Suchergebnisse

It is said that the people are sovereign; but over whom? – over themselves, apparently. The people are thus subject. There is surely something equivocal if not erroneous here, for the people which command are not the people which obey. It is enough, then, to put the general proposition, 'The people are sovereign', to feel that it needs an exegesis…. The people, it will be said, exercise their sovereignty by means of their representatives. This begins to make sense. The people are the sovereign which cannot exercise sovereignty… (Joseph De Maistre, Study on Sovereignty) Someone was speaking to Sieyès of the scorn that his detractors continually affect for what they call 'grand theories'. 'Theories', he said, 'are the practice of centuries; all their practices are the theory of the passing moment! (Pierre Louis Roederer)1

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is increasingly challenging to maintain openness and cooperation in the field of education in various countries. However, the changes brought about by the pandemic provide us with opportunities to explore new ways of international cooperation in education, help reform the way of international exchange and cooperation, and find ways to make international cooperation ready for risks. In response to the volatility of the situation, educational institutions in the countries along the Belt and Road initiative should strengthen mutual understanding, anticipate the upcoming changes and adapt to the quickly changing environment, guided by the concept of "Community with shared future for mankind". In addition, it is essentially important to cooperate on creation of an open, equal and mutually beneficial Belt and Road educational community. The creation of the Belt and Road educational community meets the current needs of cooperation in the field of international education. It possesses advanced scientific ideas, relies on the existing mechanisms of cooperation, promotes innovation and modernization of cooperation methods, reveals new models of cooperation and integrates educational resources for countries located along the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, this community enhances the educational system's ability to withstand risk, thus playing a vital role.

Upon what empirical basis did Hobbes make his claims about the 'state of nature'? He looked to 'the savage people in many places of America' (Hobbes, 1976: 187). Most people now recognize Hobbes's assertions about Native Americans as racist. And yet, as Widerquist and McCall argue in their book Prehistoric Myths in Modern Political Philosophy, the myth that life outside the state is unbearable and that life under the state is better remains the essential premise of two of the most influential Western political philosophies in the modern world – social contract theory (contractarianism) and property rights theory (propertarianism). Critiques of these philosophies are not new. But what is new, and exciting, about this book is that a political philosopher (Karl Widerquist) enlists an anthropologist (Grant S. McCall) to systematically debunk this founding myth on the basis of empirical evidence. Despite some confusion about the book's aims, the lack of attention to women and the risk of epistemic injustice, the results are fascinating and, I will argue, should prompt a methodological crisis for some schools of political philosophy.