What is oriental despotism. Oriental despotism 2022-10-24
What is oriental despotism
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Oriental despotism is a term coined by the 18th-century French philosopher Montesquieu to describe a form of government in which a single ruler holds absolute power over the lives and property of the people within a particular territory. This type of government is characterized by a lack of legal protections or checks and balances on the power of the ruler, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.
The term "oriental despotism" is often used to refer specifically to the type of government found in certain parts of Asia, including China, India, and the Middle East. However, it can also be used more broadly to refer to any government that exhibits these characteristics, regardless of its location.
One of the key features of oriental despotism is the centralization of power in the hands of a single ruler or small group of rulers. This concentration of power allows the rulers to make decisions without the input or approval of the people, and to enforce their will through the use of force or intimidation.
Another characteristic of oriental despotism is the lack of legal protections for individuals or groups within society. In these societies, the rulers often have the power to make and enforce laws as they see fit, without any regard for the rights or freedoms of the people. This can lead to widespread injustice and oppression, as the rulers are not held accountable for their actions.
In addition to the concentration of power and lack of legal protections, oriental despotism is also marked by a lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process. Rulers in these societies may not be required to explain or justify their actions, and there may be no mechanism in place for the people to hold them accountable. This can lead to corruption and abuse of power, as rulers are free to act in their own self-interest without fear of consequences.
Overall, oriental despotism is a form of government in which a single ruler or small group of rulers holds absolute power over the lives and property of the people, with little or no accountability for their actions. While this type of government may be efficient in some ways, it can also be oppressive and unjust, and can lead to widespread suffering and social unrest.
Oriental Despotism
Administrators, diplomats and political staff employed in colonial government were much more involved in Asia and became the main source on this topic, whereas authors in earlier centuries had mainly had to rely on travel literature. A link with Montesquieu's approach is clearly visible here, as well as the influence of more recent authors, in particular This, for Hegel, is most evident in the Mongolian and Chinese Empires. In fact, according to Bodin it was the most ancient and primitive form of monarchy in world history. By stressing conquest as the origin of despotic power and pointing out the absence of property rights as a characteristic of despotic government, Bodin introduced important new aspects into the theoretical debate about despotism. Osterhammel, Jürgen: Die Entzauberung Asiens: Europa und die asiatischen Reiche im 18. Later, Persia was conquered by the Greek king Alexander the Great 356—323 BC. What serious historical unity exists between Ming China and Megalithic Ireland, Pharaonic Egypt and Hawaii? Rural China: Imperial Control in the Nineteenth Century.
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Oriental Despotism — EGO
William of Ockham: Dialogus de imperatorum et pontificum potestate, ed. As a result, significant developments in the works of major philosophers like Thomas Hobbes 1588—1679 John Locke 1632—1704 9Nevertheless, not only the theoretical side of the issue is of interest here, because the evolution of the concept of Oriental despotism, as we said, is the result of a complex interaction of factors. A despotically ruled society cannot articulate itself, and the universal spirit is concentrated in a single free person, embodied by the despot himself. This establishes the "Oriental" character as a constitutive value for the notion of despotism. In Zunz, Olivier ed. Travel literature was an essential source for Montesquieu's approach, as his careful readings and summaries of the works by Bernier, Chardin, and many others show.
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oriental despotism
The source cannot lie in economic life, since Oriental despotism has existed at many economic levels, from the lowest to levels considerably higher than those in Europe when it was already developing free institutions. They inspired his interest in the particularities of despotic governments and their varieties in the context of the nature and principle of despotism, which had not always been analysed as closely as they deserved. All these various attitudes towards Oriental despotism should, however, be considered as the theoretical side of a more complex debate; the real development of the relation between Europe and Asia must not be overlooked. The definition of despotic is something associated with or typically attributed to a despot, or a cruel and oppressive ruler. However, his efforts to achieve a European hegemony also contributed to the fact that European politics in the late 17th and early 18th century were dominated by warfare.
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Oriental Despotism on JSTOR
Wittfogel asked whether there was an explanation found only in these societies. Like other crusading works of its kind it assumes that views which conflict with its own hamper the struggle for truth and justice. In other words, the concept of Oriental despotism is shaped by different languages, approaches and actors, and should not be seen uniquely from the theoretical side. Brunner, Otto et al. Machiavelli, Niccolò: Il Principe, ed. The origin of Mesopotamia dates back so far that there is no known evidence of any other civilized society before them.
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The Oriental Despotic Universe of Montesquieu (Chapter 4)
Therefore Machiavelli saw the governance techniques of France and Turkey as two opposite ways of conceiving and practising power and authority, thus proposing a new outline for the traditional confrontation between East and West. Le Vassor, Michel: Les Soupirs de la France esclave, qui aspire après la liberté, Amsterdam 1689—1690. An example of despotic used as an adjective is the phrase despotic killing which is the act of killing anyone who disagrees with your political position. This shift from the "Oriental despotism" concept to the "Asiatic mode of production" opened a fresh discussion and proposed new methodologies of investigation. A faithful picture, however, which preceded his arrival, and was placed by his immediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate-house, conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his person and manners.
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Oriental despotism : definition of Oriental despotism and synonyms of Oriental despotism (English)
Despotism, for Aristotle, was therefore not degeneration, but a proper and possibly durable system in radical opposition to the Greek world and mind. Sri Lanka is a classic example of the hydraulic civilization which had developed in the ancient period. Bodin, Les six livres de la République 1576. Kaiser, Thomas: The Evil Empire? Mably, Gabriel Bonnot de: Doutes proposés aux philosophes économistes sur l'ordre naturel et essentiel des sociétés politiques, Den Haag et. Once associated with the exotic "Eastern" themes and styles of Eugene Delacroix's, James McNeill Whistler's, and John Singer Sargent's… Orientation , ORIENTATION. This judgment followed from the idea that different ethnic groups were naturally compatible with different systems of government, which is an important element of Aristotle's political thought. Nor can these cultural features result from the institutions themselves, since during the millennia of Oriental despotism the institutions have been destroyed time and time again, yet they always reproduce themselves.
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Oriental despotism
Note you can select to save to either the free. This power was thought to be the most difficult kind to achieve, but the easiest to preserve because, in his view, the subordinates did not even know the meaning of freedom. Bernier painted a negative picture of the Empire by emphasizing the economically disastrous consequences of despotic government, the ruinous effects of a lack of private ownership, and the shocking contrast between the extreme wealth of the princes and the poverty of their people, who were oppressed by the taxation system and by rapacious peripheral administrators. The story of Oriental notion of a As the attention of the new emperor was diverted by the most trifling amusements, he wasted many months in his luxurious progress from Syria to Italy, passed at Nicomedia his first winter after his victory, and deferred till the ensuing summer his triumphal entry into the capital. In the Physiocratic school which was founded in France by François Quesnay 1694—1774 economic evidence. He was the first major thinker to compare his West, the land of the Greeks, with the East, that of the Persians and non-Hellenes. This discourse has considered a decisive role for the government and the institution of politics in the Iranian history and believes that despotism in Iran has prevented the formation of civil and guild organizations.
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Oriental Despotism, by Karl Wittfogel
Despotism, which for Hegel was represented by Asiatic societies and governments, was conceived of as the first of four stages in the dialectics of the universal spirit, because it departs from the state of nature but does not yet permit the individual to be autonomous. The early modern interest in discoveries and voyages experience Relazioni Universaliby Giovanni Botero 1540—1617 , 10who made use of a large amount of primary sources and, above all, travel literature, describing the political relations of Venetian Persia, from Mughal Indiato Chinaand Siam. Introductory Remarks The idea of Oriental despotism has an old and diversified history in European culture 1Many agents, not only philosophers or political theorists but also travellers, diplomats, missionaries and administrators, have shaped, spread and applied the idea of Oriental despotism. It is therefore radically opposed to European monarchies, which are led by a prince and his lords, as was the case in Franceat the time. China and the Writing of World History in the West PDF.
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The Concept of ‘Oriental Despotism’ from Aristotle to Marx
Such women can play no positive part in the character development of their sons, only a corrupting one. The extraordinary theoretical strength of Hegel's thought reinforced the idea of an inexorable connection between despotism and immobility and an essential difference between the Eastern and the European world which had already been discussed in the Age of Enlightenment. Le Vassor, Michel: Les Soupirs de la France esclave, qui aspire après la liberté, Amsterdam 1689—1690. Laurens, Henry: Les Origines intellectuelles de l'expédition d'Égypte: L'orientalisme islamisant en France 1698—1798 , Istanbul et. It was criticized by his opponents because it was contrary to the idea of a necessary separation between different forms of society and government, which was stressed in Aristotelian political thought. How is hydraulic pressure generated? Islam is proposed, in this view, as a perfect ally of despotism because of the strong interaction between political and religious matters, even if the respect for religion can have a stabilizing effect, since it imposes rules that everybody must accept.
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What is the concept of oriental despotism?
URL: Aquinas, Thomas: Sententia Libri politicorum, in: Thomas Aquinas: Opera Omnia, Roma, 1971, vol. Appendix Sources Anquetil-Duperron, Abraham-Hyacinthe: Législation Orientale, Ouvrage Dans Lequel, En Montrant Quels Sont En Turquie, En Perse Et Dans l'Indoustan, Les Principes Fondamentaux Du Gouvernement, On Prouve: I. From another point of view, this ancient Greek stereotype of Persians being naturally inclined to accept despotic power introduces an historical and geographical determination of despotism which has no connection with the Aristotelian concept of tyranny — any monarchy may degenerate into tyranny, in every place and time. Name the five components that make up a hydraulic system. He accordingly proposed a contrast between Europe and the Orientthat was based on his scientific approach.
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