(Oct 17, 2024)
The History of Ideas, by David Runciman
This book, like its predecessor, Confronting Leviathan, is based on a podcast called Talking Politics created by David Runciman. While a large part of that podcast was a commentary on present day politics, it included a series about the history of political ideas, what various thinkers and philosophers over the years have written and said about the way we should organise our societies and run our politics, who should have power, how should it be shared, who should control the wealth, what is a just system, how do we make it fair for everyone, and so on. In this book Runciman features twelve writers and philosophers who make an attempt to answer some of these questions.
The book opens with Rousseau who believes that civilization is the enemy, that we were freer in the wild than we are in society. Both Rousseau and Frederick Douglas ask why, why is it that some people in society have power and others don't? Jeremy Bentham advocates for utilitarianism. He argues that it is illogical to have a law or a policy or a norm that is based on nothing more than the idea that this is how we've always done it. Laws should contribute to making things better for most people. If they don’t, they are not good laws. It was Bentham, incidentally, who coined the expression, the greatest good of the greatest number.
Samuel Butler, was writing in the 19th century, about the role of machines and technology in society. He was concerned by the speed with which machines were evolving, and he worried that they may well overtake humans, and get to a place where we can no longer control them. This is an argument that feels particularly resonant today, given the rise of AI and all the uncertainly surrounding it.
John Rawls argues for justice and fairness, for a politics that takes care of everyone in society no matter how humble, while Nietzsche believes that democracy is stifling, it limits creativity in its quest to make laws and build a community where everyone is provided for. He believes that some people are just better than others, more skilled and more able to make a mark on the world and therefore deserving of a better place in society.
These are just a few of the ideas presented in this book. I don't agree with all of them, and to be fair, neither does Runciman. This book, as it says in the title, is full of ideas, so it's not always an easy read, and it is not really the sort of book to read at a go. It can be dense at times, but on the whole it is very accessible. And that is thanks to the author and his ability to explain things, and to lay out complex ideas in a way that makes them more approachable.