Search Results

Putting Candor First: Plebiscitarianism and the Politics of Candor

Jeffrey Green

in The Eyes of the People: Democracy in an Age of Spectatorship

This chapter demonstrates how a plebiscitarian commitment to a politics of candor shapes a distinctive approach to reforming democratic institutions. Sections 6.2 through 6.5 explore the consequences ... More

This chapter demonstrates how a plebiscitarian commitment to a politics of candor shapes a distinctive approach to reforming democratic institutions. Sections 6.2 through 6.5 explore the consequences of making candor the primary value in democratic reform, by analyzing three practices of contemporary mass democracy: leadership debates, public inquiries of leaders, and press conferences. Section 6.6 concludes by summarizing the logic of putting candor first.Less

Popular Power in Sight

Jeffrey Green

in The Eyes of the People: Democracy in an Age of Spectatorship

This concluding chapter addresses the important question of how plebiscitarianism ought to be reconciled with traditional norms of participatory citizenship. Because the plebiscitarian principle of ... More

This concluding chapter addresses the important question of how plebiscitarianism ought to be reconciled with traditional norms of participatory citizenship. Because the plebiscitarian principle of candor regulates leaders instead of everyday citizens — and because it refers to how leaders ought to appear, rather than how they are to decide the most pressing issues of the day — certain readers will object that plebiscitarianism is irresponsible or, in any case, of limited significance to citizens committed to using whatever influence they possess to serve and improve the common good. In response to these concerns, the chapter explains how plebiscitarian ethics plays three different roles for three distinct types of citizens. It supplies an ethical perspective to the passive spectator, supplements the ethical perspective of the active partisan, and supplants the ethical perspective of the democrat committed to popular sovereignty (redefining popular sovereignty in terms of candor rather than self-legislation). One's reception of plebiscitarianism depends, then, on a certain degree of self-knowledge about the type of citizen that one is.Less

Implementation

Jeffrey Brand-Ballard

in Limits of Legality: The Ethics of Lawless Judging

This chapter addresses two basic questions about implementing selective optimization: (1) to what extent should judges disclose or conceal the fact that they selectively optimize, and (2) are judges ... More

This chapter addresses two basic questions about implementing selective optimization: (1) to what extent should judges disclose or conceal the fact that they selectively optimize, and (2) are judges psychologically capable of internalizing selective optimization? It considers some familiar sexual orientation cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, including Lawrence v. Texas and Romer v. Evans. It is argued that some of Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting arguments demand a response and that selective optimization offers one. The chapter argues that although judges have a pro tanto duty of candor, this duty is often overridden in suboptimal-result cases. It is sometimes permissible, therefore, for judges to advance fallacious legal arguments without admitting it—for them to deviate surreptitiously. Some implications of selective optimization for the treatment of precedent are explored, as is the relationship between selective optimization and Cass Sunstein’s judicial minimalism. Finally, recognizing that consciously obeying selective optimization may be psychologically impossible for some judges, the chapter considers the possibility of unreflective judicial conformity to selective optimization.Less

Honesty as a Virtue

Thomas L. Carson

in Lying and Deception: Theory and Practice

Honesty is generally regarded as a cardinal virtue. In order to assess this conventional wisdom the chapter examines the arguments of several dissenters who reject it. Some argue that as lying and ... More

Honesty is generally regarded as a cardinal virtue. In order to assess this conventional wisdom the chapter examines the arguments of several dissenters who reject it. Some argue that as lying and deception are frequently justified in certain spheres of life/activity, honesty is not a virtue (in those spheres). We need to distinguish between what, for lack of better terms, this chapter calls “honesty in a negative sense” (having a strong principled disinclination to tell lies or deceive others) and “honesty in a positive sense,” which (in addition to involving being disinclined to tell lies or deceive others) involves being candid, open, and willing to reveal information. The chapter argues that honesty in the negative sense (or something that closely resembles it) is a cardinal virtue in ordinary circumstances, but often honesty in the positive sense is not a virtue. The chapter also identifies spheres of activity in which candor and openness are virtues.Less

 Candor and Integrity in Science

Gerald Holton

in Scientific Values and Civic Virtues

In the pursuit of research and in the reporting of their results, the individual scientist as well as the community of fellow professionals relies implicitly on the researcher embracing the habit of ... More

In the pursuit of research and in the reporting of their results, the individual scientist as well as the community of fellow professionals relies implicitly on the researcher embracing the habit of truthfulness, a main pillar of the ethos of science. Failure to adhere to the twin imperatives of candor and integrity will be adjudged intolerable and, by virtue of science’s self-policing mechanisms, rendered the exception to the rule. Yet both as philosophical concepts and in practice, candor and integrity are complex, difficult to define clearly, and difficult to convey easily to those entering scientific careers. Therefore, it is useful to present operational examples of two major scientists, P.W. Bridgman (known for operationalism) and Niels Bohr (noted for his principle of complementarity), who exemplified devotion to candor and integrity in scientific research.Less

Where Character is Power

Christopher Reid

in Imprison'd Wranglers: The Rhetorical Culture of the House of Commons 1760-1800

Beginning with Aristotle's insight that the speaker's character (ethos) ‘is almost, so to speak, the most authoritative form of persuasion', this chapter looks at the various manifestations and uses ... More

Beginning with Aristotle's insight that the speaker's character (ethos) ‘is almost, so to speak, the most authoritative form of persuasion', this chapter looks at the various manifestations and uses of character in the eighteenth-century House of Commons. The construction (and also the undermining) of the speaker's character in the House is considered with close attention to the debates reported by Sir Henry Cavendish, and with reference to the thinking of contemporary rhetorical theorists such as George Campbell. Arguing that parliamentary character is always deeply coloured by the context of debate, the chapter examines these contests for character against a background of sharpening party divisions and shifting conceptions of political morality. It concludes with the use of the important but unstable eighteenth-century idea of candour in ethical appeals, as exemplified by the parliamentary career of Lord North.Less

‘Seeking the welfare of the city’: Public Theology as Radical Action

Andrew Bradstock

in Radical Christian Voices and Practice: Essays in Honour of Christopher Rowland

This chapter presents a critical overview of ‘public theology,’ recognizing that, although the term is new, what it describes reflects the historic calling of the Christian church to seek to make a ... More

This chapter presents a critical overview of ‘public theology,’ recognizing that, although the term is new, what it describes reflects the historic calling of the Christian church to seek to make a positive difference in the world. Three characteristics of public theology are highlighted: (i) its wish to ‘gift’ (rather than impose) its contribution to the public square; (ii) the wealth of resources upon which it may draw, including scripture; and (iii) its concern to communicate effectively in a secular context without diminishing the distinctiveness of its input. The view (identified with political liberalism) that only value-free language be permitted in public discourse is challenged, and the argument advanced that all participants in such discourse should be free to practise ‘confessional candour’. The chapter concludes that public theology is not just about informing or deepening public debate, but about inspiring action.Less

Introduction

Harriet Guest

in Unbounded Attachment: Sentiment and Politics in the Age of the French Revolution

This chapter introduces some of the main themes of the book. It discusses the importance of the relation between candour and humanity in the arguments of Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson, and considers ... More

This chapter introduces some of the main themes of the book. It discusses the importance of the relation between candour and humanity in the arguments of Adam Smith and Adam Ferguson, and considers their implications for the dispute between William Godwin and John Thelwall over the relative merits of public oratory, conversation, or the printed word. It links these arguments to the concerns over the commercialisation of literature and the author’s relation to an increasingly inclusive readership, and introduces the discussion of the importance of sentiment to women writers in this context.Less

“Dark Laughter in the Towers”

Terry Southern

in The Dixie Limited: Writers on William Faulkner and His Influence

This chapter reviews William Faulkner's 1929 novel As I Lay Dying, the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's journey to a cemetery in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband and five ... More

This chapter reviews William Faulkner's 1929 novel As I Lay Dying, the story of the death of Addie Bundren and her family's journey to a cemetery in Jefferson, Mississippi. Addie's husband and five children, carrying her body in a coffin in a wagon, encounter various difficulties along the way. The chapter first discusses humor in existentialist literature before focusing on the absurd in As I Lay Dying. It also considers protagonists in English fiction who all possess candor and a sense of the absurd, including Jimmy Porter, Sebastian Dangerfield, Charles Lumley, Billy Liar, and Larry Vincent. It argues that the “grotesque” in Faulkner is not ordinarily read as humorous because the highly personalized style tends to obscure it.Less

The lunar candour and the litheosphorus

Marco Piccolino and Nicholas J. Wade

in Galileo's Visions: Piercing the spheres of the heavens by eye and mind

A significant moment was when Galileo succeeded in refuting the idea of an essential difference between the physical laws regulating the terrestrial and celestial world. This was a fundamental tenet ... More

A significant moment was when Galileo succeeded in refuting the idea of an essential difference between the physical laws regulating the terrestrial and celestial world. This was a fundamental tenet of Aristotelian physics and Galileo addressed it through light reflection from the surface of earth and moon. The classical conception assumed that the moon reflects light in a mirror-like way because of the supposed perfection of its surface. In contrast, Galileo showed that the reflection from the moon is of a diffuse type like that from irregular surfaces. He argued that the earth is capable of reflecting sunlight and illuminates the dark zone of the moon. In addition, Galileo made recourse to a thought experiment to demonstrate that earthshine is more powerful than the moonshine.Less

Candor and Korea

in Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity

This chapter discusses Operation Candor and peace in Korea. Operation Candor tried to develop a speech or a series of speeches for the president to deliver. President Dwight Eisenhower could not ... More

This chapter discusses Operation Candor and peace in Korea. Operation Candor tried to develop a speech or a series of speeches for the president to deliver. President Dwight Eisenhower could not publicly discuss Operation Candor and its goals due to the possible eliciting of excessive fear, and was promoting his defensive vision of permanent security against a perpetual threat by employing the language of liberal internationalism. In addition, he depended on “The Chance for Peace” speech's image of peace through negotiations in order to make his appeal persuasive. In early August, the president asserted “two precious victories” in Korea. If the poor of Korea and the world did not trust liberal capitalism to raise their standard of living, they would turn to communism, and peace, by Eisenhower's definition, would thereafter be impossible.Less

The New Look and “Atoms for Peace”

in Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity

This chapter concentrates on one great speech, “Atoms for Peace.” The so-called New Look in the U.S. approach to the world was determined by new economic, political, geopolitical, and military ... More

This chapter concentrates on one great speech, “Atoms for Peace.” The so-called New Look in the U.S. approach to the world was determined by new economic, political, geopolitical, and military realities, and was also the strategy and discourse of apocalypse management. Its policies would preserve the discourse of national insecurity, and its most conspicuous characteristic was nuclearization of military policy. To attain its strategic goals, the New Look depended on its linguistic promise of “massive retaliation.” It is noted that the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower was gearing up to its most famous image of cooperation—“Atoms for Peace”—while the New Look was being developed. The speech, which was born from the unforeseen conjunction of the New Look and Operation Candor, had to aim at evoking greater cold war fear at home while keeping that fear at a controlled level because it had came out of Operation Candor.Less

Why Listening?

Andrew Dobson

in Listening for Democracy: Recognition, Representation, Reconciliation

This chapter locates ‘listening’ in contemporary democratic theory by looking at the rise of ‘sensory’ democracy and of non-ideal democratic theorizing. The somewhat pessimistic tenor of some recent ... More

This chapter locates ‘listening’ in contemporary democratic theory by looking at the rise of ‘sensory’ democracy and of non-ideal democratic theorizing. The somewhat pessimistic tenor of some recent democratic theory is rejected in favour of the argument that listening can renew democratic theory and practice. The relationship between listening and power is discussed, with listening regarded as an active rather than a passive sense. Jeffrey Green’s idea of ‘candour’ as a regulative idea is critically discussed and the idea of ‘dialogic democracy’ is introduced. Finally, a ‘species-based’ reason for why listening as concept and practice has been so studiously ignored by political theorists is offered. Aristotle’s claim that ‘man’ is a political animal, and that what makes him political is his capacity for speech, has had an enduring influence on how we conceive the currency of political intercourse. Listening changes the nature of this currency and therefore our understanding of politics itself.Less

The Serial Style and Beyond: From the Little Review to Shakespeare and Company

Clare Hutton

in Serial Encounters: Ulysses and the Little Review

This chapter argues that the specific text of Ulysses as published in the Little Review is of critical interest. It looks at the style and nature of Ulysses as a serial and gives an initial account ... More

This chapter argues that the specific text of Ulysses as published in the Little Review is of critical interest. It looks at the style and nature of Ulysses as a serial and gives an initial account of the ways in which Joyce changed the serial text for the volume version of February 1922. Digital resources have transformed the possibility of studying textual variation, and an early section in the chapter looks at those transformations and focuses, in particular, on the significance of word counts as a key for understanding how Joyce’s text changed. Dushan Popovich, printer of the Little Review, and the first typographer to face the challenge of typesetting Joyce’s challenging text, is discussed in some detail. Pound disliked Joyce’s candour, and the various revisions which he imposed on the serial text are reviewed here. So too are the various ways in which Joyce subsequently revised his text for publication in volume form.Less

Secrets vs. Lies: Is There a Moral Asymmetry?

James Edwin Mahon

in Lying: Language, Knowledge, Ethics, and Politics

The traditional way of stating the common view of the moral asymmetry between keeping secrets and lying is that keeping secrets is prima facie morally permissible, whereas lying is prima facie ... More

The traditional way of stating the common view of the moral asymmetry between keeping secrets and lying is that keeping secrets is prima facie morally permissible, whereas lying is prima facie morally wrong. This chapter argues that the correct way of stating the common view is that both keeping secrets and lying are prima facie morally wrong, but lying is worse than keeping secrets, all things being equal. The author draws upon the work of Thomas Nagel and compares candor, non-acknowledgment, informativeness, and reticence with secrecy, and compares secrecy with deception and lying. It is argued that keeping secrets must be distinguished from being reticent, and that understood this way, it is clear that it is prima facie wrong to keep secrets. Having the correct way of stating the common view of the moral asymmetry between keeping secrets and lying will allow us to evaluate the common view.Less

Neutral Principles or “Objective” Standards: Their Relevance and Attainability

Kent Greenawalt

in Interpreting the Constitution

Given the multiplicity and complexity of standards of possible interpretation, is it possible to attain neutral principles or objective standards? For this inquiry, one can focus on what judges write ... More

Given the multiplicity and complexity of standards of possible interpretation, is it possible to attain neutral principles or objective standards? For this inquiry, one can focus on what judges write in their opinions, their likely actual bases for determination, or what one might ideally do with a particular legal conflict. Since Justices within a majority typically afford considerations somewhat different weight, it is impossible for even a majority opinion that is as accurate as possible to capture exactly what all those joining the opinion rely upon. If one asks about the possibility of a neutral or objective approach for a single, completely candid Justice, the reality that considerations carry different weight in different contexts undermines a successful general formulation. Lying in the background is the disagreement over whether, unlike factual judgments, difficult moral and political judgments have objective answers.Less