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On Power Paperback – October 1, 1993

by Bertrand de Jouvenel (Author)

6 customer reviews

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Product details

Paperback: 466 pages
Publisher: Liberty Fund; Liberty Press ed. edition (October 1, 1993)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0865971137
ISBN-13: 978-0865971134
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 8.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 6 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #821,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #938 in Books > Science & Math > Nature & Ecology > Natural History
- #15694 in Books > Law
- #52830 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences

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Jonathan S. Watson

The question is - Who's in Charge Here?

March 13, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is an enlightening book.

We talk about political ideas, left and right, order and freedom, Whigs and Tories. But in the end every animal has a head, and every nation has a power center. Most of what we read about politics are simply different masks that cover the face of power.

Peter Hitchens says in "Rage Against God":
"the more civilized a society is, the more power is available within it. Power cannot be destroyed, only divided and distributed."
and:
"Only one reliable force stands in the way of the power of the strong over the weak. Only one reliable force forms the foundation of the concept of the rule of law. Only one reliable force restrains the hand of the man of power. And, in an age of power-worship, the Christian religion has become the principal obstacle to the desire of earthly utopians for absolute power."

T "the cool guy"

Critical Political Philosophy - yet surprisingly little known. On par or above Locke in importance to study.

June 4, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This should be required reading for any legitimate Political Philosophy course and a cliff notes version study should be required material for all high/secondary school education. Like many great works of political philosophy it is not perfect in every assertion; however, this more than many other works is indispensable thought. Because we know of Rouseau, Locke, Filmer, Montesquie, Algernon Sidney, Aristotle and because it is more recent this work is above those mentioned. It must not be missed, it's ideas and consequences must be broadly studied and adequately dealt with. I am only 1/4 of the way through the book. It seems there is more to come.

Excellent reading!

April 28, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

It is crucial to know where power comes from , to understand what is going on with power in the XXI century.

One person found this helpful

A Guide to Understanding Power, Politics, and the Consolidated Attack on Personal Liberty

September 19, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

"On Power" could not be more aptly named by the author, Bertrand de Jouvenel, because in this book he brings together all dimensions and aspects of what constitutes Power, which he always capitalizes to clearly indicate that it is a specific, sustained force throughout history, as contrasted with power as a general, descriptive term. It is an intellectual work of the first magnitude. He details how the human intellect and emotions, mostly emotions, have guided the forces and servants of Power from its genesis in pre-history through classical Greece and Rome, the feudal and monarchy periods up through the democratic period, particularly during the Nineteenth and the first half of the Twentieth centuries. This latter period is where the growth of Power begins to approach its ultimate end state, counter intuitively during a democratic period, of the State achieving absolute authority by eliminating individuals' uniqueness and therefore their liberty. He demonstrates using historic presidencies the inevitability of Power's growth based directly on largely consistent, unswerving human ego driven attitudes and reactions.

As the author surely intended, throughout the book the reader will become progressively more aware of the reasons for and methods of Power’s growth. It is unlikely that the reader will not experience eye-opening instances where the author’s analysis of history gives the reader a different understanding of the unfolding of past events and answers questions previously unsettled in the reader’s own personal and historic experience. It is not a chronology (history) of Power’s growth and minor retreats but, as he states, is an analysis of issues in society and politics that allows properly piecing together conclusions about Power and its growth. Unfortunately for society, at least those concerned with liberty, he offers proof that there are but few degrees of freedom available to those wishing to resist Power's tyranny and force its retreat to an objectively defensible state of personal liberty. He redefines social and political reality in a manner that invalidates the orthodox positions of many present and historic philosophers and historians where their incorrect analysis still represents conventional wisdom in education, politics, and in the media.

The author is French and first published the book in 1945 in French. This English version is largely a direct translation and leaves the flow of language essentially as would have been spoken (written) by the author, a Frenchman. This form may be a more difficult path for some to navigate but those who become invested in his exposition will find that this form gives a real feel for what he is saying by observing how he actually said it. Finally, at this writing, this book was written about 70 years ago and the strongest proof of the validity of his findings is in the fact that during this 70 year interval, particularly the last two decades, the World, including particularly the United States, has traversed much further along his predicted path toward the State's absolute Power and the absolute elimination of individual liberty. From this, one should conclude that 'awareness' is the only antidote to Power’s natural, horrid terminal condition.

11 people found this helpful

Profound critique and analysis on nature of political power

January 29, 2004

Format: Paperback

~On Power: The Natural History of Its Growth~ chronicles the growth of political power throughout the ages and explains how the powers welded by modern Parliaments and Presidents would be the envy of medieval kings. Bertrand de Jouvenel has a colorful past and was once snared by the etatism of his native France. After WWII, he produced this astute and trenchant analysis of political power and tracing its natural history and growth through the ages. Political power has reached a crescendo in the past century. Monarchs of yesteryears could only dream of the power welded by Presidents and Parliaments. Bertrand opens with a chapter entitled the Minotaur (who is analogous to the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler) and proceeds to document and trace the growth of state power through the ages. He addresses varying theories of sovereignty and the resulting practical effects of those theories in practice. He astutely captures the corrupting influence of Rousseau with amazing clarity and iconoclastically tackles that sacrosanct creature 'democracy' which Bertrand de Jouvenel rightly characterizes democracy as a child of war. He fittingly features a chapter entitled 'Totalitarian Democracy' as the book comes to a close. When the rule of law was held in high esteem, then efforts were made to check and prevent the concentration of power. Nonetheless, the dubious theories about the 'general will,' or similar theories purporting an infallible will of the people, seemed to take hold and gave way to legitimizing a succession of demagogues and dictators with unbridled power. The era of demagogues usually climaxes into an age of total war as these powers clash swords. It was essentially when democracy become the ultimate end, and not the means, that it achieved its most repugnant manifestations and lead to a concentration of power unimaginable in previous centuries. Revolutionaries and demagogues like Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini and Hitler were the illegitimate sons of democracy and could all rightfully lay claim to being democrats.

52 people found this helpful

Lawrence W. Reed

October 27, 2014

Format: Paperback

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