• Distributive justice- justice as
'fairness’ in distribution of
income, offices, rewards,
honours
• based on the principle of
equity- proportional and
arithmetic equality
• Corrective or rectifactory
justice : regulating the social or
ethical relationships between
the citizens - simple
reciprocity- do with others what
you would do with yourself

Theory of State • Historical theory of origin of

state
• State in time: after individual &
family but in essence state prior
to individual & family
• State (Polis) represent supreme
moral and ethical virtue of a
political community
• State is required for fulfilled
and flourished individual life
(Eudemonia)

Types of • 6 types, based on rule by

Constitution/Govt whom, and whose interest?
• Rule by one- Monarchy &
tyranny
• Rule by few- Aristocracy &
Oligarchy
• Rule by many- Polity &
democracy
 • Tyranny, Oligarchy, and
Democracy are unjust,
perverted forms of govt
• His choice- combination of
Polity and Aristocracy

Revolution- cycle Cycle of change- Monarchy-

of change of Govt tyranny-aristocracy-oligarchy-
form polity-democracy-monarchy

Household/family • Household -Husband, wife,

children, slave, property
• Low opinion about Women:
• inferior to men, an
incomplete defective male!
• has reason, but without
authority;
• hence, she has to be under
command of male!

Property & Unlike Plato, he supported private

Wealth property & wealth but with
conditions

Slavery Slave- like household property

Supported slavery but with many
conditions

Books • Politics
• Nicomachean Ethics
• Metaphysics, Rhetoric
• On the Soul

Other • Student of Plato in his ‘Academy’;

important • Teacher of young Alexander the Great of Macedonia
facts
• Founded Lyceum -his own Academy
• Master writer on Biology, Mechanics, Astronomy,
Logic, Economics, Politics, Theology, rhetoric,
Poetics
• Considered as true Scientist, ‘THE Philosopher’,
‘First Teacher’, The Master of Them That Know'
 • Father of Political Science, Political Realism,
founder of Historical and Comparative methods,
Constitutionalism, and formal Logic

Machiavelli Concepts Statecraft- real- • Supreme goal of the Prince

(1469 – 1527) politic (king)- to maintain the state-
safety & security
• State- non-ethical amoral entity,
not bound by conventional
morality
• Political actions are to be
judged only by its outcome-
‘end justifies means’

Virtù- qualities • "Flexible Disposition “,

required in the Pragmatism, Ruthlessness,
Prince/king Cunningness, Deceitfulness,
Boldness, courage, and
Shrewdness, and Will power
• Loin & Fox: combined qualities
of strength/force and
Shrewdness
• Mastery in power politics
• Judicious mix of
violence/cruelty and
benevolence
• Fear rather than Love for
political obligation
• Pretentions: should wear mask

Fortuna: Fate, • Fortuna is a malevolent and

Destiny uncompromising source of
human misery, pain, and
disaster.
• Compared Fortuna with fickle,
tempestuous (angry, violent)
women- like furious river
• Fortuna is enemy of political
order, the ultimate threat to the
safety and security of the state
 • A prince having Virtù can
respond to and tame the
Fortuna.

Republicanism • Favoured Republic than

Monarchy as form of
Government
• Republics more flexible, public
spiritedness, better able to
achieve common Good, and
secure freedom to
people/community

Good Republic • His ideal was Ancient Roman

Republic
• His Ideal Republic
• Good Laws & good Institution,
Flexible Institutions, Mixed
Constitution: Monarchy
+Aristocracy+ Democracy,
Public Discourse, Active
contention (conflict) between
the people and nobility, Armed
people, Encouraging
Immigration, Inculcating Public
spiritedness, Civic Virtue and
Civic Religion among the
citizen, Renewal or re-invention
of the Republic every 10 year
• Republicanism of USA
represent many of these
qualities.

Religion- • Politics should be separated

Secularism from Religion
• Instrumental view on religion-
in disciplining people and help
ruler manipulate people’s
emotions
• Criticized Christianity, raised
the Pagan( Pre-Christian
beliefs) civic religions of
ancient societies such as Rome
 • kept silence on his views on
after life, eternity of soul,
salvation,

Books ‘The prince’

‘The Discourses on Livy’- his idea of Republicanism

Other • Was a senior diplomat in Florence Republic after fall

important of Medici Monarchist rule
facts • Represents Italian Renaissance- humanism,
secularism, scientific reasoning
• Called ‘child of his time’
• Founder of modern political science, modern
conception of State, and Republic, Father of political
realism

Quotes on Teacher of Evil- Leo Straus

him the murderous Machiavelli -Shakespeare

Thomas Concepts Nature of • Negative view of nature of man

Hobbes (1588 Man • Bundle of matter in motion, motion
–1679) creates emotions
• Man guided by appetites, desire, and
passions
• Self-preservation and glory- chief
appetites
• Power is the means to satisfy man’s
desires
• Happiness -continuous progress of
desire, restless and perpetual desire for
more power
• Competition, fear & suspicion of others

State of • Human life without any political

Nature order- no civil society/Government
• no limit to right of natural liberty
• Private Judgment- each one judge, jury,
executioner
 • Unsatiable desire for power & glory,
competition, fear & mistrust- war of
‘all against all’
• life of man, Solitary, Poor, Nasty,
Brutish, and Short

Social • Agreement/covenant with one and all

Contract to form civil society and
state/Government
• Transferred their rights, will, and
power to a 3rd party- the sovereign-
Leviathan
• The Sovereign is Not party to the
contract
• Power of the sovereign is absolute,
unlimited, undivided, unalienable
• People get peace, price- to obey
command of the sovereign
• The contract is valid only till the
sovereign is able to maintain peace and
security

Political • As people get peace, they should obey

Obligation the laws & commands of the sovereign
• Grounds for No Political Obligation-
• to protect right of self-
preservation, to protect family and
honour, when the sovereign is not
able to maintain peace and
security

Books ‘De Cive’ (On the citizen), ‘De Corpore’ (On the Body)
, ‘De Homine ‘ (liberating Man)
• ‘The Elements of Law’, ‘Natural and Politic’
• ‘Leviathan’- his seminal creation- social
contract/sovereign

Other • 1st modern thinker who gave secular basis of

important sovereignty, individual autonomy and liberty, direct
facts relation of individual to state, social contract,
scientific approach to social arrangements
 • Grandfather of Liberalism and individualism
• Pioneer of realism in politics
• First modern political scientist
• first to modernize the tradition of Natural Law
• First modern thinker to give idea of negative Liberty

John Locke Concepts Nature of • Somewhat positive view of man’s

(1632 –1704) man nature
• Man has God gifted sense of reason
• Able to self-govern and live with
others in peace
• Seeks pleasure, avoid pain, is self-
interested but is rational

State of • Human life without any common

Nature superior authority to judge between
them
• Not pre-political, pre-social- can
happen any time- statelessness
• Each individual is free, equal and
independent; but bound by law of
nature
• Private Judgment: Each one is
judge, jury and executioner
• Each individual possesses natural
right-liberty, equality, life, property
• State of general ‘peace, goodwill,
mutual assistance and preservation’
• But peace is fragile, possibility of
conflict anytime

Social • to remove the inconvenience of

Contract nature of state and to better protect
their rights men enter into contract
with ‘one and all’ to set up
sovereign community by
transferring some of their rights
 • Political community, then by
majority set up the Govt.- legislative
and executive;
• legislative is supreme, executive
subordinate to legislative
• Govt/sovereign is not absolute, is
party to the contract and bound by
its obligation to act for common
good
• 2 stage contract, 1st stage by express
consent of all, 2nd stage by majority
vote and tacit consent

Nature of • The Government is also party to the

Government contract
• Govt. is to follow natural law, is not
above law, not absolute
• Govt as trustee to the community
• Limited Government
• The community is permanent-
Government changeable anytime
• Popular sovereignty- sovereignty
resides in people, expressed by
majority of the representatives.

Theory of • property as ‘fruit of labour’ :

Property persons own their own body and
Rights labour, when they mix their labour
with that which is unowned it
becomes their property.
• right to property includes the rights
to life, liberty
• 3 principles of property-no wastage,
sufficiency condition, lobour
restriction
• duty of charity toward poor and have
nots
 • Govt has no right to take property
without the consent of the property
owner

Political • Consent is the basis

Obligation • Tacit consent by subsequent
generations
• right to dissent against the unjust
law or any immoral law
• grounds of NO political
obligation:
• government fails to maintain
peace and order, protect natural
rights, protect them from
external aggression, act
arbitrarily and becomes
tyrannical.

Books ‘A Letter Concerning Toleration’ • ‘Two Treatises of

Government’ • ‘An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding ‘• ‘Some Thoughts Concerning
Education’

Other • Spiritual father of European enlightenment

important • Father of classical liberalism and capitalism
facts
• Influenced both French and American revolution and
American declaration of Independence
 FACT SHEET 2: FACT SHEET: MODERN WESTERN POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHERS- AS PER CBCS SYLLABUS
Thinker Facts to remember

Rousseau Concepts State of • Isolated living of human without

(1712-1778) nature speech, language, society, and private
property
• Savage man- 2 innate feeling- 1. self-
love and Pity for others
• life was frugal, lazy, contended,
peaceful- ‘noble savage’

Origin of • Private property, division of labour,

inequality laws to protect property rights.
• Resourceful vs resourceless- inequality
• dimensions of inequality: Wealth,
rank, power, personal merit

Impact of civilization corrupted ‘noble savage’ and

civilization de-based human nature

Individualism State based on individual rights and

and negative negative freedom is immoral, unjust, and
liberty inequal State

Social • People as equal enter into contract

contract with others and with all to form
political ‘Community’ –Republic or
Body Politic
• Individuals subsume their power,
rights, possessions, identity to the
community, become its indivisible part
• They gain: common force for
protection, equal citizenship,
sovereignty, civil liberty, moral
freedom, identity, forum for just &
moral act
• The community and each of its
members are directed by ‘General
Will’ – ‘sum of real wills’- serve
common interest- common Good
 • By obeying laws flowing from General
Will, one gain moral freedom

Features of • Not a one-time event but a continuous

his Social process
Contract • Popular Sovereignty: cannot be
delegated to Government or
representatives
• As citizen of the community, one gets
back both Political and Personal
Liberty

General Will • General will is ‘real will’ of the

community
• Real will- guided by the higher self
• Actual will- guided by lower self
• Laws flowing from general will – just,
morally good, liberating

Books • ‘Social Contract’

• ‘Emile, or On Education’
• ‘The Confessions’- autobiography
Essays: ‘discourse on science and arts’ and ‘discourse on
origin of inequality’
Article: ‘Discourse on political economy’

Other • Philosophical father of French Revolution

important • Favoured positive liberty, direct democracy, self-
facts government, unalienable popular sovereignty
• Against representative democracy
• Romanticism and utopic ideas- like Plato

J.S.Mills Concepts Liberty • Liberty and individual autonomy -vital

(1806–73) human interests, propellor of
civilization
• 2 sources of threat: State/govt and
mass Society ( greater threat)
• Harm principle- one is free to act as
per one’s will until no one is harmed
 • Any unique, new idea/thought should
be protected even if it is false or
partially true
• Self-regarding vs other-regarding
Actions
• Personal liberty expressed through
'experiments in living’ is everyone’s
right

Minority • Minority voice threated by state, mass

Rights society
• In democracy, harmed by Populism,
Majoritarianism, tyranny of Majority
• To protect Minority rights: PR
electoral system, Plural voting, Second
chamber of parliament

His • Added quality in estimation of

principles of pleasure
utility • Higher vs lower pleasure
• Higher pleasure- pleasures “of the
intellect, of the feelings and
imagination, and of the moral
sentiments”
• Lower Pleasure: physical and
sensual- men share with animals
• He made Bentham’s classical
utilitarianism more moral, ethical but
also diluted its pureness.

Subjection of • Women’s subjection by men has its

Women origin in physical superiority of men
• No logical or rational basis of
women’s subjection
• Men & women equal in moral
goodness, virtue, capabilities
• Gender is social construction, not
natural
• Utility loss: by stopping 50 % of
human to flourish as rational, equal
being
 • Marriage- the chief institution of
Subjection
• Women should get property, custody,
legal, and political rights.

Liberal • Referred himself as a qualified

Socialism socialist
• Supported worker’s participation in
management, distribution of profit
between workers and managers, decent
wages to workers, and worker’s
cooperatives.
• Advocated distribution of lands of big
landlords to landless tillers, diffusion
of wealth, laws for limit on
inheritance, inheritance and wealth tax,
labour unions, and decent wages to
workers
• supporter of cooperatives- farmer’s
cooperative, consumer cooperative,
worker’s cooperatives.

Books A System of Logic (1843), Principles of Political Economy

(1848) • The essay On Liberty (1859), Utilitarianism
(1863) • Considerations on Representative Government
(1861), • The Subjection of Women (1869)- with his wife
Harriet Taylor

Other • Like his father, he worked for East India Company

important • His father, James Mill, was friend of Jeremy Bentham
facts
• Was contemporary of Marx, who was living in
England, but did not have interactions with him.
• Considered as reluctant democrat, liberal feminist, and
qualified Socialist
• Compared with Nietzsche for range of intellectual
thoughts
• Champion of Liberty, women, and minority Rights.

Karl Marx Concepts Historical • Material conditions of life determine

(1818 – 1883) Materialism consciousness/idea
 • Dialectical (inbuilt contradiction)
Conception of matter/object/entity
• History as stages of different mode of
material production
• Mode of production- Forces of
Production plus Relation of Production
• Each mode of production brings its
own superstructure- polity, culture,
laws, media, education

Alienation • Alienation: a condition of oppression,

disaffection arising from loss of
control over productive activity
• 4 Types of Alienation:
• Alienation from product of
labour, Alienation from the act of
production, Alienation from
species-being, Alienation of man
from man
• Not only the worker but capitalist class
also face alienation, but they cope up
better with wealth & resources

Theory of • Labour alone generate value in any

Surplus product;
labour • Exchange value of the labour power
(purchased at the market rate) is less
than the use value of that labour put
into the product
• Surplus of use value of labour over its
exchange value is retained by the
capitalist as profit, for Marx, it is theft!

Conception • Freedom in social production, which

of Freedom one joins without any compulsion and
as equal
• Freedom is regaining human essence
of social creativity: Man producing to
realize essence of being Human, act of
self-realization
• Political vs Human emancipation:
political freedom- superficial- part of
 superstructure; true freedom only
freedom and equality in base- mode of
production

Theory of • Change in mode of production would

Revolution be brought by a social revolution by
the working class
• Social revolution is natural Dialectic
process- contradiction within the
existing mode of production
• At a certain stage of development in
mode of production the forces of
production come into conflict with
existing relations of production
• Then comes the period of social
revolution which changes the ‘base’
which in turn changes the
‘superstructure’

Theory of • State is part of the society’s

State superstructure
• State promote and protect the interest
of the dominant class - state is the
organ of class dominance
• “the executive of the modern state is
but a committee for managing the
common affairs of the whole
bourgeoisie”
• Relative autonomy of state- state is
not free to act of its own

Books His main creations:

• Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)- Early
Marx- Theory of Alienation
• The German Ideology (1845), with Engels-
materialistic conception of history; published only in
1932
• The Manifesto of the Communist Party(1848) : with
Engels- class struggle, conflict in capitalist society,
social revolution "The history of all hitherto existing
society is the history of class struggles“
 • Das Kapital( Capital)- 1967, later volumes published
by Engels after death of Marx.- Dissection of
Capitalism, its contradiction, destructive tendencies
His other Books/creations:
‘The Poverty of Philosophy’ ; ‘The Eighteenth Brumaire
of Louis Bonaparte’ ;’The Civil War in France’ ; ‘the
Grundrisse’; ‘Theories of Surplus Value’ ;'the critique of
political economy’, ‘The Class Struggles in France’, ‘The
Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte’, ‘The Critique
of the Gotha Program of 1875’

Other • Was from Germany, but lived in England in exile

Important • Influenced by German Philosopher Friedrich Hegel,
Facts Economists Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Ludwig
Feuerbach (a young Hegelian)
• Inverted Hegel’s dialectic idealism
• Lifelong friendship and partnership with Frederick
Engels, a German Philosopher settled in England.
• Young vs matured Marx- The German Ideology
(1845) is the dividing line ; this division was given
by Loius Althussar

Mary Concepts Women’s • Faulty socio-cultural conditioning and

Wollstonecraft condition wrong education main factors for
(1759 – 1797)) women’s misery
• Women developed artificial ‘feminine
manners’, false sense of power of
beauty, attractiveness, sensuality,
‘women’s follies’
• In marriage and family, women had no
liberty, equality and property, legal,
inheritance, custody rights
• Through the institutions of Patriarchy,
Aristocracy, Church, Army, prevailing
social norms, habits women’s were
subjugated

Solution for • Revolution in female manners by

improving revamped education system, re-
women’s
conditions
 constitution of social norms, breaking
institutions and hierarchies
• National education plan- co-ed, same
education to boys & girls
• Marriage as friendship
• Women to develop ‘Manliness’-
strong, autonomous, rational women

Her Vision of • Men monopolized learning, denied

Education women cultivating their sense of
reason
• Right education to get rid of ‘faulty
women’s manners’
• Aims of Education:
• fit minds in strong and healthy
bodies, cultivation of reason to
develop rational human being,
develop ‘inner resources’, Self-
mastery, self-realization, Prepare
to face the inevitable hardships of
life
• Compulsory, free education for all
class up to 9 years

Books • Thoughts on the Education of Daughters (1787)

• A Vindication of the Rights of Men(1790)
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
• An Historical and Moral View of Origin and Progress
of the French Revolution(1794)
• Letters Written During a Short Residence in Sweden,
Norway, and Denmark (1796)
• Maria; or, The Wrongs of Woman (1798)
(posthumously published unfinished work)

Other • Her ‘Vindication of the Rights of Men’ written against

Important Edmund Burke's ‘Reflections on the Revolution in
Facts France’, a defence of constitutional monarchy,
aristocracy, and the Church of England.
• Her ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’ attacked
the conventional thoughts of Rousseau about women’s
education in his ‘Emile’.
 • She was quite radical in her writings as well as life
choices.
• She tried to break the public-private dichotomy.
• To her, women’s liberation should be achieved in
private domain- marriage & family- thereafter civil &
political rights would automatically be granted to her

Alexandra Concepts Her Feminism • Marxist Feminism- main enemy

Kollontai capitalist class, not the fellow men
(1872 –1952) • Issue of proletarian women different
from Bourgeois women
• Triple burden of proletarian women-
worker, housewife, and mother
• Proletarian women fighting both
against class exploitation (with
male) and inequal rights (against
men) in private domains.

Her Solution • Perfect equality at workplace but

for working also special facilities for women
women workers
• Socialization or collectivization of
Motherhood, Child rearing, and
household duties
• Phycological and emotional
freedom to women- not dependent of
marriage, family, husband

Class • Monogamous marriage is feature of

dimension of capitalist society. It is egoistic,
love, sex, inequal, and possessive - wife as
relationships male’s property
• Women should have psychological
freedom to develop mutually
respectful and equal relationship
with all members of the collective
• Relationship between men & women
should have 3 conditions - Equality ,
Mutual recognition of the rights of
the other , Comradely sensitivity
 Men-women love relationship is
subordinate to the more powerful
emotion of love-duty to the collective -
Love-comradeship

Winged and • Winged Eros- intense emotional love

Wingless Eros which gives life energy
• Wingless Eros- physical love, no life
energy
• Tribal society- kinship love was
prime
• Pre-Christian Ancient Society- love-
friendship above all
• Feudal society- Love in marriage-
wingless Eros ; platonic love with
elusive lady
• Capitalist Society: Mixed winged &
wingless eros into marriage-love
• Love-comradeship: Winged Eros to
strengthen the bond of communist
society and liberate women from
emotional need in marriage/family.
• The aim of proletarian ideology is
that men and women should
emotional love not only in relation to
the chosen one but in relation to all
the members of the collective.

Books • Social bases of women's question

• Sexual relation and the class struggle
• The family and the Communist State,
• ‘Free Love’; ‘A Great Love’;’ Love of the Worker’s Bee‘
• • ‘The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated
Communist Woman’

Other • Was one of the chief leaders of Bolshevik revolution;

Important was very close to Lenin.
Facts • Served as Central Committee member of Communist
Party, Commissar of social welfare, director of
Zhenotdel
• Instrumental in publication of Robotnitsa- women’s
magazine and setting up Zhenotdel- Women's
Department of the communist Party
• In 1922: sent on diplomatic ‘exile’ after falling out with
Lenin on many issues
• Survived Stalin’s purge of old communist leaders and
served as diplomat and ambassador to Norway, Mexico,
Sweden;
• Was quite radical in her writings and life choices; hence
was not given due respect as revolutionary communist
leader.
• Famous quote she believed in : “ There can be no
socialism without women’s liberation and no women’s
liberation without socialism”( Inessa Armand)
 FACT SHEET- 3: WESTERN CLASSICAL THINKERS- OUTSIDE
CBCS SYLLABUS BUT MAY BE ASKED (IN VERY BRIEF)

Thinker Important facts

Thomas Aquinas • Theological (religious) views on politics

(1225-1274) • Gave 5 proof of ‘existence of God’
• Happiness is contemplation of God
• God is source of reason, wisdom, virtue, and happiness
• But these virtues (reason, wisdom, etc) can be acquired by
anyone, in any culture, any religion
• Gave theory of just war: ordered by legitimate authority( the
sovereign), just cause, to promote good and to avoid evil
• wrote several important commentaries on Aristotle's works
• Division of labour, individual autonomy, against slavery
• Monarchy best form of govt/Constitution
• Book: Summa Theologica

Saint Augustine • Italian philosopher, influenced the development of Western

(354 430) philosophy and Western Christianity
• Wrote: The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, and
Confessions.
• Doctrine of original sin: Man is by nature ‘sinful’, as he is
product of ‘original sin’(sin of Adam and Eve). He cannot
escape from Sin.
• Just war theory: right conduct in war" (Jus In Bello) and
“justification to go to war" (Jus Ad Bellum)

Cicero (106 –43 • A Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher

BC) • master of Latin prose- wrote many books on Rhetoric
• Coined new Latin words- evidentia, humanitas, qualitas,
quantitas, and essentia
• Gave concept of Rights based on law and custom
• Wrote: ‘The Bogomils’, ‘De Re Publica (On the
Commonwealth)’ and ‘De Legibus (On the Laws)’
• Cicero's writings are said to initiate the 14th-century Italian
Renaissance
 • He also influenced Enlightenment and its thinkers- John Locke,
David Hume, Montesquieu and Edmund Burke

Epicurus (341–270 • Ancient Greek philosopher who founded Epicureanism, a

BC) highly influential school of philosophy
• His Epicurean community inspired Karl Marx and other
socialist thinkers
• His ideas also influenced Enlightenment movement and its
thinkers- John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Jeremy Bentham
• ‘The Garden’- his academy in Athens
• Gave happiness((eudaimonia) formula- taraxia (peace and
freedom from fear) and aponia (the absence of pain) – have
good friends, seek peace and calm inside, work for yourself
and for pleasure
• Gave secular basis of ethics and morality- be ethical to be
happy

Hugo Grotius(1583 • Was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian

–1645) • Laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law
• Books: ‘On the Law of War and Peace’ and ‘The Free Seas’
• Gave ‘just war’ theory; rationalism in IR
• Contributed significantly to the evolution of the notion of
Rights- belonging to persons, as the expression of an ability to
act or as a means of realizing something.
• Pioneer of the doctrine of ‘international society’- idea of one
society of state bound by laws and mutual agreements
• Hedley Bull (of English school of IR) called him intellectual
father of Westphalia Peace Treaty- 1648

Spinoza (1632 – • Dutch philosopher, considered one of the great rationalists of

1677) 17th-century
• One of the early thinkers of the Enlightenment
• Gave modern conceptions of the self
• Books: ‘the Ethics’; in this book he opposed Descartes'
philosophy of mind–body dualism
• His Ethics: reality is perfection, highest virtue is the
intellectual love or knowledge of God/Nature/Universe
• 3 types of knowledge—opinion, reason, intuition ; intuitive
knowledge provides the greatest satisfaction of mind
 • Hegel said of him” You are either a Spinozist or not a
philosopher at all”

Marsilio of Padua • Important 14th-century Italian political thinker

(1275 – 1342) • Book: Defensor Pacis (The Defender of Peace)- which
supported separation of temporal power ( king) from spiritual
power( church)
• Hence, he is considered to have propounded Medieval
Secularism

Gaetano Mosca • Gave Elite theory- all societies ruled by a numerical minority,
(1858 – 1941) the political class.
• The political class- Elites- superior organizational skills.
• Circulation of Elites: constant competition between elites,
with one elite group replacing another repeatedly over time
• But his theory of political class is different in arguments from
‘The Power Elite’ described by C. Wright Mills.
• Mosca’s Elite theory is more liberal than Elite theory of
Vilfredo Pareto

Bosanquet (1848 – • English philosopher and political thinker

1923) • Student of T.H. Green, influenced by Hegel, Kant, Rousseau,
Plato
• Proponent of “Absolute Idealism”
• “state is the ethical idea”
Books:
The Philosophical Theory of The State (1899)
Psychology of the Moral Self (1904)

Vilfredo Pareto • An Italian Economist, political scientist and philosopher.

(1848 – 1923) • Elite theory- Circulation of Elites- the ruling class replaced
by another ruling/aristocratic class through revolution
• Pareto optimality- an economic state where resources cannot be
reallocated to make one individual better off without making at
least one individual worse off.
• Many critics, like Karl Popper, called him Fascist supporter-
theoretician of totalitarianism

Hannah Arendt • German-born American political thinker.

(1906 – 1975)
 • Power as co-creation in group by communication to realize
public realm; power with (against power to or power over)
• Civic republicanism or civic Humanism- active citizenship,
civic engagement and collective deliberation
• Threat to human freedom from totalitarianism, administrative
bureaucracy
• Nature of power and evil
• Studied and compared American and French Revolutions
Book: The Origins of Totalitarianism(1951), The Human
Condition(1958), On Revolution (1963), Crises of the Republic
(1972)

CB Machpherson • Canadian political scientist of left (socialist) orientation

(1911–1987) • "Possessive Individualism": individual as the sole proprietor
of his or her skills and owes nothing to society for them
• For him, Hobbes gave birth to the culture of possessive
individualism and Locke furthered it
• Capitalism- negative freedom; supported positive freedom
• Extractive (power over other) vs Developmental Power
(creative freedom, ability to fulfil self-appointed goals)
• Book: The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism: From
Hobbes to Locke (1962); The Life and Times of Liberal
Democracy (1977); The Real World of Democracy (1965)

Samuel P. • "Clash of Civilizations"- future wars would be fought not

Huntington (1927 – between countries, but between cultures
2008) • “Third wave of democratization”- beginning 1974
• Other books: Political Order in Changing Societies (1968),
The Crisis of Democracy(1975)

Isaiah Berlin (1909 • British social and political thinker and historian of ideas.
–1997) • "Two Concepts of Liberty"- negative freedom or freedom
from interference vs 'positive freedom', or freedom as self-
mastery
• Positive liberty- slippery slope- may lead to totalitarianism
• “Three Critics of the Enlightenment:” analysed counter-
Enlightenment views
• Value pluralism: moral values- equality, justice, etc.- may
clash, may be incompatible to each other, and to different
cultures.
 • “The Hedgehog and the Fox”- 2 types of thinkers, 1st who see
world with the lens of a single defining idea; 2nd who draw on
a wide variety of experiences- Fox
• Other Books: ‘Four Essays on Liberty’ ; ‘Concepts and
Categories: Philosophical Essays’; ‘Against the Current:
Essays in the History of Ideas’

Hegel (1770 –1831) • One of the greatest political philosophers of modern era; chief
figure of German idealism.
• Gave historical progression of idea (thesis, anti-thesis,
synthesis) through dialectical process
• Marx turned upside down historical dialectical thought of
Hegel to give historical materialism
• Absolute idealism: duality of mind-body and subject and object
are overcome
State:
• Embodiment of highest order of Freedom and Right
• Only as a member of the state the individual has
objectivity, truth, and ethical life
• “State is the march of God on Earth”
• State subsumes family and civil society and fulfils them
• Civil Society: all-inclusive community within the state;
conception of organic society, in which identity of individual
and family is subsumed
• Book: ‘Elements of the Philosophy of Right’

Immanuel Kant • German political philosopher and one of the main

(1724 –1804) Enlightenment thinkers
• Doctrine of transcendental idealism: space and time are mere
"forms of intuition" which structure all human experience
• Categorical Imperative: reason/rationality as the base of
ethics & morality, universal moral principles which guides us
to begave ethically
• Deontological Ethics- moral action only if the action itself is
right under a series of rules (means should be ethical)
• Perpetual peace (among nations): through universal
democracy and international cooperation
 • Books: ‘Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch’; ‘Critique
of Pure Reason’; ‘Critique of Practical Reason’

Nietzsche (1844 – • A German political philosopher, cultural critic, composer, and

1900) poet
• One of the greatest political thinker of 19th century
• Post-modernist: critique of objective truth in favour of
perspectivism
• Critique of religion and Christian morality
• "Death of God"- Enlightenment, by excessively focusing on
science & reason, has killed God
• Nihilism : negating knowledge, existence, and the meaning of
life; normlessness, valuelessness; negating all established
social norms
• Will To Power: main driving force within human
• Doctrine of eternal return: universe, energy, and everything
will recur in infinite cycle
• Deep influence on political thoughts of existentialism,
postmodernism and post-structuralism

Jean-Paul Sartre • French Political Philosopher.

(1905 –1980) • Main thinker of Existentialism (explores the problem of
human existence and centres on the lived experience of the
thinking, feeling, acting individual.)
• Also known proponent of phenomenology and Marxism
• Deep impact on critical theory and post-colonial theory
• Books: ‘Being and Nothingness’ and ‘Existentialism Is a
Humanism’
• Awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Literature but refused to
accept that!

Mao Zedong or • Charismatic Chinese communist leader and thinker

Mao Tse-tung(1893 • Founded the Communist China (People’s Republic of China) in
– 1976) 1949
• His thoughts: communism in rural societies, rejecting elitism,
thought reform, indoctrination, state as supreme educator,
communalism, social experimentation, militant nationalism
• His Programs:
 • 1956- The Hundred Flowers Campaign- ‘Let hundred
flowers blossom and hundred schools of thought
contend’(socio-political openness program)
• 1958- The Great Leap Forward- economic transformation
of China
• 1966- Cultural Revolution- purging anti-revolutionary
elements from society
• "Two Bombs, One Satellite" project; “Three-anti and
Five-anti Campaigns”
• His famous Quotes:
“Politics is war without blood, while war is politics with blood.”
“Political power grows out of the barrel of the gun...”

Lenin (1870 –1924) • Bolshevik revolution leader, founder of Communist Russia &
USSR
• Revolution led by vanguard party (the Communist party)
• Democratic centralism, Imperialism as height of capitalism
• Worldwide network of revolutionary activities- Comintern
• Stalin coined the term ‘ Leninism’
• Books: ‘The State and Revolution’ ; ‘Imperialism, the Highest
Stage of Capitalism’

Robert Dahl • American political thinker of liberal & pluralist thoughts

• Pluralist theory of democracy- political competition between
interest groups
• "Polyarchy": political power distributed in many people
• One of chief proponents of “Behaviouralism”
• One of the greatest theorists of Democracy
• Gave the most famous definition of ‘Power’
• Books: ‘A Preface to Democratic Theory’, ‘Who Governs?’

Robert • Influential American Libertarian Thinker

Nozick(1938 – • Entitlement theory of Justice; procedural theory of Justice
2002) against Rawl’s theory of Justice based on distributive Justice
• Supporter of Minimal state, low taxation
• “a distribution of goods is just if brought about by free
exchange among consenting adults from a just starting
position, even if large inequalities subsequently emerge from
the process”- his core thought
 • Critic of John Locke’s ‘Mixing of labour’ theory of property
• Books: ‘Anarchy, State, and Utopia’; ‘a libertarian answer to
John Rawls' A Theory of Justice’

Friedrich Hayek • Very Influential British Economist and Libertarian Thinker

(1899 –1992) • His thoughts influenced Margret Thatcher and Reagon in
bringing Neo-liberalism
• Proponent of minimalist state; free market economy
• Opposed ‘social justice’, ‘distributive justice’ as unnatural and
against human freedom
Book: ‘The Road to Serfdom’

T.H. Green (1836 – • English political thinker of social liberalism tradition

1882) • British idealism movement – as a reaction against the thinking
of John Locke, David Hume, John Stuart Mill, and other
empiricists and utilitarian.
• Hugely influenced by German idealism of Hegel and Kant
• Ethics & morality in social life- moral philosophy: reason is
source of morality/ethics
• State to provide conditions for best moral/ethical conduct by
individual
• Book: ‘The Principles of Political Obligation’

Hobhouse (1864 – • British liberal political thinker and sociologist

1929) • Proponents of social liberalism- social democracy
• ‘wealth had a social dimension and was a collective product’
• Books: Liberalism (1911), Social Evolution and Political
Theory (1911), The Philosophical Theory of the State (1918)

Benedict Anderson • Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian- but lived in USA
(1936 – 2015) • Books: ‘Imagined Communities (1983)- famous theorization
of nationalism- nation as imagined community
• ‘Print Capitalism’: role of print media in bring capitalism and
nationalism
• Print capitalism also meant a culture in which people were
required to be socialized as part of a literate culture-
mainstream language/culture
 • He also theorized nationalism in Multi-ethnic empires, and rise
of nation-states after fall of Empires post WWI

Karl Popper (1902 • Austrian-British political thinker

–1994) • ‘Scientific theories are those which can be falsified by
experiments’
• Supporter of liberal democracy and criticism of social injustice
and ailments
• Supporter of flourishing ‘open society’- moral universalism
• Attempted to reconcile classical liberalism, social democracy,
and conservatism
• Critic of Plato, Marx, Rousseau- all those who idealized closed
society
• Books: ‘The Open Society and Its Enemies’; ‘The Two
Fundamental Problems of the Theory of Knowledge’

Edmund Burke • Irish statesman, economist, and political philosopher

(1729 – 1797) • A noted Conservative- founder of British modern conservatism
• Opposed French Revolution: ‘Reflections on the Revolution in
France’- Revolution was destroying the fabric of good society
and traditional institutions of state and society
• Was instrumental in impeachment of Warren Hastings,
Governor-General of India

David Hume (1711 • Scottish Enlightenment philosopher

1776) • Philosophical empiricism- knowledge only from sensory
experience
• Philosophical skepticism :question the possibility of knowledge
• Naturalism: all enquiry from the method of natural science
• Feelings/emotions/experience over reason: “Reason is, and
ought only to be the slave of the passions”
• “Ethics based on emotion or sentiment rather than abstract
moral principle”
• “Statement of fact alone can never give rise to a normative
conclusion of what ought to be done”- is-ought problem
• Influenced utilitarianism, logical positivism, the philosophy of
science
 • Books: ‘A Treatise of Human Nature’

Jeremy Bentham • English political philosopher

(1747 – 1832) • Founder of modern utilitarianism- Greatest Happiness
principle- moral actions are those which brings greatest
happiness to greatest number
• Supported legal rights; called natural law and natural rights as
“nonsense upon stilts"
• His famous students- J.S. Mill, Robert Owen
Books: ‘A fragment on government’(1776); "Essay on Political
Tactics"(1791)

Wittgenstein (1889 • Austrian-British philosopher

–1951) • Considered by some to be the greatest philosopher of the 20th
century
• Attempted to identify the relationship between language and
reality and to define the limits of science
• Wrote ‘Tractatus’ in which he gave Logical positivism- as
influencer of Vianna Circle of philosophers

Schumpeter (1883 • An Austrian political economist, who taught in Harvard

–1950) University, USA
• Wrote ‘Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy’ – critique of
classical democracy
• Negative view of democracy: “democracy is the mechanism for
competition between leaders, much like a market structure”
• “Participatory role for individuals in representative democracy
is usually severely limited”
• Minimalist definition of democracy “as the method by which
people elect representatives in competitive elections to carry
out their will”
• Criticized, by Robert Dahl and others, for such negative &
elitist view of democracy.

Seymour Martin • An American sociologist and political thinker (political

Lipset(1922 -2006) sociology)
• Studied democracy in comparative perspective
 • Books: ‘Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics (1960)’;
‘Party Systems and Voter Alignments( 1967)’ with Stein
Rokkan

Harold Lasswell • American political scientist and communications theorist.

(1902 – 1978) • Father of Policy Science- gave 7 stage Policy Cycle concept
• Defined democracy as ‘Who Gets What, When, and How”
• 5 question model of communication: "Who (says) What (to)
Whom (in) What Channel (with) What Effect"
• "Garrison State"- a political-military elite composed of
"specialists in violence" in a modern state
• One of the main contributor to the ‘Behavioural Revolution’ in
1950s
• Founder of Political Psychology
• Content analysis methods- to dissect propaganda messages and
newspaper editorials

Ronald Dworkin • An American political thinker of liberal tradition

(1931 –2013 • Gave ‘Equality of Resources’ in his book ‘Sovereign Virtue’
• “every person is entitled to equal concern and respect in the
design of the structure of society”
• “Luck Egalitarianism”- Luck should not make well-off or poor
• Liberty- ‘Do Values Conflict?’- liberty and equality do not
necessarily conflict. ‘Liberty is only liberty to do whatever we
wish so long as we do not infringe upon the rights of others.’
• Criticized Isaiah Berlin's conception of liberty as "flat"

Michael Walzer • Prominent American political thinker of Communitarian

(born 1935) ideology
• Gave ‘Complex equality’ in book ’Spheres of Justice’
• Communitarian critique of liberalism- with Alasdair MacIntyre
and Michael Sandel
• ‘Just and Unjust Wars (1977)’- ethics in wartime
• ‘On Toleration’- toleration in various settings, including
multinational empires

Gerald Cohen • Canadian political philosopher of Marxist ideology

(1941–2009) • Marxism, egalitarianism and distributive justice
 • Books: ‘Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence’- defended
Marx’s historical materialism
• ‘Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality’- criticism of Lockean
‘self-ownership’ principle and moral argument in favour of
socialism

David Gauthier • Canadian-American Political Thinker

(1932) • Pioneer in moral theory and revisiting social contract theories
• ‘Morals by Agreement’ -neo-Hobbesian social contract theory
of morality
• Gave ‘contractarian ethics’
• ‘Justice as Mutual Advantage’-moral norms are those that
rational, self‐interested persons would accept in regulating the
pursuit of their self‐interest
• Wrote history of political philosophy, especially of Hobbes and
Rousseau

Will Kymlicka (born • Canadian Political Thinker

1962) • ‘Multicultural Citizenship: A Liberal Theory of Minority
Rights’: gave his concept of multiculturism, toleration. and
minority rights
• Note: Bhikhu Parekh wrote ‘Rethinking Multiculturalism:
Cultural Diversity and Political Theory’

David Easton (1917 • Canadian-born American political scientist.

2014) • Proponent of both Behavioralist and post-Behavioralist
revolutions
• Gave ‘system concept’- political system- input, conversion,
output, feedback and environment; political system as ‘black
box’.
• Defined Politics “ as the authoritative allocation of values for
the society”
• Books:
• ‘The Decline of Modern Political Theory(1951)’
• ‘The Political System. An Inquiry into the State of Political
Science(1953)’
• ‘A Framework for Political Analysis(1965)’
Leo Strauss (1899 – • German-American political philosopher of classical political
1973) tradition
• Gave ‘‘Straussian’ Approach’ to interpret classical texts by
esoteric method
• Deeply influenced by Martin Heidegger, great German thinker
• ‘post-Behavioralist revolutions’- revival of normative political
theory
• Rejected ‘fact–value distinction’; politics cannot be separated
from norms/values; politics include value judgment
• Wrote path-breaking books on Spinoza and Hobbes
• Critic of modern form of liberalism and its individualism
• Advocated return to classical political philosophy- Plato,
Aristotle
• Books:
• ‘Natural Right and History’ ; ‘What Is Political Philosophy?’
• ‘The Crisis of Political Philosophy’;’ Liberalism Ancient and
Modern’

Martin Heidegger • German philosopher- regarded as one of the most important

(1889 –1976) philosophers of the 20th century.
• Phenomenology: study of the structures of experience and
consciousness.
• Hermeneutics: methods of textual interpretations
• Existentialism: study of problem of human existence and
centres on the lived experience of the thinking, feeling, acting
of individuals
• Wrote ‘Being and Time (1927)’- his philosophy of being-
“Dasein”- experience of being peculiar to human

Lucian Pye (1921 – • American political scientist, known for his theory of political
2008) development and modernization of Third World nations
• His theory of political development: equality to the political
culture, the problems of capacity to authoritative governmental
structures, and the question of differentiation to non-
authoritative structures.
• Books:
• ‘Political Culture And Political Development’(1965) ;
‘Politics, Personality, And Nation-Building (1962)’
 • Note: Rostow, Organski, David Apter, Edward Shils, etc also
gave theory of political development and modernization

Johan • Norwegian sociologist, known as father of peace studies

Galtung(1930) • Negative and Positive peace:
• Negative Peace: absence of violence
• Positive Peace: restoration of relationships, the creation of
social systems that serve the needs of the whole population and
the constructive resolution of conflict
• Books:
‘Violence, Peace and Peace Research (1969)’
‘Peace By Peaceful Means (1996)’ ;
‘50 Years: 100 Peace and Conflict Perspectives (2008)’

Thomas Paine • English-born American political philosopher

(1736– 1809) • Contributed in American independence by his 2 influential
writing : ‘Common Sense ‘ and ‘The American Crisis’
• wrote ‘Rights of Man (1791)’ in defence of French Revolution
• In his ‘Agrarian Justice (1797)’, he introduced the concept of a
guaranteed minimum income through a one-time inheritance
tax on landowners.

Montesquieu (1689 • French political philosopher, best known for his ‘ Spirit of the
–1755) Laws (1748)’ in which he gave the principle of separation of
power between legislatives, executive, and Judiciary
• His ‘separation of power’ ensures Liberty
• Influenced both French and American revolution.

Robert Michels • German-born Italian Political Philosopher

(1876 1936) • Gave ‘Iron law of oligarchy’ - rule by an elite, or oligarchy, is
inevitable within any democratic organization
• Book: ‘Political Parties(1911)’

Steven Lukes • British political thinker

(1941) • Gave ‘3 Facets of Power’- power as dominance, power as
agenda setting (power of non-decision), ideological and
hegemonic power

August French philosopher and Sociologist

Comte Gave the term’ Sociology’
Formulated the doctrine of positivism
Influenced by the utopian socialist Saint-Simon
Influenced- J.S.Mill, Émile Durkheim
Created ‘Religion of Humanity’- a secular religion
Books:
• Course of Positive Philosophy
• System of Positive Polity
• A General View of Positivism
 FACT SHEET 4: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIAN POLITICAL
PHILOSOPHERS- AS PER CBCS SYLLABUS

Thinker Main concepts/facts/books

Manu • Mythical first man and lawgiver of Ancient India

• Compiled ‘Manu Smriti’- code of social conduct for Hindus
• First Sanskrit text to have been translated into English in 1794
• Views on Manusmriti :
• Negative: Vivekanand thought Manusmriti is obsolete; Ambedkar
burnt it in a bonfire, Gandhiji didn’t agree to its contradicting and
dehumanizing parts
• Positive: by Dayanand Saraswati, Annie Besent, Friedrich Nietzsche
• Core theme: maintain the 4-fold Varna System (Varna Ashram Dharma)
and follow the Dharma- moral virtues, moral obligations/duty, justice in
individual & social life
• Basis of Manu’s social laws- Shrutis (Veda, Upanishads), Social practices,
Analysis(reason), and Self-satisfaction
• Manusmriti became controversial and politicized due to derogatory
comments on ‘Shudra’ and Women. Became rallying point for anti-
Brahmanical movements
• Dharma: Righteousness, Virtues, Moral order, Duties, Just thoughts and
actions, natural qualities or characteristics or properties of anything, law,
Justice, Religion
• Purushartha : Goals of human life- Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha :
Dharma should guide Artha, Kama, then only Moksha can be attained
• 4 Ashrams : Celibate studentship( Brahmcharya), Family life( Grihastha),
Retreating from worldly affairs( Vanaprashtha), wandering medicant in
search of Moksha( Sanyas)

Veda Vyas- • The Mahabharta- Great Epic- 18 Parva(books)- largest Parva-Shanti-Parva-

Raja contains Rajadharma
Dharma • Shanti-Parva: in dialogue form- between Dying Bhisma and Yudhishthira in
which others also join
• Rajadharma : Duties and obligations of the King/ruler, Dharma (laws and
rules ) and Good Governance, Theory of origin of State/Kingship, Art and
 science of Governance and Politics– Danndaniti , Political Obligation of the
citizen
• Rajadharma is also mentioned in Manusmriti, Arthashastra, Śukranītishātra,
Purans
• Rajadharma is the ultimate Dharma; only if the King follows Rajadharma
all other Dharma can be up-holded
• State originated, by divine intervention, to maintain Peace, Order,
Prosperity, and Dharma
• Duties of King: to maintain peace, order, and Dharma (prime duty),
Welfare and Prosperity of the people, follow Dandaniti in statecraft,
Maintenance and expansion of the State, Give preference to interest and
happiness of his people over his own
• Political Obligation: Dharma is supreme and sovereign, NOT the King;
political obligation only till the King follows Rajadharma

Kautilya- • Also called ‘Chanakya’ and ‘Vishnu Gupta’; lived in about 4th century BC
Arthasashtra • He is mentioned in ‘Mudra-Raksha by Visakhadutta, ‘Das-Kumar-Charit,
by Dandin, Kathasaritsagar by Somadeva and Jain & Buddhist Texts
• Was a scholar at Taxila university , the teacher and mentor
of Chandragupta Mourya
• Manuscript of Arthashastra was discovered by R. Shamasastry in Mysore
Oriental Library in 1909
• Arthashastra – Samhita ; contains: Statecraft, Science of Politics, Political
Economy, Social norms & customs, Civil & Criminal Law, Justice system,
Inter-state politics, Warfare, Criminology, Intelligence & Espionage
• Core theme: Arthashastra is the science which explains the means of the
attainment and protection of that earth ( resources/artha) - Science of
Politics
• Political realism- like Thucydides, Machiavelli, and Morgenthau
• Origin of state: State originated to end Matasyanyay and maintain peace,
order, and welfare of the people
• Saptang: 7 limbs of state: Swami Amatyas, Janapada, Durgas, Kosha,
Danda, Mitra
• An able king can fine tune Saptang to make his state strong and victorious
• Mandal Theory: International-state real politics
• Basic premises: Neighbours are natural enemy, Enemy of Enemy is friend,
Friend of friend is friend, Friend of Enemy is Enemy, No permanent friend
or enemy in politics, Power is the means to maintain the state, The King
may adopt any means to protect & maintain the State
 • Mandala: circle of Kings: 5 in front: Ari, Mitra, Ari-Mitra, Mitra-Mitra,
Ari Mitra-Mitra
• 4 in back side: Parashanigraha:enemy at back, Akranda:friend at back,
Parashanigrahasara: Ari-Mitra, Akranda sara: Mitra-Mitra
• Vijigishu : King aspiring to conquer the world
• MADHYAMA: Powerful Kingdom close to both the Vijigishu and his
immediate enemy
• UDASIN : Neutral state out of the circle of States of Vijigishu; more
powerful than any of the kings in the circle.
• 72 elements of IR and foreign policy in Mandala theory

Ziauddin • Main Political thinker during Delhi Sultanate- Khalji and Tughlaq
Barani • His ‘Fatwa-i-Jahandari’ is considered valuable political treaties on real-
(1283–1359) politic and compared to Machiavelli's Prince and Kautilya’s Arthashastra
• Also wrote ‘Tarikh-i-Firuz Shahi’ ( Firuz Shah's History)
• His ‘Fatwa’, like Machiavelli’s Prince, is advise on statecraft to Muslim
Kings in India
• Attempted to reconcile demands of Shari’a and maintenance of State in
lands of non-Muslims
• Formulated ‘Jawabit’- secular state laws
• Barni’s ideal king- had God like virtues, Shouldn’t have 5 mean qualities:
falsehood, changeability, deception, wrathfulness and injustice
• Mahmud of Ghazni represent his idea of an ideal King
• ‘Fatwa’- 24 Hidayat (advices) covering all aspects of Kingship/Statecraft
• Elements of The State- Nobility, Army, Law, Justice, Bureaucracy,
Intelligence System
• His controversial thoughts: hate against low born, ignoble; banning
education to low born; hatred for science, reason, logic ;dynastic principle
for stability of nobility

Abul Fazl • Political thinker of Mughal era; secretary & companion to Akbar
(1551 – • Wrote: ‘Akbarnama’- 3rd volume of it ‘Ain-i-Akbari’
1602)
• Gave: Social contract theory as basis of Sovereignty, theory of divine light,
religious tolerance (Sulh-i-Kul), state promoting science & reason
• ‘ Farr-i- Izadi’- theory of divine light: King receiver and reflector of divine
light
• Sovereignty: both temporal & spiritual sovereignty vested in the King
• Just vs unjust sovereignty: only just one receives divine light and lasting
• Sulh-i-Kul (absolute peace)- universal peace, religious tolerance and social
harmony
• 4 fold division of the society: 1.The warriors 2. the learned men 3. farmers
& labourers 4. artificers & merchants (compare them to Fire, Air, Water,
Earth)
• 4-fold division of the state: 1. Nobility 2. Assistants of victory 3.
companions of the King 4.Servants
 FACT SHEET 5: MODERN INDIAN POLITICAL THINKERS
( AS PER CBCS SYLLABUS)

Thinker Main concepts/facts/books

Raja Ram • Lead the 1st wave of modern Indian Thinkers

Mohan Roy • ‘Father of Modern India’; ‘Pioneer of Indian Renaissance’
(1772 –
Concepts:
1833)
• Liberal Humanism- all mankind are one great family of which numerous
nations and tribes are only various branches
• Judging socio-religious practices through reason and social utility
• Unity in all religion: 1. Universal Supreme being 2. Existence of soul 3.
Life after death
• Spiritual Synthesis: synthesized transnational humanist culture
• Cosmopolitanism: proposed ‘World Congress’
• Social reforms before political freedom
• English rule- God sent opportunity for social reform and modernization
of Indian society
• Champion of Civil Rights, women’s education, liberal political economy
Societies:
• Atmiya Sabha in 1815, the Calcutta unitarian Association in 1821 and
the Brahmo Sabha in 1828
Journals:
• Brahminical Magazine’; Bengali weekly- ‘Samvad Kaumudi’ ; Persian
weekly -‘Mairat Al Akbar’; English weekly -‘Bengal Gazette’
School/colleges:
• Hindu College(Presidency College); the Anglo-Hindu School; Vedanta
College
Books/essays:
• Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (A Gift to Monotheism)- 1803 ;
• The Precepts of Jesus- The Guide to Peace and Happiness (1820)
• Modern Encroachments on the Ancient Rights of Females (1822)
• The Universal Religion (1829) ; History of Indian Philosophy (1829)
• Many translations of Vendantic texts and Upanishads in Hindi, Bengali,
English
Swami Great Hindu Vedantic philosopher and social reformer
Vivekananda His main Concepts/theories:
(1863 –1902)
• Humanism: Man is divine; man is mirror of god; service to man- service
to God
• Monism- Advait Vendanta: Human soul is part of the infinite universal
omnipresent force- Brahaman
• Perfectibility: Man can achieve salivation by realizing his inner
Goodness, by moral perfection of the Soul
• Oneness of universe- all are one in the universe
• Unity of all religion: all have same purpose- unity with God
• Religion provides – Liberty(salvation), equality (equal before God),
fraternity (creation of same God)
• Cycle of Caste rule: Human societies have seen successive rules of
Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra
• Ideal Society-in which truth becomes practical, in which divinity of man
is realized; combination of best of rules by Brahman’, Kshatriya,
Vaishya, Shudra; harmony between individual & society; just, equal, and
liberating
• Realization of ideal society- mass education, cultural Revolution, social
reforms
• Nationalism: proud in our Indianness, our ancient civilization, our
Spirituality, and our Universal motherhood
Societies:
• Ramakrishna Math and Missions
Books:
• Bartaman Bharat (in Bengali) (1899), Essay published in
‘Udbodhan’
• The East and the West (1909)
• Practical Vedanta
• Karma Yoga, raja-yoga, Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga
• Complete works of Swami Vevekanand.
Quotes on him:
• “The greatest man India produced in recent centuries was
not Gandhi but Vivekananda.” (AmbedkarJI)
• “Vivekananda saved Hinduism, saved India"( Chakravarti
Rajagopalachari)
• “Vivekananda was maker of Modern India"( Subhash Chandra Bose)
 Other facts:
• His birthday, 12 January, is celebrated as National Youth Day.
• 1893: participated in World Parliament of Religions at Chicago. Became
celebrity after his famous speech on Hindu Religion
• Supported idol worship

Pandita First Feminist of Modern India

Ramabai Her thoughts/concepts:
Saraswati (1858
• 3 major Gender Issues: child-marriage, the plight of widows, and
–1922)
education for women
• 2 socio-cultural factors against women: Ancient ‘Shastras’/’Smritis’
and Hindu social codes of conduct- such as Manusmriti and Patriarchy
• 3 strategies for improving women’s conditions: Self-Reliance,
Education, and self-help- Women as Teachers/doctors
• Women’s subjection de-based Indian men and degraded Indian nation
What she did for Women?
• Arya Mahila Sabha: A forum to make women aware of their rights
and fight for them
• Sharda Sadan: shelter, education, vocational training to High caste
Hindu widows
• Mukti Mission: Support and education to widows, unmarried women
and girls, abandoned wives, and victims of the terrible famine and the
plague
Books:
• ‘Stree Dharma Niti’ : by income from this she could travel to
England
• ‘The High-Caste Hindu Woman’: published in USA in 1887: An
unofficial Indian Feminist Manifesto
Other facts:
• Title of 'Pandita' and 'Saraswati' awarded to her by the University of
Calcutta due to her deep knowledge of Sanskrit
• Was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind Gold Medal In 1919 by the Colonial
Govt.
• Attended the Indian National Congress session of the year 1889 ; also
participated to the Third National Social Conference in 1889
• First Indian women to get her book published in USA in English
Language
 • She adopted Christian Religion.
• First Indian women to have a society in her name in USA- Ramabai
Association

Rabindranath Greatest Philosopher poet of Modern India

Tagore (1861 – His thoughts/concepts:
1941)
• Universal humanism- nothing should divide humanity and rob human
freedom
• Against western nationalism: divides humanity, make one less humane,
less moral, and constrain freedom
• cosmopolitanism/internationalism- unity of humankind, man, culture,
countries
• Self-regulated swadeshi Samaj (society) in place of nation-state
• Social reconstruction, reform, and united community than political
nationalism
Books:
• What is nation? ; ‘Nationalism in India’ (essay)
• ‘Swadeshi Samaj’ ; ‘Crisis in Civilization’
• Gitanjali (Song Offerings to God)- won Noble Prize
• Gora (Fair-Faced), ‘Ghare-Baire’(The Home and the World) ; ‘Char
Adhaya’

Other Facts:
• National song of two nations- India and Bangladesh- written by him !
• First Asian to get Noble Prize in 1913
• Returned title of Knighthood in 1919 protesting Jallianwala Bagh
massacre
• He called Gandhiji ‘Mahatma’; Gandhiji called him’ Gurudev’
• Established ‘Sri-Niketan’- Institute of Rural Reconstruction and ‘Shanti-
Niketan’- called ‘Vishwa Bharati’ University

Bhimrao Great scholar and architect of Indian Constitution

Ambedkar(1891 His thoughts/concepts:
–1956)
• Caste system: biggest weakness of Indian social system
• Only by elimination of Caste system, socio-economic progress possible
• Social democracy: Socialism with liberal democracy and constitutional
Government-“Democracy to work towards socialism but have its basis in
a regime of rights”
• Supported state socialism
• Constitutional morality: adopted it from George Grote;
• Pragmatism: from John Dewey, his teacher at Colombia University
• Graded inequality: inequality based on group identity- caste system
• Social Justice- Justice prevails upon ensuring Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity
• Trinity of Rights: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
• Social reform is prior to political and Economic reform
• Political democracy useless without social democracy

Books:
• ‘Castes in India- 1916’ ; ‘Annihilation of caste-1936’
• ‘Who Were the Shudras? 1946’ ; ‘The Untouchables -1948’
• ‘The Budhha and his Dhamma-1957’
• Book on him : ‘Ambedkar: Towards An Enlightened India’- Gail
Omvedt
Journals:
• ‘Bahishkrit Bharat in Marathi’ ; ‘Mook Nayak’
• ‘Janata’ and ‘Samata’ magazines
Societies:
• Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha 1924
• Samata Sainik Dal -1924
• Samaj Samata Sangh-1927
• Depressed Classes Education Society-1928
Political Parties:
• 1937: Independent Labour Party
• 1942: Scheduled caste federation
• 1956: The Republican Party

Other Facts:
• Publicly Burnt ManuSmriti in 1927
• Participated in Round table conference, got separate electorate for Dalits
 • But agreed to leave separate electorate as per the ‘Poona Pact’ with
Gandhiji
• Was member of Viceroy’s executive Council
• Chairman of the drafting committee of constituent assembly
• Was against the Panchayati raj System- it would sustain caste system
• First law minister of India, but resigned on issue of ‘Hindu Code Bill’
• Converted to Buddhism in 1956; in 1936 he declared he would not die a
Hindu

Gandhi- his idea • His idea of swaraj contained in ‘Hind Swaraj’, published in 1909
of Swaraj • Influence on political thoughts of Gandhiji
• John Ruskin (Unto This Last), Henry Thoreau( civil disobedience),
Leo Tolstoy- an pacific anarchist ; Italy’s Mazzini, Dada Bhai
Naoroji Un-British Rule in India , Gopal Krishna Gokhle ( his
political Guru)
• Swaraj- meaning
• Literal: self- governance, freedom, liberation
• For Individual: self-mastery, self-restrain, self-realization, moral
goodness
• For community/polity- self-governing autonomous community life
without any formal coercive authority (state)-A kind of
Enlightened Anarchy
• 4 components of Swaraj: Polity, Economy, Social Order, and Dharma
• His other thoughts/concepts:
• Oceanic circle: self-governing, self-reliant, autonomous communities,
starting from village in concentric circle- nation as communities of
community
• Vision of decentralized, non-hierarchical, participative and
substantive democracy
• Satyagraha: active resistance based on truth and non-violence, involving
soul-force and power of truth
• Sarvodaya- Good for all; Antyodaya- good to the last one in the row-
the poorest of the poor
• Trusteeship: Capitalist class as trustee of wealth of the society, uses it
for welfare of the masses and society
• Bread labour: each one need to do the manual work equivalent to value
of his material consumption- honour/dignity to manual labour
• Freedom from want: limiting our want- voluntarily poor
 • Instead of western modern civilization, he had vision of ideal
civilization, which is not materialistic, individualistic, mechanistic, and
dependent on western medical treatment, transport, trade, and way of life
• Other facts:
• Considered himself Enlightened Anarchist
• Won Kaisar-i-Hind in 1915, which he returned in protest against
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
• Was given title of ‘Mahatma’ by Rabindranath Tagore
• Considered Gopal Krishna Gokhle his political guru

Muhammad Great Urdu Poet and political thinker

Iqbal(1877- Concepts/thoughts
1938)
• Influenced by humanism, universalism, Sufism, and modern western
philosophy
• ‘Khudi’- spiritually evolved self; 3 layers of self- physical, relational,
universal
• Community ( Millat- community of Muslims)- morally evolved people
united by common bond of religion/spirituality
• Such community is same as political community and nation
• In his community 3 realms – spiritual, political, social- merged
• Rejected western nation-state, which to him, divides people on basis of
geography, race, colour, language, and other external identities

His creations:
• "Tarānah-e-Hindi“- Sāre Jahāṉ se Acchā -1904
• Tarana-e-Milli- Anthem of the Community-1910
• Asrar-i-Khudi - Secrets of the Self (1915) ; Rumuz-i-Bekhudi - Hints of
Selflessness (1917)
• Payam-e-Mashriq The Message of the East (1924)
• Javed Nama -(Book of Javed)-1932;
• Collection of Essay- The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam-
1930
Other facts:
• Inspiration behind separate Muslim Nation-Pakistan
• Articulated his vision of Pakistan in – 1930- Speech in 25th session of
Indian Muslim League at Allahabad.
 • Brought back Ali Jinnah back from political exile to lead Indian Muslims
• National Poet of Pakistan, called Allama (most knowledgeable)
• Revered in Iran, called Iqbāl-e Lāhorī

Vinayak • Revolutionary Hindu nationalist leader and political thinker

Damodar Concepts/thoughts
Savarkar (1883- • Who are Hindu?
1966)
• People following religions of India,
• whose ancestors had lived on ‘Bharatvarsha’,
• and who consider ‘Bharat’ as Punyabhumi

• Religion of India: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, etc

• Hindutva: Hinduness; feeling of being Hindu
• 3 elements of Hindutva: Hindu Nation ( territory), common Racial
Identity( Jati), and common Cultural Identity

Societies:
Abhinav Bharat, India House, Free India Society
Books:
‘The Indian War of Independence-1909’ ; ‘Mera Aajewan Karawaas –
2007’
• ‘Hinditva: Who Is a Hindu? -1923’ ;’ Kaala Pani’ -2007’ ; ‘Mopla-
1967’

Other Facts:
• He called 1857 revolt as 1st war of Independence
• Influenced by Joseph Mazzini, western Enlightenment and nation-state
• 1910: arrested in London for revolutionary activities; sentenced to life
imprisonment at Kalapani- A&N islands
• 1923- conditional release, sent to Ratnagiri Jail- social reformer, writer
• President of Hindu Mahasabha for 7 years- 1937-43
• Despite being its philosophical founder, never Joined RSS
• Was a rationalist Atheist- was against ‘Hindu ritualism’, Cow protection
• In 1970, PM Indira Gandhi released Postal Stamp on Savarkar
Jawaharlal • Architect of Independent India
Nehru(1889 – • His Concepts/thoughts
1964)
• Secularism:
• Based on scientific humanism, western concept of separation of
state & church
• State should observe neutrality in regard to all religion
• neither irreligion nor anti- religion -equal respect for all faiths
• State - neutral Umpire to religious practices but would intervene to
protect individual’s rights, freedom, public order, morality, social
welfare, justice.
• Socialism:
• Inspired by Fabian socialism- democratic, peaceful, gradual change
• Mix of libertarian Marxism, Fabian socialism, Gandhian moral
Philosophy
• Mixed economy- both Pvt and public sector, but greater role to
latter
• Central planning: for rapid economic development
Books:
• The Discovery of India;
• Glimpses of World History
• Toward Freedom- his autobiography
• Letters from a Father to His Daughter

Other Facts:
• 5 times President of Congress: 1929 (Lahore session)- ‘Purna Swaraj’-
celebration of Indian Independence every year on 26th January ; 1936
(Lahore), 1951-52 ( Lahore), 1953( Hyderabad), 1954 (Kalyani)
• Drafted ‘Nehru report’- a Constitution of India with his father Motilal
Nehru and other prominent Congress leaders in 1928
• 1955- Avadi resolution of Congress- socialist mode of economy
• Major social reforms: Abolition of Jamindari system, land reforms,
Hindu code bill, community development program
• Set up Planning commission, National development council
• 1st Constitutional amendment: put land reforms in 9th Schedule- non
justiciable; curtailed right to freedom by increasing reasonable
restrictions
Dr. Ram • Socialist leader and centre of anti-Congressism
Manohar Lohia • His concepts/thoughts
(1910
• Wheels of History: All human history hitherto has been an internal
–1967)
oscillation between class and caste and an external shift of
prosperity and power from one region to another
• Prosperity, progress- caste open up to become like class
• Degeneration, decline: class closes to become like caste
• Halting the Wheel of History: True Socialism by Willed
Approximation
His Socialism:
• 3rd way- sandwiched between Soviet style communism and
Nehru’s democratic socialism
• Synthesis of Communism, democratic socialism, and Gandhian
philosophy
• Multi-dimensional Equality: Internal/External vs Spiritual/ Material
• 7 Revolutions: against Gender inequality, caste system, class and racial
inequality, protecting individual privacy, and civil disobedience
• 60: 40: 60 % reservation to Dalits, women, backward class, minorities
• 4 Pillared state: central, provincial, district, and village govt- political
decentralisation; people’s participation
• Jail, Vote, Spade: Jail: Communist struggle; Vote: Representative
Democracy; Spade: Gandhian constructive actions for social reforms
“Daam Bandho, Kharcha Bandho”: control price and consumption
“Jaati Todo”- break the Caste System
• Ridiculed ‘side looking’, backward looking, imitating, shallow
modernism
• Quotes:
• “Politics short term religion; religion long term politics”
• “ Zinda Kaume 5 saal intzar nahi karti”- living community don’t wait
for 5 years
Journal : Mankind
Books:
Wheel of History( 1955) ;
The Caste System ( 1964)
Fragments of World Mind: (1949) ;
Guilty Men of India’s Partition( 1970)
Marx, Gandhi and Socialism (1963)
India, China, and Northern Frontiers

Other Facts:
• Did his research on Salt Taxation in India
• 1934- joined Congress Socialist Party (CSP)
• 1948 : Left CSP to form Socialist Party of India
• 1952: Socialist Party of India merged with the Kisan Majdoor Praja
Party to form the Praja Socialist Party ( PSP);
• 1956: formed Socialist Party (Lohia) by splitting PSP;
• 1965: merged the Socialist Party (Lohia) into the ranks of the Samyukta
Socialist Party ( SSP)
• 1952-his famous Pachamarhi Speech- outlined his socialism
• Vision of organising mega cultural fest -Ramayana Mela at Chitrakoot
• Actively participated in liberation of Goa
• Icon of Non-Congressism
• Biggest Inspiration for the contemporary socialist parties- SP, RJD,
JD(U),JD(S)