I find the terms to be confusing especially between politics and political science as well as political science and history. Philosophy and politics seem to be confusing. How are each different?
In: Other
History is the recorded events we have of the past. Poli science studies how politics (in its most general term) did what they did. For example, history says that Caesar was killed. Poli sci would look at the type of government that had, who held power- what similar governments today look like compared to the .
Philosophy- how we think of and question any part of this world or our existence.
Politics- how governments across the world operate, who likes who, who doesn’t like who. I’m
History is what happened, political science is the theory behind how power is distributed, and politics is how power is actually distributed. They aren’t all that similar despite being interconnected.
They’re all closely related and the divisions are somewhat arbitrary and have evolved over time. Aristotle would say that political science is a part of ethics. Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War is generally considered one of the foundational texts of political science. Contemporary political science is usually considered a branch of social science, complete with an emphasis on statistical methodology.
At the core, the study of politics — whether through history, social science, or philosophy — is the study of power in human societies, how it is structured, and to what end. Generally speaking, a political science course will study contemporary governments, but this inevitably involves considerable historical background. Political philosophy tends to be more fundamental, theoretical, and normative.
Latest Answers