Joseph de Maistre

WRITE a blog post in which you explore the question: what 21st century issues would your philosophe find particularly intriguing? What ideas, dilemmas, and injustices (or, conversely, just fights) send them to cafés today?

The way the government is managed and arranged, Maistre would be very dissapointed because the Constitution and all of the laws are written, which he did not support. Maistre argues that constitutions are not artificial products but come from God, who slowly brings them to maturity. Therefore, God slowly brings out the rules that people have to follow, not humans on Earth. This is because he is a big supporter of Christianity and Catholicism. He highly supported Catholicism so he was obviously not a person who liked diversity. Since we now have a Democratic system, Maistre would feel obligated to rebut someway about it because he favored the hereditary monarchies. A hereditary monarchy is where the monarchs are all from the same blood and it is where the crown of the king is passed on from generation to generation. This is another example of how he would hate the type of government we live in even more.

Thomas Paine in the 21st Century

Thomas Paine was possibly one of the biggest proponents of revolution and independence in history.  He worked hard to help free America from Brittin, and was also very involved with the French Revolution.  However, the strange thing was, almost immediately after the country had accomplished independence and was successful in the revolution, instead of involving himself in the politics of managing a new nation, Paine would more to another country and become immersed in another revolution.  Because of what he did during his lifetime, it makes sense to infer that Paine didn't really care what type of revolution he was a part, he just wanted to be a part of upending the current government situation.  For these reasons, I think Paine would be happy about "revolutionary" things such as a the quickly-improving technology like the Internet and cell phones, and a recently elected black president.  Because Paine essentially liked to upend a current government, I think he would be happy to see several countries in the 21st century standing up against bad government situations, for example, Afghanistan and the Taliban.

Mary Wollstonecraft on 21st century issues

I think she would be very enthusiastic about today's society because Women all over the world have many rights and they have the oppurtunities to go to colleges and be apart of the government, she would be enthusiastic because she was a feminist that wrote many because about how men and women are treated differently. She would not be happy about how science is the more common belief of our origins rather that religion these days in some areas because she was very religious. She was also very passionate with both her feminist beliefs and her religious beliefs so in this society she would be anti-science and would try to stop it if that were possible and possibly go after go after some of the worlds top atheists and scientists so as to rid the world 0f science and anti-religious people to make a world with only religion, politics, and men and women with equal rights.

Mary Wollstonecraft on 21st Century Issues

If Mary Wollstonecraft were to see the 21st century, she would of been ecstatic. The rights of women across the globe have been exponentially increased in comparison to the lack of rigths that women had during Wollstonecraft's life. The majority of countries give women equal rights as men; something which Mary fought for in her day. Though she would of been ecstatic with the rising of women's rights, she would not be so pleased with the numerous new inventions that disprove god's existence. I know for fact, a fiery woman like Wollstonecraft would put Richard Dawkins as number one on her hit list. She would be intrigued and angered by new sciences like stem cell research, and the theory evolution; she would relentlessly argue against them if she were to find herself in the 21st century.

Marquis de Condorcet + 21st Century Issues

There are many issues in the 21st century that Marquis de Condorcet would find interesting. First, there is the death penalty and capital punishment. Marquis de Condorcet was a human rights activist and was largely opposed to the death penalty. Condorcet would passionately argue against the death penalty. Another issue is the rights of Muslim women in countries like Afghanistan. The Taliban did not allow any rights for women, and they did not even let women leave the house without a male escort and that male could only be their father, husband, or brother. Condorcet opposed slavery and he would be happy in this time period that slavery was abolished, (though not completely in some countries). He probably would also advocate for equal rights to minorities like Latinos, African-Americans, and Homosexuals. He believed that everyone deserved to have equal rights.

Voltaire in the 21st Century

While I can't say for sure, I believe that Voltaire would be much happier seeing how far society has progressed as far as freedom goes, but he would definitely find his share of problems with the modern world. I think that he would appreciate that the internet makes it easier for the public to voice their opinions, and it promoted the growth of society by allowing people to communicate more easily. In addition, it allows each person to have a voice so that no one's opinion has to be isolated because of class. While I think he would appreciate the rise of democracy, I think that he would be outraged at the proceedings of the recent Iranian presidential election. If the suspicions of fraud were true, Voltaire might argue that it was a huge injustice to the Iranian people, not only that they were cheated out of their vote, but that their voices were being suppressed. As far as religious progress, while there is no singular, notable religious event that has occurred recently, I'm going to use Nicole's idea of Voltaire's opinion of Richard Dawkins. Voltaire may also have enjoyed Dawkins' discussion but not for the same reasons relating to scientific proof. While there is evidence that he often contradicted himself, it seems like he was against the Catholic Church, or possibly the establishment of religion in general, with a similar passion to Dawkins. (Voltaire wrote about religion often in a satirical light, but he is also famous for saying, "If God did not exist, he would need to be invented." Following my interpretation, I'm not entirely sure that Voltaire would agree with Dawkins' somewhat blind rejection of all aspects of religion.)

Marquis de Condorcet + 21st century issues

The Marquis de Condorcet would have liked many of the changes that have occurred in the world since he died during the French Revolution. He believed that humans are slowly moving towards perfection, by increasing equality between nations and people, and attempting to perfect ethics. Because of his views that equality was right for all, he advocated strongly for things like the abolition of slavery, increased women's rights, and democracy. He would find that many of the things he advocated for have come true, or nearly so. For instance, slave trade has been abolished completely in Europe, unlike during most of his life (slavery was abolished shortly before he died, but then brought back by Napoleon later). Women have far more rights in many countries, and in places like Europe are considered equal to men. He would not like how many Islamic religious states do not allow women to have equal status to men, especially since it is for merely religious purposes, of which he would probably not approve. Democracy has also taken a huge step, which he would be very pleased to know. Many countries now use democracy as their sole method of governing, which he would have thought helped equality immensely. However, in our time there have been many instances showing how democracy can be corrupted, such as in the Middle East where people risk their lives by voting. The Marquis de Condorcet would really wish to change that, although it would be more difficult for him to change the world using papers and philosophy now than it was back then, partly because more equality means that status does not give you the same respect, and so you are less likely to be taken seriously. However, the issues the Marquis de Condorcet focused on are definitely not the only controversial arguments in our world today.
I personally believe that people of different sexualities should have equal rights, just as people of different races, do, although I cannot be sure of how the Marquis de Condorcet would have reacted to that major argument. He was for equality, however, sexuality is a very touchy subject, probably even among philosophers used to being considered radical, but I am sure that being homosexual was not accepted in 18th century France, and no matter how liberal he was or his day, I am sure that his views were partly influenced by society, especially his parents.
The Marquis de Condorcet would be proud of the steps towards equality the world has taken, although there are more to be made.

Thomas Paine and the World Today

Thomas Paine was a very radical man. He was fond of the idea revolution is almost every situation. If he were stuck in today's world he would probably feel the same way as he did in the 18th century. Wherever he could find a potential revolution, he would probably latch on to the idea and help it build until it finally game true. Because of this, I think that Paine would really enjoy the idea of the internet. He would probably feel strongly about the internet being used to help the elections and be very strongly against some internet sites being banned in China.

Given that Paine was around for the American Revolution and helped it happen, he would probably be in awe and very proud of the way things were now. He'd be happy that all men have equal rights and would probably push for everything to be even more equal (though I'm not quite sure how this would be achieved).

Voltaire's Opinions on Current Issues

I believe that one current, controversial topic Voltaire would be very interested in would be stem-cell research. I am not positive what his view on this would be, but I think that he would have been for it.

Voltaire was always very interested in science and believed firmly in experimenting and questioning everything. He was also very cynical and critical of religion. I don't know what his personal moral codes governing the value of life were, but based off of his scientific zeal and dislike of religion I think he would have loved to see where stem-cell research may take us. Voltaire typically loved to do anything that might cause trouble or be provocative, and if he could do this while making huge scientific advances I think he might have been ecstatic. He was also very opposed to religious persecution, and I think he would have advocated the limits in religion's control over our lives. The Church was frequently upset with him and his radical ideas and uncensored essays, and I think that he would have no problems offending religious leaders again.

Maistre in the 21st Century

If Maistre lived in today's world, he would be very disappointed with modern society. Joseph de Maistre is very supportive of old, traditional practices. For one, he would dislike the way that we elect our president. He would have trouble dealing with a democratic political system. Maistre prefers to be in a hereditary monarchy. If we lived it his way for the last 250 years in the US, we would have something like a "King George Washingon VIII."

Maistre also supported Christianity (particularly Catholicism), so he would be making sure that everyone follows Catholic religion. There would be very little religious diversity, if any, if it were up to Maistre. Also, Maistre would be against the constitution and all other written laws around the world. In his eyes, written laws are not the best way to get people to have good values. He would think that by today, we should have good values just from the skills gradually being instilled in everyone over the last few centuries. Maistre's ideas are much different from those of today's society, as he is quite traditional while today we live in a very progressive world. We are changing exponentially from year to year, which is something Joseph-Marie de Maistre would be against.