Sunday, November 2, 2014

#307 / Logic And Politics



According to Wikipedia, which has a rather long article on the subject, "logic" is defined as the "use and study of valid reasoning." Wikipedia's discussion goes on to note that "the study of logic features most prominently in the subjects of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science."

Here is my initial question: wouldn't it make sense to apply the study of logic to "politics," as well?

It seems to me that there are some "logical" conclusions about various political questions that inevitably flow from certain premises that are generally agreed upon, or that are known to be true. 

Just as an example: 

  • PREMISE: Everyone benefits when there is an economy that provides work for anyone who wants to work.
  • PREMISE: Work that would be beneficial to society, overall, remains undone, not because there is no one available or willing to do the work, but because there is no individual or organization that is seeking to hire people to do this socially beneficial work. (Examples of useful work not being done, and this is most certainly not an exhaustive list: reforestation and erosion control; home assistance for elderly and disabled persons; more teachers).
  • PREMISE: Everyone in our society would benefit from a program in which we collectively hired unemployed or underemployed persons to do work that would be socially beneficial that is not now being done only because no one is hiring people to do it.  
  • CONCLUSION: it would make logical sense to mobilize economic resources possessed within our society and to use these resources for a program of collective employment, hiring people to achieve socially positive goals. 
Downside? Well, we'd have to utilize money now held by individuals, in order to direct it to the socially positive employment program. Possible? Yes. Question: is logic motivating, politically?

Another question: can we find a way to make logic politically motivating?

Final question: don't you think we should be trying?



Image Credit: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logic

1 comment:

  1. Logic and politics have never been good friends, basically because humans are illogical.

    If logic were a driving force in human societies, it would not be necessary to have a special category of study called "Logic," just as there is no special category of study called "Stupidity."

    Politics is about money and power, which, viewed from the perspective of the natural world is illogical to the point of self-destructive.

    Nature doesn't do logic. Nature is logic, as Nature is all things.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment!