hgjgjtgrttxMay 29, 2018 at 20:454100 views7 comments
What are some philosophy books/textbooks that deal with the nature of power, such as social power, political power, military power, ect.? Art of War would be an example of what I'm looking for.
Power doesn't exist as a disembodied entity. Power comes from wealth, the control of wealth, force of arms, or the threat of using force of arms. Think of Michael Bloomberg, Mark Zuckerberg, banks, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Israel, or the United States. The facts of how power works reveals the philosophy of power. Less important is what power people imagine they have, or imagine other people having.
The Power Elite by C. Wright Mills
Who Rules America? The Triumph of the Corporate Rich by G. William Domhoff
Studying the Power Elite: Fifty Years of Who Rules America? G. William Domhoff
Class and Power in the New Deal: Corporate Moderates, Southern Democrats, and the Liberal-Labor Coalition by G. William Domhoff (Author), Michael J. Webber (Author)
The Color of Law: The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein (not about 'power' per se, but an excellent and up-to-date presentation of how power was exercised in congress in the 1930s, and up to the present, to more or less permanently segregate and impoverish blacks.)
The Rich and the Super Rich by Ferdinand Lundberg
Consider Hitler: in 1922 he was a nobody, in a state that was recovering from the costs of WWI and the terms of the Versailles Treaty. He didn't have any money himself, and initially he had no followers, either. 11 years later, in 1933 he took over the German State. How did he manage that? It was mainly through the threat of force (and some application), the money that conservatives donated to his cause, playing on deep hatreds, and a certain amount of crooked dealings. Plus, quite a few Germans (by no means a majority) deeply resented the terms of the Versailles Treaty, which provided a rallying point around which to organize. Hitler never won a majority of the votes in honest elections. Still, he vas dur fucking fuhrer for way, way, way too long.
How about Ten Nights in a Barroom and What I Saw There by Timothy Shay Arthur. Never read it myself, but hey, you never know, might have something to do with power.
Power -- Bertrand Russell. It's written as a survey of types with the hopes of making a science of power. I don't think it succeeds, but it fits what you're asking after, and still provides a nice little set of kinds of power.
Comments (7)
Consider Hitler: in 1922 he was a nobody, in a state that was recovering from the costs of WWI and the terms of the Versailles Treaty. He didn't have any money himself, and initially he had no followers, either. 11 years later, in 1933 he took over the German State. How did he manage that? It was mainly through the threat of force (and some application), the money that conservatives donated to his cause, playing on deep hatreds, and a certain amount of crooked dealings. Plus, quite a few Germans (by no means a majority) deeply resented the terms of the Versailles Treaty, which provided a rallying point around which to organize. Hitler never won a majority of the votes in honest elections. Still, he vas dur fucking fuhrer for way, way, way too long.
The Fountainhead
A Clockwork Orange
Animal Farm
Mein Kampf
Catch 22
The Outsider
Waiting for Godot
The Bible
The Koran
Waiting for Godot?
Waiting for Godot??
The Will to Power by F. Nietzsche -- definitely.
Kafka - The Trial