An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic , in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Formerly applied primarily to economic , political , or religious theories and policies, in a tradition going back to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels , more recent use treats the term as mainly condemnatory.
81-503: The term was coined by Antoine Destutt de Tracy , a French Enlightenment aristocrat and philosopher , who conceived it in 1796 as the "science of ideas" to develop a rational system of ideas to oppose the irrational impulses of the mob. In political science , the term is used in a descriptive sense to refer to political belief systems . The term ideology originates from French idéologie , itself deriving from combining Greek : idéā ( ἰδέα , 'notion, pattern'; close to
162-440: A feudal mode of production , religious ideology is the most prominent aspect of the superstructure, while in capitalist formations, ideologies such as liberalism and social democracy dominate. Hence the great importance of ideology justifies a society and politically confuses the alienated groups of society via false consciousness . Some explanations have been presented. Antonio Gramsci uses cultural hegemony to explain why
243-492: A rhetorical strategy , in which case its goal is to change the valence of a description. Using a euphemism can in itself be controversial, as in the following examples: The use of euphemism online is known as " algospeak " when used to evade automated online moderation techniques used on Meta and TikTok's platforms. Algospeak has been used in debate about the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . Phonetic euphemism
324-405: A certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them. Each political ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers the best form of government (e.g., democracy , demagogy , theocracy , caliphate etc.), scope of government (e.g. authoritarianism , libertarianism , federalism , etc.) and
405-441: A euphemism for dead and an adjective meaning overdue, can cause confusion in listeners. Euphemisms are also used to mitigate, soften or downplay the gravity of large-scale injustices, war crimes, or other events that warrant a pattern of avoidance in official statements or documents. For instance, one reason for the comparative scarcity of written evidence documenting the exterminations at Auschwitz , relative to their sheer number,
486-660: A euphemism for defecation in Pre-Germanic, as the Proto-Indo-European root * sḱeyd- , from which it was derived, meant 'to cut off'. Another example in American English is the replacement of " colored people " with " Negro " (euphemism by foreign language), which itself came to be replaced by either "African American" or "Black". Also in the United States the term "ethnic minorities" in
567-718: A foreign language may be imported for use as euphemism. For example, the French word enceinte was sometimes used instead of the English word pregnant ; abattoir for slaughterhouse , although in French the word retains its explicit violent meaning 'a place for beating down', conveniently lost on non-French speakers. Entrepreneur for businessman , adds glamour; douche (French for 'shower') for vaginal irrigation device; bidet ('little pony') for vessel for anal washing. Ironically, although in English physical " handicaps " are almost always described with euphemism, in French
648-591: A mere representation, The Society of the Spectacle . The American philosopher Eric Hoffer identified several elements that unify followers of a particular ideology: Ronald Inglehart of the University of Michigan is author of the World Values Survey , which, since 1980, has mapped social attitudes in 100 countries representing 90% of global population. Results indicate that where people live
729-460: A polite way. Euphemism comes from the Greek word euphemia ( εὐφημία ) which refers to the use of 'words of good omen'; it is a compound of eû ( εὖ ), meaning 'good, well', and phḗmē ( φήμη ), meaning 'prophetic speech; rumour, talk'. Eupheme is a reference to the female Greek spirit of words of praise and positivity, etc. The term euphemism itself was used as a euphemism by
810-410: A political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals , principles , doctrines , myths , or symbols of a social movement , institution , class , or large group that explains how society should work, offering some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order . Political ideologies are concerned with many different aspects of a society, including but not limited to: the economy ,
891-482: A sole explanation of ideology is that it does not explain the differences between ideologies. Terror management theory posits that ideology is used as a defence mechanism against threats to their worldview which in turn protect and individuals sense of self-esteem and reduce their awareness of mortality. Evidence shows that priming individuals with an awareness of mortality does not cause individuals to respond in ways underpinned by any particular ideology, but rather
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#1732782388986972-468: A term of abuse, which he often hurled against his liberal foes in Tracy's Institut national . According to Karl Mannheim 's historical reconstruction of the shifts in the meaning of ideology , the modern meaning of the word was born when Napoleon used it to describe his opponents as "the ideologues". Tracy's major book, The Elements of Ideology , was soon translated into the major languages of Europe. In
1053-433: A term of abuse. Karl Marx followed this vein of invective to refer to Tracy as a "fischblütige Bourgeoisdoktrinär" (a "fish-blooded bourgeois doctrinaire"). On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson thought highly enough of Destutt de Tracy's work to ready two of his manuscripts for American publication. In his preface to the 1817 publication, Jefferson wrote: "By diffusing sound principles of Political Economy, it will protect
1134-532: Is "directives for the extermination process obscured in bureaucratic euphemisms". Another example of this is during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , where Russian President Vladimir Putin , in his speech starting the invasion, called the invasion a " special military operation ". Euphemisms are sometimes used to lessen the opposition to a political move. For example, according to linguist Ghil'ad Zuckermann , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used
1215-528: Is "the imagined existence (or idea) of things as it relates to the real conditions of existence" and makes use of a lacunar discourse. A number of propositions, which are never untrue, suggest a number of other propositions, which are. In this way, the essence of the lacunar discourse is what is not told but is suggested. For example, the statement "All are equal before the law ", which is a theoretical groundwork of current legal systems, suggests that all people may be of equal worth or have equal opportunities. This
1296-444: Is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes to downplay. Euphemisms may be used to mask profanity or refer to topics some consider taboo such as mental or physical disability, sexual intercourse, bodily excretions, pain, violence, illness, or death in
1377-546: Is concerned with the causes, consequences and content of ideology, with humans being dubbed the "ideological animal" by Althusser. Many theories have tried to explain the existence of ideology in human societies. Jost, Ledgerwood, and Hardin (2008) propose that ideologies may function as prepackaged units of interpretation that spread because of basic human motives to understand the world, avoid existential threat , and maintain valued interpersonal relationships . The authors conclude that such motives may lead disproportionately to
1458-471: Is difficult, however, due to cultural relativity in definitions. For example, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism "; a conservatism in Finland would be labeled socialism in the United States . Philosopher Michael Oakeshott defines single-issue ideologies as "the formalized abridgment of the supposed sub-stratum of the rational truth contained in
1539-429: Is ecology, which studies the relationships among living things on Earth. Perceptual psychologist James J. Gibson believed that human perception of ecological relationships was the basis of self-awareness and cognition itself. Linguist George Lakoff has proposed a cognitive science of mathematics wherein even the most fundamental ideas of arithmetic would be seen as consequences or products of human perception—which
1620-512: Is illustrated by the "scandalous advice" of Pascal toward unbelievers: "Kneel and pray, and then you will believe." What is ultimately ideological for Althusser are not the subjective beliefs held in the conscious "minds" of human individuals, but rather discourses that produce these beliefs, the material institutions and rituals that individuals take part in without submitting it to conscious examination and so much more critical thinking . The French Marxist theorist Guy Debord , founding member of
1701-541: Is itself necessarily evolved within an ecology. Deep ecology and the modern ecology movement (and, to a lesser degree, Green parties ) appear to have adopted ecological sciences as a positive ideology. Some notable economically based ideologies include neoliberalism , monetarism , mercantilism , mixed economy , social Darwinism , communism , laissez-faire economics, and free trade . There are also current theories of safe trade and fair trade that can be seen as ideologies. A large amount of research in psychology
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#17327823889861782-505: Is likely to closely correlate with their ideological beliefs. In much of Africa, South Asia and the Middle East, people prefer traditional beliefs and are less tolerant of liberal values. Protestant Europe , at the other extreme, adheres more to secular beliefs and liberal values. Alone among high-income countries, the United States is exceptional in its adherence to traditional beliefs, in this case Christianity. In political science ,
1863-419: Is not true, according to Althusser, for the concept of private property and power over the means of production results in some people being able to own more than others. This power disparity contradicts the claim that all share both practical worth and future opportunity equally; for example, the rich can afford better legal representation, which practically privileges them before the law. Althusser proffered
1944-731: Is often associated with Francis Fukuyama 's writings on the end of history . Contrastly, Nienhueser (2011) sees research (in the field of human resource management ) as ongoingly "generating ideology". There are many proposed methods for the classification of political ideologies. Ideologies can identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (e.g. left , center , or right ). They may also be distinguished by single issues around which they may be built (e.g. civil libertarianism , support or opposition to European integration , legalization of marijuana ). They may also be distinguished by political strategies (e.g. populism , personalism ). The classification of political ideology
2025-559: Is reiterated by J. William Fulbright , while a similar form occurs in Eric Hoffer 's The True Believer . The revolution thus becomes established as an ideocracy , though its rise is likely to be checked by a 'political midlife crisis.' Even when the challenging of existing beliefs is encouraged, as in scientific theories, the dominant paradigm or mindset can prevent certain challenges, theories, or experiments from being advanced. A special case of science that has inspired ideology
2106-444: Is sensation caused by a present affection of the external extremities of the nerves; memory is sensation caused in the absence of present excitation by dispositions of the nerves which are the result of past experiences; judgment is the perception of relations between sensations and is itself a species of sensation because if we are aware of the sensations we must be aware also of the relations between them; and volition he identifies with
2187-604: Is the most generic term because the 'science of ideas' also contains the study of their expression and deduction. The coup d'état that overthrew Maximilien Robespierre allowed Tracy to pursue his work. Tracy reacted to the terroristic phase of the revolution (during the Napoleonic regime as part of the Napoleonic Wars ) by trying to work out a rational system of ideas to oppose the irrational mob impulses that had nearly destroyed him. A subsequent early source for
2268-552: Is too confined to verbal systems. ' Worldview ' is too metaphysical , ' propaganda ' too loaded. Despite or because of its contradictions, 'ideology' still plays a key role in semiotics oriented to social, political life. Authors such as Michael Freeden have also recently incorporated a semantic analysis to the study of ideologies. Sociologists define ideology as "cultural beliefs that justify particular social arrangements, including patterns of inequality". Dominant groups use these sets of cultural beliefs and practices to justify
2349-478: Is used to replace profanities and blasphemies, diminishing their intensity. To alter the pronunciation or spelling of a taboo word (such as profanity ) to form a euphemism is known as taboo deformation , or a minced oath . Such modifications include: Euphemisms formed from understatements include asleep for dead and drinking for consuming alcohol. " Tired and emotional " is a notorious British euphemism for "drunk", one of many recurring jokes popularized by
2430-553: The Decembrists in Russia . Karl Marx adopted Napoleon's negative sense of the term, using it in his writings, in which he once described Tracy as a fischblütige Bourgeoisdoktrinär (a "fish-blooded bourgeois doctrinaire"). The term has since dropped some of its pejorative sting ( euphemism treadmill ), and has become a neutral term in the analysis of differing political opinions and views of social groups . While Marx situated
2511-534: The Eléments d'idéologie the author regarded as the introduction to a second section of the planned nine-part work which he titled Traité de la volonté ( Treatise on the Will and Its Effects ). When translated into English, editor Thomas Jefferson retitled the volume A Treatise on Political Economy which obscured the aspects of Tracy's work concerned not with politics but with far more basic questions of will and
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2592-716: The Empire , Tracy was a member of the senate, but he took little part in its deliberations. Under the Restoration , he became a peer of France , but protested against the reactionary split of the government and remained in opposition. In 1808, he was elected a member of the Académie française in place of Cabanis and in 1832 was also named a member of the Academy of Moral Sciences on its reorganization. He appeared only once at its conferences, owing to his age and to disappointment at
2673-651: The French Liberal School of political economy competed evenly with British classical political economy well until the end of the 19th century as evidenced in the work and reputation of Arthur Latham Perry and others. In his political writings Tracy rejected monarchism , favoring the American republican form of government. This republicanism as well as his advocacy of reason in philosophy and laissez-faire for economic policy lost him favor with Napoleon , who turned Tracy's coinage of "ideology" into
2754-523: The Lockean sense of idea ) and -logíā ( -λογῐ́ᾱ , 'the study of'). The term ideology and the system of ideas associated with it was coined in 1796 by Antoine Destutt de Tracy while in prison pending trial during the Reign of Terror , where he read the works of Locke and Étienne Bonnot de Condillac . Hoping to form a secure foundation for the moral and political sciences , Tracy devised
2835-518: The Situationist International , argued that when the commodity becomes the "essential category" of society, i.e. when the process of commodification has been consummated to its fullest extent, the image of society propagated by the commodity (as it describes all of life as constituted by notions and objects deriving their value only as commodities tradeable in terms of exchange value ), colonizes all of life and reduces society to
2916-589: The University of Strasbourg , where he was noted for his athletic skill. He went into the army and when the French Revolution broke out he took an active part in the provincial assembly of Bourbonnais. Elected a deputy of the nobility to the Estates General , he sat alongside his friend, the Marquis de La Fayette . In the spring of 1792, he received the rank of maréchal de camp in command of
2997-701: The ancient Greeks ; with the meaning "to keep a holy silence" (speaking well by not speaking at all). Reasons for using euphemisms vary by context and intent. Commonly, euphemisms are used to avoid directly addressing subjects that might be deemed negative or embarrassing, such as death , sex , and excretory bodily functions. They may be created for innocent, well-intentioned purposes or nefariously and cynically, intentionally to deceive, confuse or deny . Euphemisms which emerge as dominant social euphemisms are often created to serve progressive causes. The Oxford University Press 's Dictionary of Euphemisms identifies "late" as an occasionally ambiguous term, whose nature as
3078-524: The government , the environment , education , health care , labor law , criminal law , the justice system , social security and welfare , public policy and administration , foreign policy , rights , freedoms and duties , citizenship , immigration , culture and national identity , military administration, and religion . Political ideologies have two dimensions: A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends power should be used. Some parties follow
3159-430: The relations of production and modes of production , and superstructure denotes the dominant ideology (i.e. religious, legal, political systems). The economic base of production determines the political superstructure of a society. Ruling class-interests determine the superstructure and the nature of the justifying ideology—actions feasible because the ruling class control the means of production . For example, in
3240-523: The subjective ongoing choices that people make. These ideas serve as the seed around which further thought grows. The belief in an ideology can range from passive acceptance up to fervent advocacy. Definitions, such as by Manfred Steger and Paul James , emphasize both the issue of patterning and contingent claims to truth. They wrote: "Ideologies are patterned clusters of normatively imbued ideas and concepts, including particular representations of power relations. These conceptual maps help people navigate
3321-497: The working-class have a false ideological conception of what their best interests are. Marx argued: "The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production." The Marxist formulation of "ideology as an instrument of social reproduction" is conceptually important to the sociology of knowledge , viz. Karl Mannheim , Daniel Bell , and Jürgen Habermas et al. Moreover, Mannheim has developed and progressed from
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3402-492: The " euphemism treadmill ", as coined by Steven Pinker . For instance, the place of human defecation is a needy candidate for a euphemism in all eras. Toilet is an 18th-century euphemism, replacing the older euphemism house-of-office , which in turn replaced the even older euphemisms privy-house and bog-house . In the 20th century, where the old euphemisms lavatory (a place where one washes) and toilet (a place where one dresses ) had grown from widespread usage (e.g., in
3483-623: The "science of ideas". The society of "ideologists" at Auteuil embraced, besides Cabanis and Tracy, Constantin-François de Chassebœuf, Comte de Volney and Dominique Joseph Garat , professor in the National Institute. Along with some of these colleagues, he was a member of the cultural society Les Neuf Sœurs . In 1806, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia . Under
3564-506: The "total" but "special" Marxist conception of ideology to a "general" and "total" ideological conception acknowledging that all ideology (including Marxism ) resulted from social life, an idea developed by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu . Slavoj Žižek and the earlier Frankfurt School added to the "general theory" of ideology a psychoanalytic insight that ideologies do not include only conscious but also unconscious ideas. French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser proposed that ideology
3645-598: The 2010s has been replaced by " people of color ". Venereal disease , which associated shameful bacterial infection with a seemingly worthy ailment emanating from Venus , the goddess of love, soon lost its deflective force in the post-classical education era, as "VD", which was replaced by the three-letter initialism "STD" (sexually transmitted disease); later, "STD" was replaced by "STI" (sexually transmitted infection). Intellectually-disabled people were originally defined with words such as "morons" or "imbeciles", which then became commonly used insults. The medical diagnosis
3726-453: The English word handicap is used as a euphemism for their problematic words infirmité or invalidité . Periphrasis , or circumlocution , is one of the most common: to "speak around" a given word, implying it without saying it. Over time, circumlocutions become recognized as established euphemisms for particular words or ideas. Bureaucracies frequently spawn euphemisms intentionally, as doublespeak expressions. For example, in
3807-515: The United States) to being synonymous with the crude act they sought to deflect, they were sometimes replaced with bathroom (a place where one bathes), washroom (a place where one washes), or restroom (a place where one rests) or even by the extreme form powder room (a place where one applies facial cosmetics). The form water closet , often shortened to W.C. , is a less deflective form. The word shit appears to have originally been
3888-465: The adoption of system-justifying worldviews . Psychologists generally agree that personality traits , individual difference variables, needs, and ideological beliefs seem to have something in common. Just-world theory posits that people want to believe in a fair world for a sense of control and security and generate ideologies in order to maintain this belief, for example by justifiying inequality or unfortunate events. A critique of just world theory as
3969-456: The attention of Cabanis was devoted mostly to the physiological side of man, Tracy's interests concerned the then newly determined "ideological", in contrast to "psychological", sides of humanity. His grounding notion of ideology, he frankly stated, should be classified as "a part of zoology" (biology). The four faculties into which de Tracy divides the conscious life—perception, memory, judgment and volition—are all varieties of sensation. Perception
4050-433: The best economic system (e.g. capitalism , socialism , etc.). Sometimes the same word is used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas. For instance, socialism may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology that supports that economic system. Post 1991, many commentators claim that we are living in a post-ideological age, in which redemptive, all-encompassing ideologies have failed. This view
4131-400: The cavalry in the army of the north, but the influence of the extremists becoming predominant he took indefinite leave of absence and settled at Auteuil , where with Condorcet and Cabanis he devoted himself to scientific studies. Under the Reign of Terror , he was arrested and imprisoned for nearly a year, during which he studied Étienne Bonnot de Condillac and John Locke and abandoned
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#17327823889864212-608: The century following Tracy, the term ideology moved back and forth between positive and negative connotations. During this next generation, when post-Napoleonic governments adopted a reactionary stance, influenced the Italian, Spanish and Russian thinkers who had begun to describe themselves as liberals and who attempted to reignite revolutionary activity in the early 1820s, including the Carbonari societies in France and Italy and
4293-486: The closely connected concerns of epistemology and history, defining ideology in terms of a system of presentations that explicitly or implicitly lay claim to absolute truth. Marx's analysis sees ideology as a system of false consciousness that arises from the economic relationships, reflecting and perpetuating the interests of the dominant class. In the Marxist base and superstructure model of society, base denotes
4374-577: The commitment to an existing one. Zizek calls this "a post-modernist trap". Peter Sloterdijk advanced the same idea already in 1988. Studies have shown that political ideology is somewhat genetically heritable . When a political ideology becomes a dominantly pervasive component within a government, one can speak of an ideocracy . Different forms of government use ideology in various ways, not always restricted to politics and society. Certain ideas and schools of thought become favored, or rejected, over others, depending on their compatibility with or use for
4455-584: The comparative failure of his work. Destutt de Tracy was one of the principal advocates of liberalism during and after the Revolution. He died in Paris . Destutt de Tracy was the last eminent representative of the sensualistic school which Condillac founded in France upon a one-sided interpretation of Locke. In full agreement with the materialist views of Cabanis, de Tracy pushed the sensualist principles of Condillac to their most necessary consequences. While
4536-494: The complexity of their political universe and carry claims to social truth." Studies of the concept of ideology itself (rather than specific ideologies) have been carried out under the name of systematic ideology in the works of George Walford and Harold Walsby, who attempt to explore the relationships between ideology and social systems . David W. Minar describes six different ways the word ideology has been used: For Willard A. Mullins, an ideology should be contrasted with
4617-415: The concept of the ideological state apparatus to explain his theory of ideology. His first thesis was " ideology has no history ": while individual ideolog ies have histories, interleaved with the general class struggle of society, the general form of ideology is external to history. For Althusser, beliefs and ideas are the products of social practices, not the reverse. His thesis that " ideas are material "
4698-407: The family, education, and religion. As societies changed throughout history, so did the ideologies that justified systems of inequality. Sociological examples of ideologies include racism , sexism , heterosexism , ableism , and ethnocentrism . Antoine Destutt de Tracy Antoine Louis Claude Destutt, comte de Tracy ( French: [dɛstyt də tʁasi] ; 20 July 1754 – 9 March 1836)
4779-420: The feeling of desire and is therefore included as a type of sensation. Considered for the influences of his philosophy, de Tracy minimally deserves credit for his distinction between active and passive touch which ultimately fed the development of psychological theories of muscular sense. His account of the notion of external existence as being derived not from pure sensation, but from the experience of action on
4860-638: The ideology that they are currently aware of. System justification theory posits that people tend to defend existing society, even at times against their interest, which in turn causes people to create ideological explanations to justify the status quo. Jost, Fitzimmons and Kay argue that the motivation to protect a preexisting system is due to a desire for cognitive consistency (being able to think in similar ways over time), reducing uncertainty and reducing effort, illusion of control and fear of equality. According to system justification theory, ideologies reflect ( unconscious ) motivational processes , as opposed to
4941-764: The liberals of the 1820s: Franco Venturi noted that the Commentary "resounded throughout the whole period of the liberal revolutions, from the Spain of 1820 to the Russia of 1825." An American historian wrote that "the Russian Decembrists , along with numerous other liberals, Carbonari , and revolutionaries of the 1820s used this Commentary as their political Bible." The Decembrist Mikhail Orlov recalled that his circle considered it "the epitome of wisdom." Euphemism treadmill A euphemism ( / ˈ juː f ə m ɪ z əm / YOO -fə-miz-əm )
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#17327823889865022-497: The natural sciences for philosophy. In 1795, he was named associate of the Institut de France when it was first established. On the motion of Cabanis, he was named in the class of the moral and political sciences. He soon began to attract attention by the memoires which he read before his colleagues—papers which formed the first draft of his comprehensive work on ideology , named Eléments d'idéologie . He conceived of ideology as
5103-665: The near-original meaning of ideology is Hippolyte Taine 's work on the Ancien Régime , Origins of Contemporary France I. He describes ideology as rather like teaching philosophy via the Socratic method , though without extending the vocabulary beyond what the general reader already possessed, and without the examples from observation that practical science would require. Taine identifies it not just with Tracy but also with his milieu , and includes Condillac as one of its precursors. Napoleon Bonaparte came to view ideology as
5184-518: The neutral Hebrew lexical item פעימות peimót (literally 'beatings (of the heart)'), rather than נסיגה nesigá ('withdrawal'), to refer to the stages in the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank (see Wye River Memorandum ) , in order to lessen the opposition of right-wing Israelis to such a move. Peimót was thus used as a euphemism for 'withdrawal'. Euphemism may be used as
5265-500: The one hand and resistance on the other, stands in this light to be compared with the works of Alexander Bain and later psychologists. His chief works are the five-volume Éléments d'idéologie (1817–1818), the first volume of which was presented as "Ideology Strictly Defined" and which completed the arguments made in earlier completed monographs; Commentaire sur l'esprit des lois de Montesquieu (1806) and Essai sur le génie, et les ouvrages de Montesquieu (1808). The fourth volume of
5346-655: The past, the US military used the term " sunshine units " for contamination by radioactive isotopes . The United States Central Intelligence Agency refers to systematic torture as " enhanced interrogation techniques ". An effective death sentence in the Soviet Union during the Great Purge often used the clause "imprisonment without right to correspondence ": the person sentenced would be shot soon after conviction. As early as 1939, Nazi official Reinhard Heydrich used
5427-533: The possibility of understanding the conditions of its determinations. Tracy advanced a rigorous use of deductive method in social theory, seeing economics in terms of actions ( praxeology ) and exchanges ( catallactics ). Tracy's influence can be seen both on the Continent (particularly on Stendhal , Augustin Thierry , Auguste Comte and Charles Dunoyer ) and in the United States, where the general approach of
5508-465: The public industry from the parasite institutions now consuming it". Tracy's criticism of Montesquieu and his endorsement of representative democracy were influential on Jefferson's thinking. Stendhal was much influenced by Tracy's enlightenment ideals and attended the de Tracy salon regularly in the 1820s as he described in Memoirs of an Egotist . According to Richard Stites, he was important to
5589-565: The reigning social order. In The Anatomy of Revolution , Crane Brinton said that new ideology spreads when there is discontent with an old regime. The may be repeated during revolutions itself; extremists such as Vladimir Lenin and Robespierre may thus overcome more moderate revolutionaries. This stage is soon followed by Thermidor , a reining back of revolutionary enthusiasm under pragmatists like Napoleon and Joseph Stalin , who bring " normalcy and equilibrium". Brinton's sequence ("men of ideas> fanatics >practical men of action")
5670-409: The related (but different) issues of utopia and historical myth . An ideology is composed of four basic characteristics: Terry Eagleton outlines (more or less in no particular order) some definitions of ideology: German philosopher Christian Duncker called for a "critical reflection of the ideology concept". In his work, he strove to bring the concept of ideology into the foreground, as well as
5751-404: The same purpose: to call a person a berk sounds less offensive than to call a person a cunt , though berk is short for Berkeley Hunt , which rhymes with cunt . The use of a term with a softer connotation, though it shares the same meaning. For instance, screwed up is a euphemism for 'fucked up'; hook-up and laid are euphemisms for ' sexual intercourse '. Expressions or words from
5832-421: The satirical magazine Private Eye ; it has been used by MPs to avoid unparliamentary language . Pleasant, positive, worthy, neutral, or nondescript terms are often substituted for explicit or unpleasant ones, with many substituted terms deliberately coined by sociopolitical movements, marketing , public relations , or advertising initiatives, including: Some examples of Cockney rhyming slang may serve
5913-401: The systems of inequality that maintain their group's social power over non-dominant groups. Ideologies use a society's symbol system to organize social relations in a hierarchy , with some social identities being superior to other social identities, which are considered inferior. The dominant ideology in a society is passed along through the society's major social institutions, such as the media,
5994-566: The term Sonderbehandlung ("special treatment") to mean summary execution of persons viewed as "disciplinary problems" by the Nazis even before commencing the systematic extermination of the Jews . Heinrich Himmler , aware that the word had come to be known to mean murder, replaced that euphemism with one in which Jews would be "guided" (to their deaths) through the slave-labor and extermination camps after having been "evacuated" to their doom. Such
6075-424: The term for a "science of ideas", basing such upon two things: (1) the sensations that people experience as they interact with the material world; and (2) the ideas that form in their minds due to those sensations. Tracy conceived ideology as a liberal philosophy that would defend individual liberty , property , free markets , and constitutional limits on state power. He argues that, among these aspects, ideology
6156-504: The term within class struggle and domination, others believed it was a necessary part of institutional functioning and social integration . There are many different kinds of ideologies, including political , social , epistemological , and ethical . Recent analysis tends to posit that ideology is a 'coherent system of ideas' that rely on a few basic assumptions about reality that may or may not have any factual basis. Through this system, ideas become coherent, repeated patterns through
6237-498: The tradition". Moreover, Charles Blattberg offers an account that distinguishes political ideologies from political philosophies . Slavoj Žižek argues how the very notion of post-ideology can enable the deepest, blindest form of ideology. A sort of false consciousness or false cynicism, engaged in for the purpose of lending one's point of view the respect of being objective, pretending neutral cynicism, without truly being so. Rather than help avoiding ideology, this lapse only deepens
6318-486: The view that political convictions always reflect independent and unbiased thinking. According to semiotician Bob Hodge : [Ideology] identifies a unitary object that incorporates complex sets of meanings with the social agents and processes that produced them. No other term captures this object as well as 'ideology'. Foucault 's ' episteme ' is too narrow and abstract, not social enough. His 'discourse', popular because it covers some of ideology's terrain with less baggage,
6399-465: Was a French Enlightenment aristocrat and philosopher who coined the term " ideology ". The son of a distinguished soldier, Claude Destutt, he was born in Paris . His family was of Scottish descent, tracing its origin to Walter Stutt, who had accompanied the Earls of Buchan and Douglas to the court of France in 1420 and whose family afterwards rose to be counts of Tracy. He was educated at home and at
6480-416: Was changed to "mentally retarded", which morphed into the pejorative, " retard ", against those with intellectual disabilities. To avoid the negative connotations of their diagnoses, students who need accommodations because of such conditions are often labeled as "special needs" instead, although the words "special" or "sped" (short for "special education") have long been schoolyard insults. As of August 2013,
6561-583: Was part of the formulation of Endlösung der Judenfrage (the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question"), which became known to the outside world during the Nuremberg Trials . Frequently, over time, euphemisms themselves become taboo words, through the linguistic process of semantic change known as pejoration , which University of Oregon linguist Sharon Henderson Taylor dubbed the " euphemism cycle " in 1974, also frequently referred to as
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