DU political Theory Notes

what is Political Judgment | Isaiah Berlin On Political Judgment


The concept of political decision originated from a historical process that incorporated the ideas of philosophers and thinkers such as Plato, Hobbes, and Locke. While  “political decision”, Aristotle developed the concept and Spinoza focused on freedom of decision. When this philosopher was explaining the concept of political decisions, he mentioned other principles such as rights, justice, liberty, law, and equality.

That is, Isaiah Berlin is also in this line, who wrote his article “On Political Judgment”, political judgment has been clearly described and an attempt has also been made to remove its misconceptions.

Political Judgment

According to Berlin, there is no specific or definite way to make successful political Judgments. Mathematical formulas may be used in some disciplines, notably in natural law, although in the social sciences it is not possible to adhere to a fixed way of thinking. 

politicians and these factors can be divided into the following dimensions 

  • Economical
  • Individual
  • Political

That is Not there. In this way, politicians should consider subjects like sociology, economics, and political science, for successful political Judgment. 

To be able to make a successful political Judgment, it is not enough to judge issues by considering different points of view. There must be coordination between the Judgment-making apparatus and its instruments, as Geuss states that there must be a relationship between individuals and institutions with regard to political decision-making. That is, failures in this regard can lead to some unstable and unclear political decisions, which can also be unsuccessful political decisions. 

Prinz says in relation to political judgment that when a politician judges a person, some of his beliefs or thoughts may or may include an element of emotion. And he can deviate from the decision.

Berlin says in this regard that many people have prejudices or negative feelings about politicians as well, which can lead to wrong decisions due to these feelings, but he also argues that there can be some ways to stop thinking this way. can stop from 

Additionally, many philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries agreed that there is only one universal truth that prevents potential threats against mankind and that this universal truth prevents politicians from making mistakes, although Berlin refuted this view. Is. 

Believing that a politician can be successful by understanding the issue itself sometimes requires looking at disciplines such as economics, sociology, and politics, to clearly understand the structure of the issue.

Berlin also states that we may not be explicitly aware of this ability. Analysis alone is not sufficient for successful political decision-making. Politicians should be able to think from different points of view and combine them to enable them to solve the problem.

Thus we can understand the political decision. In other words, political decision defines how to take a good decision in politics, that is, in this regard, it can be said that only a leader can take a good decision who is politically intelligent, has political talent, and has a prior home. And should not be influenced by negative emotions, as well as he should be politically capable of taking decisions. Only this type of politician can take a decision for a clear and justice, he can be able to take a decision

Essentiality in political theory

A political decision is of utmost importance in the study of political theory. The political theory describes the reality of social, political, and economic affairs and is also seen as an intellectual activity that attempts to represent reality. Political decision plays an important role in all these processes. It verifies ethical, just, and legal decisions in all these processes. 

If a politician demands a solution keeping one side of the problem in mind, it can be counterproductive. That is why politicians need good political judgment to solve problems. In which they have to look at different dimensions without being biased, including subjects like politics, economics, and sociology.

The best way to achieve effective political decisions is to worry about the situation. If the situation remains complicated, then the decision-maker will not be influenced by any narrow idea and will take decisions on various subjects and multi-faceted, in which the risk of blame or partiality is reduced. The political theory also wants that it tries to present the reality to the people without being biased. Political decision plays a decisive role in this direction.

Apart from this, politics has more importance in political theory. Strategy is necessary to accomplish any task, that is, the political decision becomes more important in this. Because it can be seen that there is a clear relationship between political decisions and strategy. Good political decisions lead to better strategic decisions. Analyzing each relevant issue by considering different approaches to decision-making and its respective subject clearly their strategy becomes more efficient and effective.

In the Hobbesian sense- decision-making is also important for providing peace and order in society while misunderstanding causes a state of disorder and anarchy and dominates the lives of the people. And other philosophers including Berlin also believe that better order and decisions can be maintained by making good decisions. 

On the contrary, those decisions which are vague and problematic and are taken without considering the aspects of the issues, usually create many serious negative effects, such as breaking the order orders of the state or society and causing new sequencing problems. At the same time, it also harms the state authority. 

So in this way, we can see the need for a political decision in political theory or it can also be said that without political decision political theory will not be as effective as political theory is in the present scenario. 

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