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IB Philosophy Essay: Political Ideologies (24/25)
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- IB political philosophy essay on political ideologies - Grade 7 essay (24/25)
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Political IdeologiesGeorge Orwell in 1984 a fictional socialist dystopian society where an authoritative state
enforces an interpretation of the communist agenda, raises a core flaw in the communist's aim
to achieve equality of outcome for all. The statement that "nothing was your own except the
few cubic centimetres inside your skull" refers to the strict egalitarian Socialist aim of removing
all private ownership of resources, distributing them to create a universal class, and abolishing
the social hierarchy to achieve complete equality amongst citizens, However, a Classic Liberal,
as per the sentiment of the extract, would strongly disagree with this notion as they believe
that each individual has the right to negative liberty; the right to pursue their own interests
and preferences without external intervention. This ultimately raises the question of which
political ideology is the most justifiable regarding its contestable political values and structure.
Because political ideologies are closely interlinked with virtues of a political government, the
political ideology that is followed can affect the circumstances and arrangements in which we
work, reproduce, own property and so on. In this essay, I will consider the ideologies of
Socialism, Conservatism, and Liberalism, reaching the conclusion that the Liberalist Tradition is
the most justifiable ideology as it recognises key aspects of human nature, accounts for social
change and reform, and allows for individual and societal flourishing.
The term 'ideology* has had several different interpretations throughout history, first used during
the French Revolution referring to a 'science of ideas.' However, for much of history, the term
'ideology' has been used as a political weapon to criticise the viewpoints of others, such as the
Marxist view that (ideology' was oppressive capitalist ideas perpetuating a mistaken worldview to
keep workers oppressed. Conversely, to study political 'ideologies' is to study the content of
philosophical thought, and is "to be interested in the ideas, doctrines and theories that have been
advanced by and within the various ideological traditions" (Haywood, 2017). For the purposes of
this essay, I will use Haywood's definition of ideologies which is that "an ideology is a more or less
coherent set of ideas that provides the basis for organized political action," aligning with the current
perception of the word. Every ideology has conceptions of core values that underpin political action,
leading to real-world implications and consequences.
The Socialist Ideology sees society as the source of power, authority, and justice, stressing the
importance of equality, comradeship, and fraternity over the individual. Socialism is best described
as a critical response to capitalism, a society where individuals or corporations own and control the
various forms of production, where corporations compete for self-interested profit by intentionally
reducing production and wage costs. Socialists argue that class discrimination is a form of injustice
and that it is unfair under capitalist society that all wealth be concentrated in the hands of a few
owners and not distributed equally amongst those that work hard and are under rewarded. The
Socialist's answer to this problem is to ensure that workers themselves control the means of
production, where resources are distributed on an egalitarian basis - to each according to need,
where surplus is shared equally. A universal class is established with the shared values of the
community prevailing over the individual.' The Socialist's argument is, therefore, a moral one
recognising that humans are all different and born with different abilities and skills, where some are
more suited to the capitalist system than others, so collectivising all resources is the moral thing to
do as it ensures that all people have a baseline of support and are treated equally (Baggini &
Southwell, 2016).
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