mporary practices (Chaissen, 1987, p. 122). When this process has been repeated many times, the original principals or values often become completely obscured or lost. In this context, political criticism and the reformulation of political values become based primarily on the need to insure that political values are consistent with contemporary political practices, rather than the other way around (Bellah, et al, 1991, pp. 136 137).
Philosophical understanding results from a systematic criticism of differing views of the world (Etzioni, 1968, p. 65). Beyond a critical assessment of contemporary practices in the context of enduring values, which is required for philosophical understanding, many political philosophers, attempt to redesign conceptual structures and values (Schmid and Wuketits, 1987, p.
94). Political philosophy, thus, functions on different levels of generality and abstraction. At the lowest level, political science and practical politics are merged into one (Weber, 1947, p. 56). At a higher level, political philosophy may be less
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