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Definition:
After World War II, Theodor Adorno attempted to identify some connection between
personality factors and particular social/political systems. Because of the recent experiences
with Nazi Germany, it was natural to try and focus first upon totalitarian political systems and
what sorts of personalities were most likely to lead to the development of such systems.
Adorno believed that he was able to identify what he called an "authoritarian pesonality." Such a person is characterized by rigid conformity to traditional social norms and behaviors, intolerance and prejudice against those who act, think and even look differently, extreme veneration of authority figures and authority systems, and contempt for those who show weakness. Adorno even developed what he called an f-scale, something he regarded as an objective measure of just how inclined a person would be to accept and support authoritarian political systems.
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Related Resources:
What are Political and Legal Philosophy
The Philosophy of Politics and the Philosophy of Law are often studied separately, but they are presented here jointly because they both come back to the same thing: the study of force. Politics is the study of political force in the general community, while jurisprudence is the study of how laws can and should be used to achieve political and social goals.What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? Is there any point in studying philosophy, or is it a useless subject? What are the different branches of philosophy - what's the difference between aestheitcs and ethics? What's the difference between metaphysics and epistemology?
