Abstract
62.7202 ALTMAN, W. H. F. —
Tarán's case against the authenticity of Epinomis depends on the claim that it is incompatible with Plato's Laws. Behind this claim is the uncritical assumption that the Athenian Stranger of Laws speaks for Plato. While the Athenian Stranger of Epinomis clearly does not do so, the same is equally true, albeit more difficult to detect, of the Stranger in Laws. Once the Athenian is recognized as both ambitious and impious, a reconstruction of the last sentence of Epinomis — on which Tarán's incompatibility thesis principally rests — reveals the theological-political continuity between the two dialogues: the Stranger is intent on bringing the city into being while securing divine sanction for his own code of laws and divine honors for himself. [R, abr.]
62.7203 AVGOUSTI, Andreas —
This article argues against readings that tend to overlook, dismiss or reduce the profound role of poetry and myth in Plato's Republic. It discusses and rejects the distinction between myth and poetry that we find in such readings. Then it makes the case for the irreducibility of poetry. Crucially, poetry determines both the state and the frame of mind of the dialogue's interlocutors, and we can expect it to do the same for the Kallipoleans. The attraction of the irrational part of the soul to imitative poetry entails that imitation is both beneficial and pleasant. The article argues that myths, understood as false stories, play a significant role in early education. [R]
62.7204 BELLAMY, Richard —
Like many rights theorists, P. Jones regards rights as lying outside politics and providing constraints upon it. However, he also concedes that rights are matters of reasonable disagreement and that, as a matter of fairness, disputes about them ought to be resolved democratically. I develop these concessions to argue that rights require democratic justification and that this can be provided only via a real democratic process in which those involved “hear the other side”. I relate this argument to the republican theory of non-domination, contending that it fits the Lockean project of regarding rights as constraints on arbitrary power better than liberal views that place rights outside the democratic process. I note the implications of this argument for rights-based judicial review of legislation. [R] [See Abstr. 62.7239]
62.7205 BIANCHI, Alvaro; ALIAGA, Luciana —
Although they worked in different fields of social interpretation, A. Gramsci and V. Pareto are both part of a Machiavellian tradition of political studies that carries with itself considerable thematic continuities and affinities in the overall formulation of political concepts. This is especially visible with regard to the two main topics examined: the methodology of political science and the distinction between the governed and those who govern. Pareto proposes a science that is free from fictional ideals, founded on empirical, historical observation. Gramsci, on the other hand, thought that a political science could not but be founded on the understanding that any social theory must necessarily be part of the field of relations constituted by the social forces that are implicit in the dialectic between structure and superstructure. [R]
62.7206 BIEBRICHER, Thomas —
The article assesses the complex position of M. Foucault on the political significance of rights-claiming, i.e., the politics of rights. Although the theorist Foucault has reservations regarding rights-claiming and only vaguely gestures at a “new form of right”, the intellectual Foucault resorts to the practice of rights-claiming on many occasions. The article argues that in these interventions by the intellectual Foucault indeed such a “new form of right” is discernible that rests on a radical rights constructivism. The article concludes with a number of caveats regarding such an emphatically political practice of rights-claiming. [R]
62.7207 BOTTING, Eileen Hunt; KRONEWITTER, Sean —
The publication in 1869 of J. S. Mill's Subjection of Women gave rise to philosophical and political responses beyond Western Europe on the relationship between Westernization and women's rights in developing, colonial, and post-colonial countries. Through the first comparative study of the Subjection of Women alongside the forewords to six of its earliest non-Western European editions, we explore how this book provoked local intellectuals in Russia, Chile, and India to engage its liberal utilitarian, imperial, Orientalist, and feminist ideas. By showing how Mill's Western European biases and instrumental reasoning establish problematic rhetorical models for women's rights arguments, we explore the ethical dimensions of women's rights issues in the context of cultural and political imperialism. [R, abr.]
62.7208 BUCCELLATO, James A. —
Theorists should read non-traditional forms of political agency alongside the American Left's failure to counter liberal hegemony. According to S. Žižek, the current ideological deadlock requires unconventional approaches to political action. His notion of the Act represents one of the most original methods for identifying alternative types of political agency. The Act is often violent and not only transgresses symbolic norms, but reconfigures our understandings of legitimate political behavior. Linking acts of social banditry to his theory illustrates how the outlaw represents a sign of political resistance. Acts of social criminality, for example, take on political significance when undermining the regime's hegemonic narrative. Using Billy the Kid and Pretty Boy Floyd as case studies, the article examines how conditions of uneven economic development produce non-traditional political actors. [R, abr.]
62.7209 CAVALLAR, Georg —
Rousseau tries to show that civic patriotism is compatible with genuine moral cosmopolitanism as well as republican cosmopolitanism (the compatibility thesis). I clarify these concepts, and distinguish them from other types of cosmopolitanism, such as moral, cultural, economic, and epistemological cosmopolitanisms. Rousseau winds up with a form of rooted cosmopolitanism that tries to strike a balance between republican patriotism and republican as well as thin moral cosmopolitanism, offering a synthesis through education. A careful reading of Émile shows that this is a book about the formation of a moral and cognitive cosmopolitan who avoids the deformations of a commercial society influenced by processes of globalization. [R]
62.7210 CENTENO, Miguel A.; COHEN, Joseph N. —
For three decades, neoliberalism dominated the global political economy. Defined as an explicit preference for private over public control, neoliberalism represented a dramatic break from postwar policies. This article examines the historical development of neoliberalism through three perspectives: as an economic policy, as an expression of political power, and as an ideational hegemony. We reject the notion of neoliberal inevitability and suggest how it came to dominate all other possible alternatives. The review emphasizes the critical importance of political preferences and influences as well as the central role ideas played in defining policy paradigms. [R]
62.7211 DOLGERT, Stefan —
Most of our knowledge of the Peloponnesian War comes from the text of Thucydides' History, yet IR scholars are strangely credulous when evaluating Thucydides' pronouncements. I suggest that his text obscures important information regarding the outbreak of the war. Thucydides has a secular bias which leads him to discount the Spartan religious self-narrative, but by attending to this schema, in which Sparta sees itself in the role of the pious defender of moderation pitted against the corrupt Athenians, we gain a richer understanding of the chain of events that led to war. By assessing Thucydides' data using insights drawn from contemporary cognitive theories of narrative and image, we see that misperceptions based in the conflicting Athenian and Spartan narratives played an important role in the escalation of the crisis. [R, abr.]
62.7212 DORADO ROMERO, Juan —
The philosophical reflections of Cornelius Castoriadis (1922–1997) offer pathways for a fruitful understanding of the relations between psyche and politics. In his work Castoriadis argued that the two elements that define human beings are the capacity to establish social meanings and radical imagination, which in turn implies that the study of politics and the social sphere must escape the identity logic. From his analysis of the psyche and its first natural stratum, the psychic monad, Castoriadis highlights the danger that omnipotence represents for the democratic government of the citizen and of the polis (whether of the modem state or any other mode of political organization). The article examines Castoriadis' critique of the Western philosophical tradition based on the fact that it has hidden the role of imagination in political experience. [R]
62.7213 DOUGLASS, Robin —
I explore Montesquieu's discussion of republics and the constitution of England in order to question the extent to which he should be accorded a central place in a tradition of modern republicanism. This involves challenging P. Rahe's recent thesis that Montesquieu thought both that monarchy was not at all suited to modernity and that England was a republic all along. By stressing the importance of honor and ambition, I argue that the liberty that Montesquieu thought exemplified in the English constitution was, in large part, secured by its monarchical principle. Moreover, by eschewing the relevance of political virtue for modern commercial societies, Montesquieu set his own proposals out in opposition to the prevalent French republican discourse of his time. [R, abr.]
62.7214 DOYLE, Natalie J. —
M. Gauchet's recently published theory of democracy sheds light on the way his understanding of modernity emerged from C. Castoriadis's notion of autonomy but also deepened it by contextualizing it within a discussion of modern historicity. Modern autonomy means re-shaping the world through a new, transformative, form of power that draws on humanity's capacity for imaginary creation. Gauchet's theory of modernity, however, rejects the possibility of radical historical creation. Faithful to the teachings of structuralism, it explores the structural conditions behind the genesis of modern power, which favored the emergence of a new societal form that produces its own future. Encompassing capitalism, Gauchet's modern power proposes an essentially paradoxical definition of modern democracy that stresses its essentially liberal dimension neglected by Castoriadis. [R, abr.]
62.7215 FARRANT, Andrew; McPHAIL, Edward; BERGER, Sebastian —
F. Hayek famously claimed that he would prefer a “liberal” dictator to “democratic government lacking in liberalism”. While Hayek's views of the Pinochet regime have generated much controversy, surprisingly little has been written about Hayek's defense of transitional dictatorship. Making use of previously un-translated foreign language archival material, this paper sheds light on Hayek's views of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, transitional dictatorship, and the Pinochet regime as well as helping to separate Hayekian “fact” from Hayekian “fiction”. [R]
62.7216 FERRELL, Jason —
One of the largest contemporary debates in political theory revolves around the question of how pluralists can justify their political commitments. Isaiah Berlin, one of the first to face this problem, was a self-proclaimed liberal, whose political writings have led to controversy. I take up the issue of how Berlin's use of the essay genre contributes to his defense of liberalism given his pluralist beliefs. I argue that while his reliance upon the essay generates particular interpretive problems, it need not undermine his commitment to liberalism. Rather, Berlin's defense of liberalism involves a rhetorical attempt to discredit alternatives to liberalism while drawing attention to suggestive ties between history, political judgment, and liberalism. [R]
62.7217 FIELD, Laura K. —
Xenophon's Cyropaedia is the gripping account of one young man's rise to unprecedented political prominence. Some have taken the ending to signify not only Cyrus's particular political inadequacy, but also the tragic inadequacy of politics in general, and political philosophy in particular, to promote stability, justice, and the common good. By examining Xenophon's portrayal of Cyrus's nature, education, and actions, and by comparing Cyrus to other characters of the Cyropaedia, I conclude [that] Cyrus's limits prove not to be inevitable, and the failure of his empire is not “generalizable” to all political endeavors. In studying Cyrus's case, we deepen our thinking about civic education, justice, rule, freedom, and the law — matters that Cyrus neglected — and are led to prudential insights that are vital to the cultivation and support of healthy politics. [R, abr.]
62.7218 FORRESTER, Katrina —
In light of recent interest among political theorists in the idea of political realism, Shklar's liberalism of fear has come to be associated with anti-Rawlsian thought. This paper shows that, on the contrary, Shklar's specific formulation of political realism, unlike more recent variations, was not motivated by a critique of Rawls. It addresses three concerns: (1) it shows what exactly Shklar's initial realism was responding to; (2) it considers the implications of this realism for thinking about liberal democracies; (3) it attempts, briefly, to make sense of her relationship with Rawls and, in turn, through a comparison with Williams's thought, her relationship to anti-Rawlsian political realism. [R]
62.7219 GARVER, Eugene —
The Crito dramatizes the impossibility, and the indispensability, of persuasion by locating it between two extremes, Socrates and the Laws, the truths of philosophy and the force of politics. The question is whether those two limits are themselves inside or outside rhetoric. Can philosophy persuade, or must it always be an alternative to persuasion? Socrates insists on ignoring the opinion, and the power, of the many, and so the Laws have to show themselves as different from the opinion of the many in order for him to obey. If Socrates and the Laws cannot talk to each other, it is because philosophy and politics are incommensurable. If there is common ground, it is because persuasion can make the two, philosophy and politics, commensurable to each other. [R, abr.]
62.7220 GERMAN, Andy —
What is the significance of the recurring link between tyranny and philosophy in Plato? Often, Plato's treatment of tyranny is discussed either in the context of moral psychology — as a problem of agency, moral choice and akrasia — or political science, where it is the limit case of political decline. It is suggested, however, that a close inspection of the myth of Er and an elucidation of its neglected links, not just with the rest of the Republic but also with dialogues such as the Philebus and the Symposium, shows that Socrates' fascination with tyrannical characters points to a deeper theme — nature — and specifically the problem of its benevolence to our purposes and its very ambiguous relation to human excellence and degradation. [R, abr.]
62.7221 GODREJ, Farah —
I argue here that a clearer conception of Gandhi's nonviolence is required in order to understand his resonance for contemporary environmentalism. Gandhi's nonviolence incorporates elements of both the Brahmin or ascetic, as well as the Kshatriya or warrior. Contemporary environmental movements over-emphasize ascetic components of Gandhi's thought, to the neglect of the confrontational and warrior-like ones. They often also miss the discursive political dimension with which this Gandhian ethics is interwoven. I argue that the warrior-like and confrontational political aspect of Gandhi's nonviolence must be brought to the fore in discussions of environmentalism. [Thus], Gandhi can be read as an advocate of a certain form of “ecological” citizenship, requiring both the scrutiny of one's bodily consumptive behaviors, as well as the placement of one's body on the frontlines of aggressive political contestation. [R, abr.]
62.7222 GOLDMAN, Loren —
Kant's progressive philosophy of history is an integral aspect of his critical system, yet it is often ignored or even treated as an embarrassment by contemporary scholars. I defend Kant and argue for the continuing relevance of his regulative assumption of historical progress. I suggest, furthermore, that the first-person stance of practical belief exemplified in Kant's conception of hope offers new resources for thinking about the relationship between the ideal and the real in political theory. [R]
62.7223 GOLDSTEIN, Joshua D. —
The new natural theory developed by G. Grisez, J. Finnis, R. George and other new natural lawyers is presented by both its friends and its liberal critics as more concerned with absolute values than theorizing human freedom. This concern is seemingly borne out by the new natural lawyers' narrow and exclusionary sexual ethic. However, this article suggests that the new natural law theory might be rescued from both these groups and shown to contain a robust and attractive account of freedom. Through a reconstruction of the new natural law theory's unique mode of arriving at moral action, this article suggests the new natural law theory integrates three distinct dimensions of autonomy which are often kept separate: a Kantian moral autonomy, a Rawlsian personal autonomy and a Hegelian ethical autonomy. [R, abr.]
62.7224 HEWLETT, Nick —
Badiou has re-launched the debate amongst intellectuals regarding the viability and the desirability of communism, insisting that now is the time to begin to take the idea of communism seriously again. This is an important move, especially as he contrasts a more generic form of communism with the “actually existing” communism of the 20th c. Indeed, Badiou's own philosophical schema is bound up with notions of equality and emancipation. However, unlike Marx, Badiou is unable properly to relate his notion of communism to the material world. He shares with Marx a passion for many kinds of equality, but retains some pre-Marxian idealism, which allows no room for a fully fledged unity of theory and practice. [R]
62.7225 HILDRETH, R. W. —
This article draws on the political philosophy of J. Dewey to re-think the relationship between deliberative and participatory democracy. Dewey's ideal of democracy allows us to bridge these two theories while still being attentive to the tensions between them. In particular, Dewey helps us conceptualize deliberative and participatory practices as distinctive yet complementary phases within a larger circuit of cooperative inquiry. To illustrate the argument, a case study of one democratic experiment that effectively combined different forms of practice is presented. I contend that we might be able to recover and incorporate some of the more radical features of participatory democracy into deliberative practices. Participatory theory's focus on political action and structural inequality, in addition to deliberation, as essential to citizen-centered democratic practice is specifically emphasized. [R]
62.7226 HORTON, John —
P. Jones has consistently defended the position that liberalism must maintain the distinction between the right and the good if it is to be qualitatively different from alternative political theories, and thus resist the charge that liberals are just like any other political theorists in wanting to impose their views on others. I challenge the viability of that distinction, [and] argue that it is both unnecessary and undesirable to hold that so much of importance hangs on whether or not it can be sustained. I suggest that the dichotomy between neutralist or impartialist liberalism and what Jones characterizes as the desire “merely to impose a favored form of life upon others” is too sharp, and hence at best misleading and at worst mistaken. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 62.7239]
62.7227 LALOVIĆ, Dragutin —
This paper [examines] the theoretical dialogue between two republican theories of democracy as a form of political subjectivization of people as citizens. The first part focuses on H. Arendt's criticism of Rousseau's conception of general will in opposition to the will of all and the particular will as such. [Then], examples are provided of possible textual support in The Social Contract to such an understanding of Rousseau's general will concept, not only as different in quality but also as truly antagonistic towards the will of all as a sum of particular wills of members of the political body of the republic. Arendt's reading is explained by the equation of Rousseauian political theory with its Jacobin ideological reception and political instrumentalization at the time of the French Revolution. [R, abr.]
62.7228 LLANO ALONSO, Fernando H. —
In Marcus Tullius Cicero's thought, we find the Stoic conception that law is derived from God, Nature (Universe) and Human Reason. Indeed, Cicero inherits from Stoicism the pantheistic view of Natural Law as right reason in agreement with Nature and God. While Cicero derived many ideas on Natural Law from the Greeks, he also contributed some key ideas of his own. I focus on the key aspects of Cicero's Natural Law Theory through three masterpieces of his legal and political thought: De Re Publica, De Legibus and De Officiis, which had great influence over the medieval Christian conception of Natural Law through Lactantius (one of the Church Fathers) and Thomas Aquinas (the father of Thomism and considered the greatest theologian and philosopher of the Church). [R, abr.]
62.7229 LOMBARDINI, John —
This article investigates the relationship between comic speech and political authority in democratic Athens through a reading of Aristophanes' Knights. The article surveys three different interpretations of how Aristophanes constructs the authority of his comic persona in the play: (1) he contrasts comic speech with rhetorical speech to illustrate the superiority of the former (comic superiority); (2) he reflexively reveals to the audience the potential deceptiveness of comic speech (comic reflexiveness); and (3) he mocks his own claims to authority through the construction of a comically boastful persona (comic anti-authority). The final two readings best capture the spirit of Aristophanic comedy, pointing to an affinity between the comic authority constructed by Aristophanes and the democratic conception of authority in operation in classical Athens. [R]
62.7230 MacDONALD, Bradley J. —
As seen in the recent work of D. Held and N. Fraser, J. Habermas's notion of the ideal of the public sphere and his conception of deliberative democracy have provided tantalizing tools for rethinking the importance of global civil institutions and spaces in furthering both recognition and redistribution on a global level. Less relevant in this resuscitation of Critical Theory in things global has been the work of the first-generation Frankfurt School theorists. In particular, the importance that Adorno's theory may have in articulating and characterizing the character of alterglobalization movements is explored. Adorno's notion of negative dialectics is first looked to in order to uncover a conception of radical politics, and then the recent attempt by J. Holloway to bring in Adorno for the global anti-capitalist movement is explored. [R, abr.]
62.7231 MARKOVITS, Elizabeth —
In Knights, Aristophanes represents the dangers of Parrhesia run amuck with the near-destruction of an elderly man's (Demos) Athenian household by Paphlagon (a stand-in for the Athenian politician Cleon). In this setting, Paphlagon's invocations of his own Parrhesia and goodwill become a destructive form of flattery, causing chaos in the household and threatening its viability. This article discusses the problem of Parrhesia in democratic Athens and the ways in which Cleon exemplified those problems. Examining Aristophanes' Knights, the author tracks the playwright's exploration and response. Aristophanes uses the figure of the elderly Demos as a metaphor for the decline of the city, allowing him to both critique the demos and to align himself with it (as he presents his own anxieties about old age). [R, abr.]
62.7232 MARKS, Jonathan —
Locke and Rousseau both address the question of how best to educate children, who love both freedom and power, to be free adults who submit only to reason. Contrary to the common view that Rousseau's disagreement with Locke stems from Rousseau's radical understanding of freedom, I argue that the disagreement stems from Rousseau's view, for which he argues convincingly, that Lockean education cannot secure even Lockean freedom. This reconception of Rousseau's disagreement with Locke makes Rousseau difficult to dismiss and leaves us at an impasse with respect to the question of how to educate for liberty. [R]
62.7233 MILLER, David —
This paper examines the idea of human rights, and how they should be justified. It reviews P. Jones's claim that the purpose of human rights is to allow people from different cultural backgrounds to live together as equals, and suggests that this by itself provides too slender a basis. Instead it proposes that human rights should be grounded on human needs. Three difficulties with this proposal are considered: (1) the problem of whether needs are sufficiently objective for this purpose, to which it responds by drawing a distinction between human needs proper and societal needs; (2) the problem of overshoot: human needs are more expansive than human rights; (3) the problem of undershoot: needs cannot be used to ground civil and political rights. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 62.7239]
62.7234 MISRA, Shefali —
Mill is commonly dismissed as being hostile to multiculturalism. This is a mistake. He is alleged to devalue lives not dedicated to the pursuit of individual autonomy: in fact, he is a liberal communitarian. Other, legitimate, critiques point to his cultural imperialism. Many allege, mistakenly, that he is a proponent of national homogeneity. Mill remains largely misunderstood with regard to multiculturalism. His focus on individual self-perfection is a strong aid, not impediment, to a distinctly liberal multiculturalism, because inherently value pluralist. His skepticism about the power of human cognition precludes dogmatism about primary personal values. His alleged support of national homogeneity demonstrates an acknowledgement of individuals' particularistic attachments without supporting nationalist parochialism. By doing justice both to individuals' instinct of particularity and their potential for cosmopolitanism, it fosters rather than undermines liberal multiculturalism. [R, abr.]
62.7235 RAHE, Paul A. —
Montesquieu's constitutionalism, embraced by the Framers of the American Constitution, was a systematic attempt to put into practice something very much like the first principles spelled out in the Declaration of Independence. Montesquieu was not a doctrinaire. He feared that revolution would eventuate in the establishment of a despotism, and so he gently, quietly promoted unobtrusive reform. But the cautious, prudential political science that he outlined in his Spirit of Laws was anything but value-free. If the American framers found his legislative science of use, it was because the hatred of despotism and love for liberty animating its author was grounded in an account of natural right closely akin to that espoused in Locke's Two Treatises of Government, that had inspired their revolution. [R, abr.]
62.7236 RIBAREVIĆ, Luka —
Leaving aside Hobbes's ideological preferences in the conflict regarding the structure of the English body political in the 17th c., the text deals with the way in which democracy is valued in his key theoretical-political works. The author first examines the status of democracy within the framework of Hobbes's doctrine of state forms. Despite some shortcomings, in none of the three variants of his science of politics does Hobbes deem that there is a rational justification for discarding democracy as one of three equally ranked forms of state. Second, the author inquires into the more general thesis of the democratic character of Hobbes's understanding of the state regardless of its form. [R, abr.]
62.7237 SAYER, Andrew —
A critical realist account is developed of two aspects of the study of power which are normally left implicit: the theory of causation presupposed and the way in which the normative connotations of power are dealt with. These matters are discussed partly by reference to M. Foucault's views on power, particularly as set out in Volume 1 of The History of Sexuality. Regarding the conception of power as ubiquitous, I argue that this is not incompatible with concepts of causation or of power as deriving from the capacities of objects; indeed dispersed power presupposes causality and causal powers. I argue that the normative implications of power should not be evaded, and indeed that evaluation of the implications of power for flourishing and suffering are necessary for adequate description and explanation in social science. [R, abr.]
62.7238 SEIDLER, Meir —
The article deals with two different approaches to the Zionist enterprise that clearly dominated nearly all of the stages of its development: viewing any envisioned return of the Jews to the Land of Israel through a traditional redemptionist prism and a novel perception seeking refuge for a persecuted people. Though the historical schism and the ideological gap between both perceptions are obvious, in terms of real-life ideologies they at times worked hand-in-hand. The refuge position was neither the exclusive domain of secular Zionists, nor was its redemptionist counterpart limited to the proponents of religious Zionism. Furthermore, an intermediate position is presented and the reasons for its meager success are scrutinized. The main protagonists here are Th. Herzl, Rabbi Kook, Rabbi Reines, and Ahad Ha'am. [R, abr.]
62.7239 STEINER, Hillel —
This paper argues that the independence from intercultural disagreement, that P. Jones attributes to human rights, implies that those rights are best understood as modeled on the Will Theory of rights and are derived from each person's foundational right to equal (negative) freedom. [R] [First article of a thematic issue on “The value and limits of rights: essays in honor of Peter Jones”, edited and introduced by Ian O'FLYNN and Albert WEALE. See also Abstr. 62.7179, 7204, 7226, 7233, and Peter JONES, “The value and limits of rights: a reply”, pp. 495–516; and also Peter Jones's “Publications”, pp. 517–520]
62.7240 STRAUME, Ingerid S. —
Among the many parallels between H. Arendt and C. Castoriadis is their shared interest in the kind of politics that is characteristic of the council movements, revolutionary moments and the political democracy of ancient Greece. This article elucidates how the two thinkers fill out and complement each other's thought, with special attention to political creation — an ambiguous theme in Arendt's thought. While critical of the notion of “making” in the political field, Arendt also emphasizes the importance of building institutions. To take this seriously means that her analyses of the nature of politics must be modified and, in this respect, Castoriadis's understanding of politics as institution-building can serve as a guideline. However, Arendt's concept of “plurality” in the public sphere represents a level of political analysis that is under-developed in the work of Castoriadis. [R, abr.]
62.7241 SWAN, Kyle —
Philosophers attracted to the republican ideal of freedom as nondomination sometimes offer the thought that a state concerned to promote this ideal would be more committed to economic justice than a liberal state pursuing freedom as noninterference. The republican commitment to economic justice is more demanding and its provisions are more substantial. These philosophers overstate republican redistributive commitments. The state need only provide a basic set of capabilities in order to achieve the republican goal, and concerns about domination in society better support a sufficiency aim in redistributive policy. [R]
62.7242 THOMPSON, C. Bradley —
This article examines several important questions from the perspective of America's Revolutionary generation: What are the moral laws and rights of nature? What is the difference between a law and a right of nature, and how are the laws and rights of nature related to each other? Are nature's moral laws and rights descriptive, prescriptive, or both? What are the attributes and sanctions of nature's laws and rights, and how are they promulgated? What is the source of nature's laws and rights? And finally, how did America's founding fathers use the laws and rights of nature to establish their political institutions? In order to answer these questions, the article focuses on the core text universally recognized as the symbol of America's revolutionary mind and moral theory: the Declaration of Independence. [R, abr.]
62.7243 UDI, Juliana —
This paper explores the duty of charity as a new interpretation key for the Lockean theory of property. First, I explicit its demands, deontic status, and theological and philosophical foundations. This analysis is complemented by a consideration of a brief 1697 essay, in which Locke proposed a reform of the Elizabethan English Poor Law. Alhough the duty of charity does not compromise property rights, it presupposes a minimal core of redistributive justice. [R]
62.7244 VACANO, Diego von —
The article argues that Plato's Laws contain an implicit conception of freedom, particularly in Book III. I argue that there is a Form of Freedom in the book, comprised of an organic and a civic component. They are mediated by human agency. However, freedom in its ideal form is possible only for a select intellectual elite that can grasp these two dimensions. This elite is composed of a few wise elder men who take up the task of lawmaking as a ludic or playful enterprise. I also argue that degeneration away from true freedom is possible when political elites mislead a community away from Plato's ideal, such as with Cyrus in Persia. Ultimately, Plato's idea of freedom tells us that liberty is truly available only to a select few, not to a broad citizenry. [R, abr.] [See Abstr. 62.7082]
62.7245 WALKER, Gavin —
A. Badiou's theoretical work maintains an ambiguous relation to Marx's critique of political economy. In seemingly refusing the Marxian analytical strategy of displacement and referral across the fields of politics and economy, Badiou [seems] to lack a rigorous theoretical grasp of capitalism itself. But the origins of this “lack” of analysis of the social relation called “capital” in his work can also be investigated by means of a detour into the economic writings of the Union des communistes de France marxiste-léniniste, the political organization in which Badiou played a leading role throughout the 1970s in particular. By excavating this theoretical work of the 1970s, we can identify more precisely the historical and political reasons behind Badiou's ambiguous relation to Marx and specifically to Marx's systematic grasp of the logic of capital. [R, abr.]
62.7246 WALSH, Sean —
This article addresses the recently renewed debate pertaining to esotericism, secret messages encoded within writings from antiquity, especially in the writings of Plato. The question of esotericism has assumed a prominent role within debates concerning the history of political thought. Ever since L. Strauss offered his suspicion that there were secrets “buried in the writings of the rhetoricians of antiquity”, the idea that philosophers deliberately concealed their true beliefs in a way that few could detect has been fiercely debated. More recently, the research of J.B. Kennedy has made international headlines for discovering a musical pattern embedded within Platonic writings, a pattern that Kennedy insists is evidence of Plato's Pythagorean allegiance. The theses proffered by Strauss and Kennedy are empty doctrines of esotericism, or empty esotericisms. [R, abr.]
62.7247 WEST, Thomas G. —
This essay shows that Locke's teaching on the law of nature is not based on divine revelation, or a juridical doctrine of individual rights, or self-ownership, or self-preservation, or reasoning from premises that are not rooted in the empirical world. On the contrary, the real ground is found in his understanding of the conditions of human happiness. This conclusion is far from evident on the surface of Locke's writings. Locke draws his reader into an amazingly complex line of reasoning, scattered up and down in several of his books, leading finally to the real basis of his teaching on the law of nature. Locke engages the reader in a dialogue, in which initially plausible arguments are put forward, then implicitly questioned, leading to new arguments, which again are questioned, and so on. [R, abr.]
62.7248 WILLIAMS, Dana M.; LEE, Matthew T. —
The anarchist movement utilizes non-statist and anti-statist strategies for radical social transformation, thus indicating the limits of political opportunity theory and its emphasis upon the state. Using historical narratives from present-day anarchist movement literature, we note various events and phenomena in the last two centuries and their relevance to the mobilization and demobilization of anarchist movements throughout the world (Bolivia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, Venezuela). Labor movement allies, failing state socialism, and punk subculture have provided conditions conducive to anarchism, while state repression and Bolshevik success in the Soviet Union constrained success. This variation suggests that future work should attend more closely to the role of national context, and the interrelationship of political and non-political factors. [R]
62.7249 WILLIAMSON, Thad, ed. —
Editor's introduction. Contributions by Craig BOROWIAK, Mark J. KASWAN, J. S. MALOY, Gar ALPEROVITZ and Steve DUBB, and Thad WILLIAMSON, and a reply by Erik Olin WRIGHT.