Henry asked:

I am a political science student here in the Philippines, and we have a course requirement which
applies political science. I am looking for a political problem where a philosopher has contributed a
solution to that problem. I hope you can give a me a present problem, say about democracy etc. and
the contribution of a philosopher (past) to help solve that problem.

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One of the most pressing political issues today is Globalism. It touches many other issues including
freedom of the individual, the nature of the state, sovereignty, authority and obedience. But let's
concentrate on how the life of an individual would be impacted by globalism.

For the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, a person achieved the "Good Life" — the best possible
life for mankind in accordance with his nature as a uniquely rational creature — only as part of a
political state. Part of the good life was being a good citizen and one could only be a good citizen by
actively participating in the goings on of the state. For Aristotle, this meant that the state or "polis"
should be small enough to allow citizens a say in the life of the polis (this does not mean that
democracy is the ideal of the good state or the good life since Aristotle restricted citizenship to those
who were free of the need to produce in order to survive, so slaves and women were not citizens of
the polis.)

So for Aristotle the idea of a global social order or even a modern nation state would be an
anti-human way of life and a corruption of our aim for the good life.

However Aristotle was living in ancient Greece. Today, what with near instantaneous media coverage
and technology with the potential for making participation in the political life open to all, globalism
would perhaps be achievable. And given the horrors of nationalism and fanaticism we see in today's
world a one global society may even be desirable.

Karl Marx too sought a global community. Marx thought that nation states were organised and
controlled by a certain economic and social class &™151; those that controlled the means of
production in society. He thought that the workers would establish an all-encompassing and long
lasting global community, where once again the best possible life for man would be found.

However there is another form of globalism would not perhaps be the most desirable state of affairs.
This is the Consumer globalism that creeps into our lives through the work of multinational
companies. Manufacturing and flogging their "seen one seen them all" products around the world and
gaining such power that even the national governments bend to their will. This is not only a danger to
individual lives but even political structures. Needless to say neither Aristotle or Marx would be happy
with this form of globalisation.

Brian Tee
Dept of Philosophy
University of Sheffield.