Kingston Philosophy Café

The topic is “Monarchy”.  No particular lead speaker, just a few kick-off “bullet points”.

·       George Orwell: an English intellectual would rather be caught stealing from the poorbox than be seen standing to attention for God Save the King.

·       Philosopher Roger Scruton: The UK monarchy is ‘the light above politics which shines down on the human bustle from a calmer and more exalted sphere’.

·       The paradox of the UK’s monarchy: obvious in the coronation. The Queen was anointed in the presence of God (shades, or more than shades, of the Divine Right of Kings, that a monarch  is subject to no earthly authority, deriving the right to rule directly from a divine authority). But she also swore a solemn oath to obey the elected representatives of her people.

·       Republics  (dictatorships, oligarchies, or  democracies) rarely seem to agitate for a return to  monarchy. But monarchies often have political movements to abolish their monarchy.

·       The world is a baffling and fearsome place. Do people need a magical or supernatural guarantee that it is ultimately a just and beneficial reality (e.g., via the visible person of a monarch)? Or do we need “to move on”, and accept “more rational” forms of government, plain democracy, and its technological devices, based on science and its ultimately “nihilistic” picture of the world?

Terminology: Limited and/or constitutional monarchies: e.g., UK, various European monarchies. Absolute monarchy: e.g., Saudi Arabia: , the monarchy has supreme and absolute authority to do what it wishes.