China Social Science Review

No.4, 2022

The So-Called Political Philosophy

(Abstract)

Wan Junren

Political philosophy is the philosophical study of the order and fundamental meaning of the political life of the state, and of the fundamental themes and values of public life in society. Through reflecting on the different paths of the Chinese and Western traditions of political philosophy, four possible paths for political themes to enter into philosophical reflection are identified: the reconstruction of the theoretical orientation of political metaphysics; the establishment and adherence to the independent critical reflective stance of philosophy; an open way of constructing theoretical systems; and the realization of the interaction between political philosophy and related neighboring disciplines in order to seek the construction of a theoretical system for political philosophy. The fundamental question of political philosophy is the relationship between the fundamental rights of citizens (the people) and public political power. The fundamental theme of political philosophy is how to clarify, uphold and preserve the priority values and fundamental purpose of the fundamental rights of citizens (people) over public political power.