I think a big problem when discussing politics that go beyond right vs left is that people have different ideas about what the goal is. Are we building a utopia or 'merely' something stable?
I found the graph above to be food for thought. There are two main camps: those who believe pursuing truth leads to good and those who believe there is no universal truth and that politics necessarily is about managing disagreements about subjective truths.
- Gandhi: Wants truth over all -- believes everyone can become enlightened
- Plato: Wants to combine truth and order -- believes we need a gifted few to keep the rest in line
- Hobbes: Wants referee -- believes we need a strong, impartial hand to maintain peace
- Weber: Mix of Hobbes and Schmitt
- Schmitt: Wants team captain -- believes people need to be lead
- Nietzsche: Wants survival of the fittest -- believes only gifted few can contribute meaningfully to society
- Arendt: Wants everyone to contribute -- believes pluralistic struggle is necessary
Truth, order and freedom are often in conflict. Gandhi is willing to risk disorder to gain truth, Nietzsche/Arendt are willing to risk disorder to gain freedom, Plato is willing to risk freedom to gain truth/order, Hobbes/Weber/Schmitt are willing to risk truth and freedom to gain order.
My own position can be a bit fluid so I don't exactly know where I'd put myself on that graph, but generally I'd say I'm a mix of Plato/Hobbes when cynical and more like Gandhi/Arendt when optimistic. With more of a focus on pursuing truth than managing disagreements.