Book•
政治自由主义 = Political liberalism
01 Jan 2000-
About: The article was published on 2000-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 1762 citations till now.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model of performative agency in capitalist societies, and apply this analysis within an agonal theory of civil society that is driven by the individual's performative participation in associations that compete within institutional settings.
Abstract: The article presents a model of performative agency in capitalist societies. The first section reconsiders the problem of third-dimensional power as developed by Steven Lukes, focusing on the relationships between universal human needs and social forms. The second section uses the concepts of the ‘self’, ‘I’ and ‘person’ to characterize the relationships between human nature, affect, individual alienation, social institutions and personal judgement. Alienation is argued to be inherent in human agency, rather than being solely created by capitalism. The next section applies this analysis within an agonal theory of civil society that is driven by the individual’s performative participation in associations that compete within institutional settings. Finally the article considers the political ramifications of this model, rejecting contemporary constitutionalist approaches in favour of a revised form of pluralist associationalism. Throughout, the article warns of the dangerous marginalization of emotions (or ...
12 citations
Cites background from "政治自由主义 = Political liberalism"
...…needs undermines appeals to coherent, determinate and shared ‘comprehensive religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines’ (Rawls, 1993: xvi) and constitutions founded on the ‘endorsement of principles and ideals acceptable to ... common human reason’ (Rawls, 1993: 137; also D’Agostino, 1996)....
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...…of determinate needs undermines appeals to coherent, determinate and shared ‘comprehensive religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines’ (Rawls, 1993: xvi) and constitutions founded on the ‘endorsement of principles and ideals acceptable to ... common human reason’ (Rawls, 1993: 137;…...
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a semiotic model of gun possession in America based upon the social contract theories put forward by Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls, focusing on the rights of self-preservation and the protection of property.
Abstract: We present a semiotic model of gun possession in America based upon the social contract theories put forward by Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls. Our central focus is upon the rights of self-preservation and the protection of property. The model proposes that American political history has cycled between two sets of symbolic threats to the social contract: tyranny imposed by a despotic central government and chaos represented by outsiders designated as savages. We propose that the two central semiotic images presented in the origin myth of the USA – that of pioneers living on a savage frontier and citizens rebelling against tyrannical government – endorse the individual possession of firearms. The specific models of guns chosen by private citizens are found to be closely intertwined with military patterns of usage; thus, the US military seems to serve as a rhetorical vessel from which cultural ideals of appropriate weaponry are derived. Examples of American autobiographical writings, contemporary gun advertisin...
12 citations
Cites background from "政治自由主义 = Political liberalism"
...The philosophy underlying social contract theory relevant to our present study dates from the time of Socrates and continues forward in Western European philosophy through the works of John Locke (2003) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (2012; Gauthier 2006)....
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...Moral justification for the formation of the United States and subsequent rebellion against Britain were based on the essays of English social contract philosopher John Locke (2003)....
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...Most recently, American writers John Rawls (1993, 2005) and David Gauthier (1990, 2006) have discussed social contract theory within the context of contemporary cultural stresses....
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...The United States Constitution and Declaration of Independence both are grounded in social contract theory (Huilling 2007), especially the writings of John Locke....
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...In particular the historical works of John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are used to develop ideological explanations for gun ownership by US citizens from the Revolution to the present day....
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28 Feb 2019
TL;DR: In this article, the authors define Europopulism as a notion of political engagement that combines what is promising about direct and indirect relations between politics and ethics, in which ethics is directly brought to politics.
Abstract: Depoliticization presents itself to us both as a theoretical and a practical-political problem. The argument of the thesis aims to develop depoliticization as a philosophical concept which gains its impetus from and is tested against the politics of the European Union (EU). My approach to depoliticization (critique) is that ethics provides part of the solution, rather than simply being part of the problem. After a conceptual reflection, I analyze EU politics in terms of its modes of self-justification, the incontestable nature of some of its central institutions, and its one-sided reliance on negative integration through juridical means. In an attempt to develop the relationship between politics and ethics more constructively, I then develop an account of both direct and indirect relations.
A key aspect of my analysis is the distinction between localized and generalized depoliticization critique – only the latter extends to the ontological dimension, which is why the former falls short. This leads to an ambiguous patchwork of politicizing and depoliticizing effects, which is illustrated by the development of the ethical-political relationship between Rousseau and Schmitt. These are what I call direct relations between politics and ethics, in which ethics is directly ‘brought’ to politics.
I then consider indirect relations, in which a specific procedure is interposed: I consider Habermas’ proposed reforms of EU politics, and interpret Rawls’ political liberalism as a complementary account. In the end, direct relations between politics and ethics are found to be insufficient by themselves, and indirect relations, while promising, end up depoliticizing in ways that complement each other as much as the relations themselves. In order to remedy these flaws, I introduce a notion of political engagement that combines what is promising about direct and indirect relations. Political engagement combines a polemical politics with the shutting out of depoliticizing effects and is thus able to politicize across the board, fulfilling the requirement of generalized depoliticization critique. Europopulism, which I define in connection with Laclau, is my proposal to extend political engagement to European politics.
12 citations
Dissertation•
01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: The authors proposes a theoretical framework for thinking about cultural normativity that countenances the indeterminacy of culture, and its central aim is to show that a culture's hybrid and political character does not disqualify it as a normative category.
Abstract: This dissertation takes up a theoretical problem that prejudices justifications of multiculturalism. If we understand multiculturalism as a position holding that cultures are valuable entities that deserve respect and recognition, we must not only show that there indeed are such things as cultures, but also that culture is the right kind of entity to possess value. However, these assumptions have been widely criticized for being unrealistic and naive. Culture, it has been objected, is too indeterminate a concept to possess value of the sort required by multiculturalism. The present study elucidates the philosophical underpinnings of the challenge of indeterminacy. Drawing on the pragmatism of John Dewey, it then proposes a theoretical framework for thinking about cultural normativity that countenances the indeterminacy of culture. Its central aim is to show that a culture’s hybrid and political character does not disqualify it as a normative category.
12 citations
Dissertation•
01 Dec 2014
TL;DR: Benhabib et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that neither absolute sovereignty nor extreme cosmopolitanism (which implies no borders) is desirable, and argue that this tension is brought to the fore when refugees cross borders and enter into democratic territories, asking for protection and claiming their human rights.
Abstract: The aim of this thesis is to determine what responsibilities democratic states have toward refugees. This problem is stated within the broader framework of the tension inherent in all democratic states: on the one hand, the sovereign right of a state over its territory and, on the other hand, the cosmopolitan or universal human rights norms upon which the state‟s constitution is founded. I argue that this tension is brought to the fore when refugees cross borders and enter into democratic territories, asking for protection and claiming their human rights. The sheer magnitude of the refugee crisis makes this an issue every state should address. My answer to the question of state responsibility is worked out in four phases. Firstly, I give a conceptual clarification of refugeehood, sovereignty, and cosmopolitanism. I show that neither absolute sovereignty (which implies closed borders) nor extreme cosmopolitanism (which implies no borders) is desirable. Secondly, I draw on Immanuel Kant‟s cosmopolitan theory as a possible solution. Kant proposes a world-federation of states in which right is realised on the civic, international, and cosmopolitan level. Kant also insists that every individual has the right to hospitality – a right which foreign states should recognise. Thirdly, I examine three prominent theories which could offer us a way to address the refugee crisis. I argue that the first two – multiculturalism and John Rawls‟ „law of peoples‟ – are not adequate responses to the refugee crisis, but that the third – Seyla Benhabib‟s cosmopolitan federalism – is more promising. Hospitality is the first responsibility states have toward refugees, and Benhabib proposes that it be institutionalised by (i) forming a federation of states founded on cosmopolitan principles, (ii) revising membership norms through the political process of democratic iterations, and (iii) extending some form of political membership to the state to refugees. Lastly, I justify the claim that political membership should be extended by referring to Hannah Arendt‟s argument that the ability to speak and act publicly is part of what it means to be human. If we deny refugees this ability, or if we deny them access to political processes, we deny their humanity. Benhabib proposes institutional measures to ensure that this does not happen, including allowing for political membership on sub-national, national, and supranational levels. Ultimately, I argue that democratic states have the responsibility to (i) allow entry to refugees, (ii) give refugees legal status and offer protection, and (ii) extend political membership to them on some level. Stellenbosch University http://scholar.sun.ac.za
12 citations
Cites background from "政治自由主义 = Political liberalism"
...He draws on Kant‟s second sphere of right – international right – and the empirical findings of Michael Doyle (in Rawls 1993b: 49, n.20), which showed that 83 democracies do not wage wars against one another....
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...The „law of peoples‟ specifies the content of a liberal conception of justice, which could be extended to or applied to international law – it “provides the concepts and principles by reference to which that law is to be judged” (Rawls 1993b: 43)....
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...The „law of peoples‟ would govern relations between different societies – both liberal and nonliberal (or hierarchical), as all societies share the same world and should, therefore, formulate ideals and principles to guide their policies toward other societies (Rawls 1993b: 38)....
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...(Rawls 1993b: 61) However, the duty still only amounts to protecting the rights of others in foreign countries in extreme circumstances – it does not say anything about having a duty toward people who may enter the well-ordered countries seeking protection....
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...…sovereignty to peoples (and therefore he insists that they are not nations or states), it is unclear how a people 84 can meet the three requirements, and not have some form of territorial sovereignty, especially as he views these societies as “complete and closed social systems” (Rawls 1993a: 41)....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore an important concept in the work of the later Rawls, the idea of the reasonable, and conclude that this concept helps to bridge the gap between liberal theory and democratic practice.
Abstract: This paper aims to explore an important concept in the work of the later Rawls: the idea of the reasonable. While the concept has its roots in both Aristotle and Kant, Rawls develops a unique account of the reasonable in the light of his theory of political liberalism. The paper includes Rawlsian responses to the practical challenges of radical democrats on the one hand, and epistemological challenges to the reasonable on the other. It concludes that Rawls’s account of the reasonable helps to bridge the gap between liberal theory and democratic practice.
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Abstract: roposed as a reformist and sometimes even as a radical political ideal,deliberative democracy begins with the critique of the standard practices ofliberal democracy. Although the idea can be traced to Dewey and Arendt andthen further back to Rousseau and even Aristotle, in its recent incarnation theterm stems from Joseph Bessette, who explicitly coined it to oppose the elitist or‘‘aristocratic’’ interpretation of the American Constitution.
595 citations
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Abstract: In the course of the last 30 years, feminist theories of gender have shifted from quasi-Marxist, labor-centered conceptions to putatively ‘post-Marxist’ culture-and identity-based conceptions. Reflecting a broader political move from redistribution to recognition, this shift has been double edged. On the one hand, it has broadened feminist politics to encompass legitimate issues of representation, identity and difference. Yet, in the context of an ascendant neoliberalism, feminist struggles for recognition may be serving less to enrich struggles for redistribution than to displace the latter. Thus, instead of arriving at a broader, richer paradigm that could encompass both redistribution and recognition, feminists appear to have traded one truncated paradigm for another – a truncated economism for a truncated culturalism. This article aims to resist that trend. I propose an anaysis of gender that is broad enough to house the full range of feminist concerns, those central to the old socialist-feminism as w...
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