| “Power”has become the fundamental concept in discussing political subject by western thinkers in early modern area. Previously, there are two patterns for understand power. The first originated from Classical period, whose major characters is denied the function of Power in political life. The state violence of Ancient Greek Polis were in their infancy and Greek people considered there should not be any rule-ship, even more any force and violence inner the Citizen group. Greek political thought also has been no relative concept for power. Comparatively, Roman people abstracted political power from their community life, but their backward rational speculative capability delayed their political thought to follow the real condition, so they could not developed one political philosophy system based on quality of power. On the influence of Classical political thought, Italian humanist in Renaissance viewed politics as one“Art”for keep community’s good according to justice. Due to their republic tradition, citizens equally would not admit that there was certain rule-ship in their cities. At same time, power only emerged in the arts of preserving the domination over a people named“reason of state”.Another thought about power came from Medieval ages. Feudal system in Northen and Western Eurpoe has hierarchy chracrictics, but what for maintain the obligation of subject to lord depends on contract rather than force. People in this age usually held opinion that the absolute power only in the hand of God, earthly human may possess Authority instead of Power. In 16th century, French legal humanist represented by Bodin, substantially drew support from history source, defined the essentiality of sovereign as legislative power and pointed that there is a kind of force when sovereignty make and execute laws, transferred the attention from authority to strength. Spain Scholastics made a distinction between“Power”and“Authority”, transformed Natural law of Thomas into law with necessity and force. They believed that there is one natural state before political society, and for natural inclining for social life, people actively gather into a social community possessing its power, and all regimes are holders of it. The Authority belongs to Sovereignty, while its power is transferred by community. In this area, the Reason of State for maintaining state from Machiavelli’s thought and Tacitism spread in North and West Europe widely, which shocked the“Christian Prince”image in Northern Humanists’thought. As Lipsius in Netherland, who claimed that Power is the foundation of political living. Moreover, the combing of Reason of State and Scholastic produced the thinker as Grotius who proved the necessity of burning of Sovereignty by the theory of Natural Law. In seventeenth century, three trends of thought, natural law, Only in Britain, there have not been any systematic thought treating idea of power. Kingship proved its Legitimacy by the Natural Law Characteristics Moral Principal, thereby which hindered the formation of thought viewed power from force or coerce. In 17th century, Sovereign theory and Reason of State generally flowed together, and the power embodies as force and violence has become inevitable fact when British thinkers discussed about political problems. Hobbes used the deduce module of Natural Science, began at power possessed by individual at Natural State, put natural law of self-persevering as motive force and abandons assumption of natural law of incline to Social life of everyone, pointed that for except natural state, everyone will transfer their individual power to sovereignty to form supreme power in political life. Hobbes refused historical experience method, established one-way relationship between individual and sovereignty, avoided to discuss the function of social community during the produce of earthly power, therefore using the abstract of individual endowed by natural law, separated state from society, so the power of community and society was transformed into state power... |
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