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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Political Theory

Articles

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

In The Form Of A Longhouse: Haudenosaunee Political Philosophy And Social Contract Theory, Sam Grey Dec 2007

In The Form Of A Longhouse: Haudenosaunee Political Philosophy And Social Contract Theory, Sam Grey

Sam Grey

This essay presents the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (sometimes referred to as the Iroquois League or Five Nations) as part of an alternative social contract theory, contrasting the social and political institutions and norms of the Five Nations with those proposed by Enlightenment-era philosophers. Although the oral history of the Haudenosaunee describes a Hobbesian ‘state of nature’ prior to the founding of the Confederacy, the Five Nations entered into, and constantly renewed, a substantially different ‘social contract’ than that theorized by Hobbes, Rousseau, or Locke. Because these differences reveal a unique understanding of human nature and potential, undergirded by distinctly Haudenosaunee political …


In Harm's Way: Justification, Excuse, And Civilian Safety In Just War Theory, Sam Grey Dec 2007

In Harm's Way: Justification, Excuse, And Civilian Safety In Just War Theory, Sam Grey

Sam Grey

Just War Theory asserts that armed conflict can be fought in a way that safeguards moral and legal norms while responding to pragmatic/military imperatives. One of the ways in which it seeks to safeguard justice is through specific provisions for the immunity of, and due care for, the vulnerable and innocent. Unfortunately, two doctrines within Just War Theory – the Doctrine of Double Effect and the Doctrine of Supreme Emergency – suspend or vacate these provisions. The net effect is to render justifications inaccessible, leaving only excuses, the use of which establishes that no one is truly accountable, no meaningful …