What is oriental despotism. Oriental despotism : definition of Oriental despotism and synonyms of Oriental despotism (English) 2022-10-11

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Oriental despotism is a term coined by the 18th-century French philosopher Montesquieu to describe a form of government in which a single ruler holds absolute power over the lives and property of the people within a particular territory. This type of government is characterized by a lack of legal protections or checks and balances on the power of the ruler, as well as a lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process.

The term "oriental despotism" is often used to refer specifically to the type of government found in certain parts of Asia, including China, India, and the Middle East. However, it can also be used more broadly to refer to any government that exhibits these characteristics, regardless of its location.

One of the key features of oriental despotism is the centralization of power in the hands of a single ruler or small group of rulers. This concentration of power allows the rulers to make decisions without the input or approval of the people, and to enforce their will through the use of force or intimidation.

Another characteristic of oriental despotism is the lack of legal protections for individuals or groups within society. In these societies, the rulers often have the power to make and enforce laws as they see fit, without any regard for the rights or freedoms of the people. This can lead to widespread injustice and oppression, as the rulers are not held accountable for their actions.

In addition to the concentration of power and lack of legal protections, oriental despotism is also marked by a lack of transparency and accountability in the decision-making process. Rulers in these societies may not be required to explain or justify their actions, and there may be no mechanism in place for the people to hold them accountable. This can lead to corruption and abuse of power, as rulers are free to act in their own self-interest without fear of consequences.

Overall, oriental despotism is a form of government in which a single ruler or small group of rulers holds absolute power over the lives and property of the people, with little or no accountability for their actions. While this type of government may be efficient in some ways, it can also be oppressive and unjust, and can lead to widespread suffering and social unrest.

The Oriental Despotic Universe of Montesquieu (Chapter 4)

what is oriental despotism

All these various attitudes towards Oriental despotism should, however, be considered as the theoretical side of a more complex debate; the real development of the relation between Europe and Asia must not be overlooked. Since European powers British colonial interest in Indiawas growing especially fast, Europeans could gain empirical experience much more easily and extensively. He saw the earlier Oriental Despotism theorists and Wittfogel as "precursors, or manifestations of what would later be called the 'Orientalist' approach," which The reception among scholars of China was especially skeptical. Main article: Wittfogel, who was educated in German centers of sinology and joined the Wittfogel suggested Asia was immobile because rulers controlled society but there were no slaves, as in Marx's slave society, nor serfs, as in feudal society: there were no classes, no class conflict, and thus no change. The five modes of production refers to the theory in which human history is divided into the five progressive stages of primitive society, slave society, feudal society, capitalist society, and socialist society. Afterwards, it played a significant role in Hegel's thought as well as in Marx's writing when it turned towards the "Asiatic mode of production" theory. They inspired his interest in the particularities of despotic governments and their varieties in the context of the nature and principle of despotism, which had not always been analysed as closely as they deserved.

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Oriental Despotism, by Karl Wittfogel

what is oriental despotism

Wittfogel, Karl August: Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power, New Haven, CT 1957. In particular, his epistemological magnum opus An Essay Concerning Human Understanding 1689 and his writings on the state Two Treatises of Government, 1690; Letter Concerning Toleration, 1689 had a significant impact upon, amongst others, Hume, Voltaire and Kant, as well as the liberal concept of the constitutional state. Until a few years ago it seemed that knowledge progressed in linear fashion, each generation standing on the shoulders of its predecessors, and developing or refuting them at will. Wittfogel may have had to supply a publication subsidy to Yale University Press. What is rajarata civilization? Name the five components that make up a hydraulic system.

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oriental despotism

what is oriental despotism

The same form of monarchy is named dominatusin the Latin version of his work, published in 1586. Lineages of the Absolutist State. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. In other words, the concept of Oriental despotism is shaped by different languages, approaches and actors, and should not be seen uniquely from the theoretical side. At the same time, although he highlighted the radical geographical and political differences between Europe and Although Montesquieu considerably influenced European attitudes towards Oriental despotism in the 18th century and beyond, a variety of approaches can be observed that sometimes diverged from and sometimes directly opposed Montesquieu's thesis. Bitte setzen Sie beim Zitieren dieses Beitrages hinter der URL-Angabe in Klammern das Datum Ihres letzten Besuchs dieser Online-Adresse ein. URL: Saïd, Edward: Orientalism, New York, NY 1978.

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Oriental Despotism on JSTOR

what is oriental despotism

What are the five modes of production? Quesnay, François: Despotisme de la Chine, in: François Quesnay: Œuvres économiques complètes et autres textes, ed. Boulanger, Nicolas-Antoine: Recherches sur l'origine du despotisme oriental, London 1762. In the 20th century, Oriental Despotism in 1957. Biso-kotuwa is the equivalent of the modern valve-pit, which operates in the regulation of the outward flow of water. Edmund Leach: An Anthropological Life.

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What is the concept of oriental despotism?

what is oriental despotism

It was criticized by his opponents because it was contrary to the idea of a necessary separation between different forms of society and government, which was stressed in Aristotelian political thought. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich: Lectures on the Philosophy of History: Introduction, Reason in History, transl. Bodin, Les six livres de la République 1576. If the sovereign were overthrown, the body politicwould disintegrate into its individual constituents again; the human returns to its natural state. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, with the cooperation of the American Institute of Pacific Relations.


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Oriental despotism

what is oriental despotism

China and the Writing of World History in the West PDF. Introductory Remarks The idea of Oriental despotism has an old and diversified history in European culture 1Many agents, not only philosophers or political theorists but also travellers, diplomats, missionaries and administrators, have shaped, spread and applied the idea of Oriental despotism. A truth almost universally acknowledged, reiterated in Chapter 3, is that Aristotle's Politics has profoundly influenced all political thinkers engaged in comparative analysis. Wittfogel, Karl August: Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power, New Haven, CT 1957. His numerous works are concerned with metaphysics, logic, politics and ethics and have made Aristotle one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece.

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Oriental Despotism — EGO

what is oriental despotism

Weber, Max: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, London 1930, online: William of Moerbeke: Aristotelis politicorum libri octo, cum vetusta translatione Guilelmi de Moerbeka, ed. Only after Aristotelian thought had been rediscovered and appreciated in late medieval culture, mainly after the translation of Aristotle's works by principatus despoticus was supposed to be naturally consistent with the character of the people, remained a mark of a qualitative difference between European and Asiatic society and politics and a confirmation of Oriental otherness in many works — especially in Marsilius's Defensor pacis or in the commentary of Aristotle's Politics by Nicholas Oresme. Derathé, Robert: Les philosophes et le despotisme, in: Pierre Francastel ed. The timeline of ancient Mesopotamia is usually held to be from around 3300 BC to 750 BC. Laurens, Henry: Orientales, Paris 2004, 3 vols.

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Oriental Despotism

what is oriental despotism

After the foundation of the New Rome topos an important ideological support against the threats of the Sassanid We can observe that by this time the Aristotelian classification of governments was no longer the only theoretical foundation of these debates. However, its meaning since then has evolved, not only due to the theoretical approach of different thinkers, but also to Europeans' experiences in confrontation with the Asiatic world. This power was thought to be the most difficult kind to achieve, but the easiest to preserve because, in his view, the subordinates did not even know the meaning of freedom. How is hydraulic pressure generated? Aristotle, Politics 1984, III, 14. This power was thought to be the most difficult kind to achieve, but the easiest to preserve because, in his view, the subordinates did not even know the meaning of freedom. Its origins can be found in Aristotelian political philosophy.

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Oriental despotism : definition of Oriental despotism and synonyms of Oriental despotism (English)

what is oriental despotism

Jon; Warms, Richard L. His theory on the contribution of protestant ethics to the formation of modern capitalism was particularly widely read. However, his efforts to achieve a European hegemony also contributed to the fact that European politics in the late 17th and early 18th century were dominated by warfare. In other words, the concept of Oriental despotism is shaped by different languages, approaches and actors, and should not be seen uniquely from the theoretical side. Montesquieu: Lettres Persanes, ed. A faithful picture, however, which preceded his arrival, and was placed by his immediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate-house, conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his person and manners.

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