Human Nature in Politics (English-Chinese Contrast)

Author: (English) Wallas
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-19
Features: The material in Chapter Four on political reasoning, although reasoning is merely a part of the entire thought process, people are able to and do engage in reasoning. The effective reasoning rules formulated by the Greeks were primarily intended for use in the political realm, but in practice, these rules encounter far more difficulties and achieve lower success rates when applied to political reasoning compared to their application in physical sciences. It has been discovered that this is mainly due to the nature of the material used. We must select or create entities for explanation, just as we do for stimulating our impulses and irrational reasoning. In physical sciences, the entities selected fall into two categories: both highly similar concrete things and abstract qualities that cannot be precisely compared with other things. In political science, it is impossible to create class entities. Politicians often seek simple entities of the second type—some are facts, some are qualities—that can be used as precise "standards" in political planning. So far, such research has not been successful. Some draw an analogy with the biological sciences, suggesting that politicians should, like doctors, avoid oversimplifying the material they use, aiming to make useful reasoning about human types, individual variations, and environments. In this way, politicians are likely to gain the power of effective reasoning. The numerous facts cited by biologists show that if individual differences within any type are arranged like a continuous curve rather than being treated as uniform rules or arbitrary exceptions, they can be remembered. On the other hand, any attempt to view the approximate continuity in environmental facts as something that might appear in human nature facts may fail. The study of history cannot be the same as biological research.
Chapter Five: Methods of Political Reasoning
The methods of political reasoning share a common feature with the traditional over-simplification of its subject-matter—the material. In economics, methods and subject-matter have been completely simplified since their inception. Since the time of Jevons, economics has begun to replace qualitative methods with quantitative methods. To what extent can the same kind of revolution in political science achieve? Some political issues can clearly be discussed using quantitative methods, while others are less clearly suited to such methods. However, even for the most complex political issues, experienced and responsible politicians actually think in quantitative ways, even though the methods they use to reach their conclusions are often unconscious. Nevertheless, although some politicians have not consciously developed the habit of thinking about problems quantitatively, all politicians have begun to think based on rationalist assumptions, and many have completely abandoned politics due to disillusionment and aversion. When training politicians, what is needed is the ability to think consciously and express oneself clearly, as well as to accept the necessary learning methods. In royal investigation committees, international conferences, and other organizations, as well as in individual work, this conscious change already exists. They arrange a large amount of specially collected evidence and draw conclusions from it. Their methods and terminology, although not filled with numbers, are like