A Comparison of Political Philosophy and Political Ideology 

Introduction

The body of knowledge we call politics is broad and it comprises of different independent yet interrelated units, that are prone to be confused. In this essay, we will conduct a comparison of two independent political units: Political Philosophy and Political Ideology. We investigate the similarities and differences between these two units in order to have a clear understanding of each one and its role in society.

The Meaning of Political Philosophy and Political Ideology

Political philosophy is an old study that can be traced back to ancient Greece. Studies on political philosophy were conducted by highly regarded philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato. According to M.Faure(2008:3), “ the object of political philosophy is to clarify explicitly political phenomena as far as general thoughts regarding political issues”. In the political way of thinking general thoughts or facts concerning governmental issues are not constrained by time or space, but they will, however, expose the truth of political issues with the goal that reality can be understood and judged appropriately. An example of an issue managed by political philosophy is the topic of whether there are thoughts and realities about authority that could be legitimate for every political framework. Do such thoughts or facts exist, or are there various realities about authority that ought to be legitimate for various political frameworks and times of history? Political ideology according to S.Botha (2007:51) “We can define the

concept of ideology as a theory that consists of a comprehensive set of beliefs (usually the product of values) on the social, political and economic life of human beings”. An example of an ideology is Liberalism, for liberals freedom or liberty of an individual is the central value. The individual is regarded as more important than society, for society is merely a collection of individuals. Jackson and Jackson (1997:151) claims that “Ideologies are based on the teachings of significant political thinkers and philosophers who are searching for truth derived from first principles through logical argument”. When one considers the political theory of John Locke it indicates that Jackson and Jackson were correct in their observation.

The Nature of Political Philosophy and Ideology

Political Philosophy is made up of three separate dimensions, they are 1) analytical(logic), empirical (factual), and normative(moral). According to S.L Kant (2008:6), we need to distinguish between these dimensions when we are reading the work of philosophers in order to identify the type of statements being made.

For example, the death penalty is wrong. This is a normative statement because it reflects my own attitude regarding the morality of the death penalty. The statement; Ramaphosa is the head of state in South Africa exemplifies an empirical statement. Empirical statements either describe or explain phenomena. A typical example of an analytical statement is, “The head of the constitutional court is the head of South Africa’s judiciary” this statement is logical because it would be self-contradictory to deny it. Political ideology is also multidimensional it always contains statements about what human nature is and what it should be. Since ideologies are concerned with the ideal society, they always provide us with an explanation about the nature of society there are some who argue that the community is prior to the individual (collectivists) like Karl Marx as well as those who believe that a community is merely a collection of individuals so the individual is more important than the community (individualists). The relationship between the ruler and the ruled (Form of the regime) is core in the political ideology discourse. The ordering of society is critical to political ideology because it is concerned what is desirable in all spheres of society, i.e. religion, the economy, etc. it is also concerned with political strategies which should be used to initiate changes.

The Functions of Political Philosophy and Ideology

Political philosophy is concerned about the values, and goals we need to pursue in order to attain the good life. It protects from bias when we do introspection about our beliefs and opinions against those of others. Ideologies usually give legitimacy to the political authorities, they provide those who believe it a sense of belonging and unity, for example, Nationalism.

Conclusion

In this essay, we provided a meaning, a brief discussion about the functions and the nature of political philosophy and ideology.