Social Psychology and the Paradox of Revolution
| Abstract | According to the gunman theory, many revolutions do not take place, in spite of the fact that the majority stands to gain if they can put an end to the oppression exercised over it, since a gunman can see to it that egoistic individuals have no incentive to take part in revolution. Champions of the idea that there is a paradox of revolution go further: Even if individuals care about the common good, they will not take action. This is wrong. If they care about the common good, revolution will take place. This is good news. The bad news is, however, that those conditions we find in social psychological literature, which are helpful to the revolutionary cause, tend to be undermined by the oppressive system when it is well-functioning. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,679 |
| External links |
  Try with proxy. Try with proxy. |
| Through your library | Only published papers are available at libraries |
Similar books and articlesTorbjörn Tännsjö (2006). Rational Injustice. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 36 (4):423-439.
Kai Nielsen (1971). On the Choice Between Reform and Revolution. Inquiry 14 (1-4):271 – 295.
Chris W. Surprenant (2010). Minority Oppression and Justified Revolution. Journal of Social Philosophy 41 (4):442-453.
Chris W. Surprenant (2005). A Reconciliation of Kant's Views on Revolution. Interpretation 32 (2):151-169.
Peter Vanderschraaf (2008). Game Theory Meets Threshold Analysis: Reappraising the Paradoxes of Anarchy and Revolution. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (4):579-617.
Paul Hoyningen-Huene (2008). Thomas Kuhn and the Chemical Revolution. Foundations of Chemistry 10 (2).
Charles Kurzman (2004). Can Understanding Undermine Explanation? The Confused Experience of Revolution. Philosophy of the Social Sciences 34 (3):328-351.
Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska (1996). The Computer Revolution and the Problem of Global Ethics. Science and Engineering Ethics 2 (2).
David N. Livingstone & Charles W. J. Withers (eds.) (2005). Geography and Revolution. University of Chicago Press.
David Bella & Jonathan King (1989). Common Knowledge of the Second Kind. Journal of Business Ethics 8 (6):415 - 430.
David A. Bell (2004). Class, Consciousness, and the Fall of the Bourgeois Revolution. Critical Review 16 (2-3):323-351.
David G. Rowley (1996). Bogdanov and Lenin: Epistemology and Revolution. Studies in East European Thought 48 (1):1 - 19.
K. Brad Wray (1999). Shapin's the Scientific Revolution: What Will Philosophers Find? Social Epistemology 13 (3 & 4):331 – 335.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2010-09-02Total downloads6 ( #145,615 of 549,074 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,317 of 549,074 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
