Philosophy determines Government
I never realized how important Philosophy is. I used to think Philosophy was
just people endlessly wondering if reality really existed, or if things
continue to exist when you're not looking at them. But now I realize
Philosophy is extremely important because philosophy determines what sort of
government people will adopt.
It was a change in philosophy that ended the reign of kings and queens and
switched countries to a completely different form of government. Jefferson's
"All men are created equal" was a philosophical statement countering the old
philosophy that kings and popes were special people different from the rest of
us and therefore the ones who should rule the country. (Notice Jefferson didn't
go as far as to include women or black people. There just wasn't enough
philosophical consensus at the time to allow going that far.) The new
18th century philosophy was all men are equal, all men are rational, therefore
we can govern ourselves, rather than bow and be obedient to the authority of
kings and popes. The United States of America was formed as a democracy because
of this new 18th century philosophy.
