Approaching the War of Ideas

Abstract

War is political philosophy by other means. Politics is merely the process by which institutions—rules—distribute society’s benefits and obligations according to the philosophical ideas upon which people, leading their collective lives, have conferred legitimacy. The War of Ideas is a battle for this perception of legitimacy and accompanying popular support. Simply put, political philosophy is a hypothesis: if condition, then outcome. If a polity is organized according to a particular philosophical narrative and structure, then justice, security, and human flourishing will result. Plato, for example, advocated a rightly ordered society of philosopher kings, an auxiliary or guardian class, and producers—that is, rulers, those supporting and guided by the rulers, and the ruled. Plato supplemented this social organization with the “Noble Lie” or “Myth of the Metals,” claiming the respective social classes have gold, silver, and brass in their souls. Of course, those on the lower end of society’s benefits and privileges would believe they were not deprived as a result of some political or earthly injustice, just the harsh reality of the condition of their birth. These people are less likely to revolt.