Politics Paper :: essays research papers

One of the first things we pick out learned about political science this semester is that there is a constant engagement over the true up definition, curiously in how broad or narrow the definition is. When Thomas Jefferson wrote that political sympathies argon such torment that I would advise everyvirtuoso I get along not to mix with them. it is understood that he is referring to the electoral and governmental aspects of politics. If Dr. Michael Rivage-Seul and Leslie Cagan were to usher this quote, they would argue that Jefferson has an extremely narrow view of politics and that if one were to want a more accurate definition, they would have to look further than the limiting cultur anyy reliable definition. Martin Luther King, Jr. would also disagree with this definition however he I think he would have a bigger problem with the advice that Jefferson is giving. All three of the authors that we have looked at would, in one way or another, be forced to disagree with Jeffe rson based on the principles that they try to uphold and emphasize in their writings and speeches. According to Dr. Michael Rivage-Seul, we are living in a initiation full of deceit and forgiving frailty. He stresses this particular point in his essay Taking Risks in Platos Cave which helps to illustrate that not everything we know to be true is actually true. He also believes that, just as in the parable, we have an obligation to ourselves to look at all aspects and trey to understand all observed viewpoints. His words enforce this belief when he says We cant begin our escape from ignorance without the intervention of an outsider, without listening to others. (Rivage-Seul, 6). In his teachings, Rivage-Seul tries to highlight the magnificence of thinking for ourselves and always being weary of a socially accepted truth. If Leslie Cagan, author of the essay What is Politics? was asked to comment on Jeffersons quote, I would theorize that she would probably scorn him for his narro w minded view of politics. I am also led to believe that she would say that Jefferson was no more politically aware than the rest of the general public because of the common ignorant definition they share. Cagan would argue that politics has to do with just about everything in the world and he stresses the complexity and immeasurable depth in the word when he says How we understand (and therefore act out of that understanding) politics and political struggle is no small matter.