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I have blogged on this site since August 2010 under my name. I thought it was time to move to a different title reflects the content. If the blog had been about me personally, it might have remained unchanged. However, the topics it covers are more in line with the three words in the title.
I blog about politics when I blog about FOIA and other government activities, in the UK, the USA, and around the word. Now, this area has been the focus as most of my recent posts have been about FOIA and the post legislative scrutiny. I am also interested in this topic because privacy relates to politics and what it means to be public or private both in a literal sense and in a political sense.
I blog about Statesmanship because I am interested in the way leaders political, business, and military conduct themselves. I hope to do more work around the topic such as the thoughts on Field Marshall Haig. I will expand on this area in the coming months if time and topics permit.
Finally, my third area is philosophy and in particular political philosophy. My background is in this area as it reflects my academic work. However, it infuses all the work that I do. Political philosophy addresses the fundamental political questions for any citizen. How best to live and what is the best regime to live under. Most importantly, it is a chance to explore the question of why. The question of why is there something and not nothing is a fundamental one for any thinking person. To be sure, other topics and issues will occupy our time as busy people, citizens, and taxpayers. However, it gets to the heart of our human identity, who we are, what we believe in, why we believe in it, and most importantly, what it means for the live we live.
All political regimes answer the question of why is there something rather than nothing in their own way. Their founding principles answer that question for their citizens or subjects. In that way, they offer a non-arbitrary reason for its citizens and subjects to believe and exist. For the ancient Greeks the regime was founded on the Gods of the city. Even today in the United States of America where the regime is founded on a belief in nature and nature’s god, the idea continues. For those following religions their God provides them with the reason and goal for living. In that way, we see Augustine’s two cities. What these regimes do is give the context and meaning to our lives whether we accept it consciously or understand it unconsciously.
In any case, whether we want to accept it or not, we are shaped by the regime under which we live. For some, it is a difficulty and demanding reality, potentially a nightmarish existence. For others, fortunate to live under a benign regime, it is pleasant and allows the leisure to think and, perhaps philosophize. In that sense, one realizes why philosophy is so dangerous because it begins to call into question that which allows the pleasant experience to exist. These areas and these issues raise the fundamental questions of political philosophy. For me, there are no more exciting, and dangerous, questions than these.
I hope you will follow along with me as I explore them.
Related articles
- Philosophy and Happiness (bloggingisaresponsibility.wordpress.com)
- What the hell is philosophy anyway? (philosophicalsketches.com)
- FOIA Statistics Shows the DOJ’s “94.5% Release Rate” is a – Ahem – “Stretch.” (nsarchive.wordpress.com)
- Does the UK have an ecology of transparency? (lawrenceserewicz.wordpress.com)
- Can you measure demcoracy by its freedom of information? Four hypothesis in searchof answers (lawrenceserewicz.wordpress.com)
- A Walk of Faith: God’s Unchanging Promises in Changing Circumstances! (outsidecampers.com)
Philosophical Politics 