Uwe Steinhoff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547807
- eISBN:
- 9780191720758
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547807.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an “emphatical”, “uncurtailed” conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called ...
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Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an “emphatical”, “uncurtailed” conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called scientism (which would include critical rationalism and the greater part of analytical philosophy) on the other. His objection to the former is that it is self-contradictory and politically defeatist; his objection to the latter is that, thanks to a standard of rationality derived from the natural sciences or from Weber's concept of purposive rationality, it leaves normative questions to irrational decisions. Wishing to offer an alternative, Habermas tries to develop a theory of communicative action that can clarify the normative foundations of a critical theory of society as well as provide a fruitful theoretical framework for empirical social research. This study is a comprehensive and detailed analysis and a sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system starting with his pragmatist turn in the seventies. It clearly and precisely depicts its long path from an analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state via the theory of communicative action, discourse ethics, and the attempts to apply the approach to, and support it with, empirical theories.Less
Jürgen Habermas seeks to defend the Enlightenment and with it an “emphatical”, “uncurtailed” conception of reason against the post-modern critique of reason on the one hand, and against so-called scientism (which would include critical rationalism and the greater part of analytical philosophy) on the other. His objection to the former is that it is self-contradictory and politically defeatist; his objection to the latter is that, thanks to a standard of rationality derived from the natural sciences or from Weber's concept of purposive rationality, it leaves normative questions to irrational decisions. Wishing to offer an alternative, Habermas tries to develop a theory of communicative action that can clarify the normative foundations of a critical theory of society as well as provide a fruitful theoretical framework for empirical social research. This study is a comprehensive and detailed analysis and a sustained critique of Habermas' philosophical system starting with his pragmatist turn in the seventies. It clearly and precisely depicts its long path from an analysis of speech acts to a discourse theory of law and the democratic constitutional state via the theory of communicative action, discourse ethics, and the attempts to apply the approach to, and support it with, empirical theories.
Uwe Steinhoff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547807
- eISBN:
- 9780191720758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547807.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
The results are summarised along with further critical comments on Habermas' methodology.
The results are summarised along with further critical comments on Habermas' methodology.
Cécile Laborde
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199550210
- eISBN:
- 9780191720857
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199550210.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, European Union, Political Theory
Chapter 1 offers an overall presentation of the critical republican approach and an overview of the book. It situates the French republican tradition in relation to contemporary Anglophone political ...
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Chapter 1 offers an overall presentation of the critical republican approach and an overview of the book. It situates the French republican tradition in relation to contemporary Anglophone political philosophy and argues that normative engagement with the hijab controversy requires proper interpretation of the pivotal concept of laïcité. It then introduces the opposite arguments of official and tolerant republicans, and suggests that only a critical republicanism can successfully combine critical social theory and normative political theory. It does so, notably, by taking seriously the way in which dominating social norms in existing societies affect the status of citizenship of members of minorities. It argues that the republican ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity are best pursued through politics of non-domination rather than through politics of recognition, which asserts the positive value of cultural and religious difference. The hijab ban is shown to be incompatible with republican non-domination.Less
Chapter 1 offers an overall presentation of the critical republican approach and an overview of the book. It situates the French republican tradition in relation to contemporary Anglophone political philosophy and argues that normative engagement with the hijab controversy requires proper interpretation of the pivotal concept of laïcité. It then introduces the opposite arguments of official and tolerant republicans, and suggests that only a critical republicanism can successfully combine critical social theory and normative political theory. It does so, notably, by taking seriously the way in which dominating social norms in existing societies affect the status of citizenship of members of minorities. It argues that the republican ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity are best pursued through politics of non-domination rather than through politics of recognition, which asserts the positive value of cultural and religious difference. The hijab ban is shown to be incompatible with republican non-domination.
Andrew Vincent
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199271252
- eISBN:
- 9780191601101
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199271259.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, ...
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Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, which does not succumb to postmodern or conventionalist critique. The linking element underpinning all these discussions is the focus on language and dialogue as the central facets of political theory. This chapter examines the inception of critical theory and then provides a detailed review of the contribution of Habermas to contemporary political theory.Less
Examines the intellectual context of the works of Jürgen Habermas and Hans‐Georg Gadamer. Both thinkers successfully utilize language and dialogue to develop a viable perspective on political theory, which does not succumb to postmodern or conventionalist critique. The linking element underpinning all these discussions is the focus on language and dialogue as the central facets of political theory. This chapter examines the inception of critical theory and then provides a detailed review of the contribution of Habermas to contemporary political theory.
John S. Dryzek
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250431
- eISBN:
- 9780191717253
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019925043X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer ...
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Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer association with the institutions of the liberal state. As an alternative, this chapter lays the foundations for an account of discursive democracy grounded in a critical theory of communicative action.Less
Recounts the roots of the deliberative turn in democratic theory in liberalism and critical theory. Losing sight of its critical theory origins, deliberative democracy gains an ever‐closer association with the institutions of the liberal state. As an alternative, this chapter lays the foundations for an account of discursive democracy grounded in a critical theory of communicative action.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242641
- eISBN:
- 9780191599255
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/019924264X.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter examines the renewed interest in the role of ideas, language and discourse in policy studies. Distinguishing postempiricist from mainstream perspectives, the discussion sets the stage ...
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This chapter examines the renewed interest in the role of ideas, language and discourse in policy studies. Distinguishing postempiricist from mainstream perspectives, the discussion sets the stage for a more detailed presentation of the discourse–analytic approach and the deliberative practices to which it gives rise. There are seven main sections: Reconsidering Ideas; Beyond Self-Interest: Ideas Matter; Neo-Institutionalism and Policy Ideas (neo-institutionalism is defined as a theoretical orientation that has focused on the evolutionary relationship of ideas and norms to institutional practices); Policy Communities, Issue Networks, and Learning –– the studies discussed include Heclo’s (1978) seminal conceptualization of issue networks, and the work of Haas (1992) on policy communities and networks; Critical Theory: Distorted Communication and Discursive Ideals –– this looks at the critical theory of Habermas, which supplies a normative ideal for communication and argumentation; Discourse of Power V this looks at Foucault’s focus on the role of discourses as they have functioned in specific historical contexts; and Postempiricism as Discursive Policy Inquiry.Less
This chapter examines the renewed interest in the role of ideas, language and discourse in policy studies. Distinguishing postempiricist from mainstream perspectives, the discussion sets the stage for a more detailed presentation of the discourse–analytic approach and the deliberative practices to which it gives rise. There are seven main sections: Reconsidering Ideas; Beyond Self-Interest: Ideas Matter; Neo-Institutionalism and Policy Ideas (neo-institutionalism is defined as a theoretical orientation that has focused on the evolutionary relationship of ideas and norms to institutional practices); Policy Communities, Issue Networks, and Learning –– the studies discussed include Heclo’s (1978) seminal conceptualization of issue networks, and the work of Haas (1992) on policy communities and networks; Critical Theory: Distorted Communication and Discursive Ideals –– this looks at the critical theory of Habermas, which supplies a normative ideal for communication and argumentation; Discourse of Power V this looks at Foucault’s focus on the role of discourses as they have functioned in specific historical contexts; and Postempiricism as Discursive Policy Inquiry.
Uwe Steinhoff
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199547807
- eISBN:
- 9780191720758
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199547807.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
The chapter provides a detailed description and critical discussion of Habermas' attempts to make the theory of communicative action and discourse ethics fruitful beyond the narrower moral and ...
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The chapter provides a detailed description and critical discussion of Habermas' attempts to make the theory of communicative action and discourse ethics fruitful beyond the narrower moral and ethical realm and, conversely, to find confirmation for it in empirical theories. Habermas refers to the research areas of psychology and social evolution and to political and sociological issues around which the “Critical Theory of Society” is to take concrete form. Concerning psychology, he develops or adopts theories of ego-development, moral development and “communication pathologies”. As it concerns social evolution he proposes theories of hominisation and socio-cultural evolution. In dealing with the political and sociological issues he is most productive, offering a theory of social order, his famous colonialisation thesis, his discourse theory of law and the constitutional state, and his theory of modernity.Less
The chapter provides a detailed description and critical discussion of Habermas' attempts to make the theory of communicative action and discourse ethics fruitful beyond the narrower moral and ethical realm and, conversely, to find confirmation for it in empirical theories. Habermas refers to the research areas of psychology and social evolution and to political and sociological issues around which the “Critical Theory of Society” is to take concrete form. Concerning psychology, he develops or adopts theories of ego-development, moral development and “communication pathologies”. As it concerns social evolution he proposes theories of hominisation and socio-cultural evolution. In dealing with the political and sociological issues he is most productive, offering a theory of social order, his famous colonialisation thesis, his discourse theory of law and the constitutional state, and his theory of modernity.
Shelley Burtt
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199242689
- eISBN:
- 9780191598715
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199242682.003.0013
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The ’new familists’ argue that sociological evidence on the relation between traditional two‐parent nuclear family and positive outcomes for their children justifies public‐policy measures aimed at ...
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The ’new familists’ argue that sociological evidence on the relation between traditional two‐parent nuclear family and positive outcomes for their children justifies public‐policy measures aimed at promoting this type of family. But the success of such families is due to the fact that many other institutional arrangements advantage this type of family. Such a family typically involves a sexist division of domestic labour. A ’critical theory of family structure’ identifies the developmental needs of children and examines the ways in which various family structures can function to meet these needs.Less
The ’new familists’ argue that sociological evidence on the relation between traditional two‐parent nuclear family and positive outcomes for their children justifies public‐policy measures aimed at promoting this type of family. But the success of such families is due to the fact that many other institutional arrangements advantage this type of family. Such a family typically involves a sexist division of domestic labour. A ’critical theory of family structure’ identifies the developmental needs of children and examines the ways in which various family structures can function to meet these needs.
Michael Patrick Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333527
- eISBN:
- 9780199868896
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333527.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
In addition to laying out a general groundwork for the Catholic imagination as a critical lens—and suggesting a variety of ways that the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar aids critics in articulating ...
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In addition to laying out a general groundwork for the Catholic imagination as a critical lens—and suggesting a variety of ways that the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar aids critics in articulating such a theological vision—the chapter also attempts to locate the particular phenomena of postmodernism and deconstruction within the intersection of theology and narrative art. Balthasar anticipates the tendency of current critical theory to privilege and emphasize the amorphous breadth of both linguistic and cultural expression; and he anticipates the critical tension between those who read Catholicism as theological truth and those that might read Catholicism as a “fluctuating signifier,” as a cultural and/or literary text. Under this general theme, a dialog is opened with such diverse critics as William Lynch, Paul Giles, Michel De Certeau, and Jacques Derrida. Like them, Balthasar's theology plots a route for appreciating the aesthetic complexity and theological possibility of a broadly canvassed intertextuality and interdisciplinarity. However, Balthasar's program also defends the critical uniqueness of certain theological commitments (e.g., the transcendentals, the Incarnation, and the trinitarian structure of being) and looks to the arts to demonstrate the formal expression and aesthetic span of these phenomena. The chapter concludes with the proposition that it is the recognition of these essential questions that both challenge and aid the articulation of a Catholic imagination and that a turn to representative work in literature, poetry, and film will aid in such an articulation.Less
In addition to laying out a general groundwork for the Catholic imagination as a critical lens—and suggesting a variety of ways that the work of Hans Urs von Balthasar aids critics in articulating such a theological vision—the chapter also attempts to locate the particular phenomena of postmodernism and deconstruction within the intersection of theology and narrative art. Balthasar anticipates the tendency of current critical theory to privilege and emphasize the amorphous breadth of both linguistic and cultural expression; and he anticipates the critical tension between those who read Catholicism as theological truth and those that might read Catholicism as a “fluctuating signifier,” as a cultural and/or literary text. Under this general theme, a dialog is opened with such diverse critics as William Lynch, Paul Giles, Michel De Certeau, and Jacques Derrida. Like them, Balthasar's theology plots a route for appreciating the aesthetic complexity and theological possibility of a broadly canvassed intertextuality and interdisciplinarity. However, Balthasar's program also defends the critical uniqueness of certain theological commitments (e.g., the transcendentals, the Incarnation, and the trinitarian structure of being) and looks to the arts to demonstrate the formal expression and aesthetic span of these phenomena. The chapter concludes with the proposition that it is the recognition of these essential questions that both challenge and aid the articulation of a Catholic imagination and that a turn to representative work in literature, poetry, and film will aid in such an articulation.
Howard Felperin
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198122654
- eISBN:
- 9780191671517
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198122654.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The critical school of ‘new historicism’ is very much at the centre of contemporary debates on literary studies and theory. Much ‘new historicist’ writing has focused ...
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The critical school of ‘new historicism’ is very much at the centre of contemporary debates on literary studies and theory. Much ‘new historicist’ writing has focused on Renaissance texts, and this book is a timely exploration of that connection and its significance for ‘English’ as a whole. This book subjects many of the most challenging claims of ‘new historicism’ to rigorous analysis, distinguishes sharply between its American and British versions, and probes the causes and consequences of its politicization of literary studies. The philosophical as well as political issues central to current debates are examined and the uses served by the canonical texts at their centre analysed within a broad cultural and historical perspective. This searching reconsideration of contemporary critical theory and practice yields fresh readings of a number of classic texts — including those of William Shakespeare's Sonnets, Thomas More's Utopia, John Donne's poetry, and Robert Conrad's Heart of Darkness — as well as a deepened understanding of the complex and changing functions of the canon itself.Less
The critical school of ‘new historicism’ is very much at the centre of contemporary debates on literary studies and theory. Much ‘new historicist’ writing has focused on Renaissance texts, and this book is a timely exploration of that connection and its significance for ‘English’ as a whole. This book subjects many of the most challenging claims of ‘new historicism’ to rigorous analysis, distinguishes sharply between its American and British versions, and probes the causes and consequences of its politicization of literary studies. The philosophical as well as political issues central to current debates are examined and the uses served by the canonical texts at their centre analysed within a broad cultural and historical perspective. This searching reconsideration of contemporary critical theory and practice yields fresh readings of a number of classic texts — including those of William Shakespeare's Sonnets, Thomas More's Utopia, John Donne's poetry, and Robert Conrad's Heart of Darkness — as well as a deepened understanding of the complex and changing functions of the canon itself.
Dana Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195137699
- eISBN:
- 9780199787937
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195137699.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
In the academy, the so-called Science Wars of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were waged largely by those on the left who were interested in the theories and findings of the several disciplines in which ...
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In the academy, the so-called Science Wars of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were waged largely by those on the left who were interested in the theories and findings of the several disciplines in which historical, philosophical, political, and sociological science studies are pursued. These radical critics equated scientific knowledge with power, but made an exception for ecology, which they saw as utopian because they too readily accepted the popular view of ecology as holistic and communitarian, and therefore as radically unlike physics, which has long set the standard for reductive and mechanistic views of nature as well as for objectivity and certainty. Radical critics of science have no faith in the latter, believing instead in the social construction of scientific knowledge, and asserting that the goal of most scientific research and experimentation is the domination of nature. Their confidence in theories of social construction leads them to treat science as just one form of discourse among others, and to dismiss disciplines like sociobiology and genetics as politically suspect. But many of these critics of science — who are variously influenced by Critical Theory, cultural studies, ecofeminism, and so-called social ecology — seem blithely to accept sociological determinism (which would appear to be just as onerous as any other form of determinism) and seem to misunderstand scientific realism, which is a realism not about theories or “discourses” but about entities which cannot be understood as mere effects of meaning or artifacts of signification.Less
In the academy, the so-called Science Wars of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were waged largely by those on the left who were interested in the theories and findings of the several disciplines in which historical, philosophical, political, and sociological science studies are pursued. These radical critics equated scientific knowledge with power, but made an exception for ecology, which they saw as utopian because they too readily accepted the popular view of ecology as holistic and communitarian, and therefore as radically unlike physics, which has long set the standard for reductive and mechanistic views of nature as well as for objectivity and certainty. Radical critics of science have no faith in the latter, believing instead in the social construction of scientific knowledge, and asserting that the goal of most scientific research and experimentation is the domination of nature. Their confidence in theories of social construction leads them to treat science as just one form of discourse among others, and to dismiss disciplines like sociobiology and genetics as politically suspect. But many of these critics of science — who are variously influenced by Critical Theory, cultural studies, ecofeminism, and so-called social ecology — seem blithely to accept sociological determinism (which would appear to be just as onerous as any other form of determinism) and seem to misunderstand scientific realism, which is a realism not about theories or “discourses” but about entities which cannot be understood as mere effects of meaning or artifacts of signification.
Carl Raschke
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231173841
- eISBN:
- 9780231539623
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231173841.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
For theorists in search of a political theology that is more responsive to the challenges now facing Western democracies, this book tenders a new political economy anchored in a theory of value. The ...
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For theorists in search of a political theology that is more responsive to the challenges now facing Western democracies, this book tenders a new political economy anchored in a theory of value. The political theology of the future, Carl Raschke argues, must draw on a powerful, hidden impetus—the “force of God”—to frame a new value economy. It must also embrace a radical, “faith-based” revolutionary style of theory that reconceives the power of the “theological” in political thought and action. Raschke ties democracy’s retreat to the West’s failure to confront its decadence and mobilize its vast spiritual resources. Worsening debt, rising unemployment, and gross income inequality have led to a crisis in political representation and values that twentieth-century theorists never anticipated. Drawing on the thought of Hegel and Nietzsche as well as recent work by Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Joseph Goux, Giorgio Agamben, and Alain Badiou, among others, Raschke recasts political theology for a new generation. He proposes a bold, uncompromising critical theory that acknowledges the enduring significance of Marx without his materialism and builds a vital, more spiritually grounded relationship between politics and the religious imaginary.Less
For theorists in search of a political theology that is more responsive to the challenges now facing Western democracies, this book tenders a new political economy anchored in a theory of value. The political theology of the future, Carl Raschke argues, must draw on a powerful, hidden impetus—the “force of God”—to frame a new value economy. It must also embrace a radical, “faith-based” revolutionary style of theory that reconceives the power of the “theological” in political thought and action. Raschke ties democracy’s retreat to the West’s failure to confront its decadence and mobilize its vast spiritual resources. Worsening debt, rising unemployment, and gross income inequality have led to a crisis in political representation and values that twentieth-century theorists never anticipated. Drawing on the thought of Hegel and Nietzsche as well as recent work by Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Jean-Joseph Goux, Giorgio Agamben, and Alain Badiou, among others, Raschke recasts political theology for a new generation. He proposes a bold, uncompromising critical theory that acknowledges the enduring significance of Marx without his materialism and builds a vital, more spiritually grounded relationship between politics and the religious imaginary.
Samuel A. Chambers
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199927210
- eISBN:
- 9780199980529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199927210.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory, Democratization
Rancière has never made the question of critical theory his explicit focus, but this chapter traces an important thread concerning this question—a thread that runs across the entirety of Rancière's ...
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Rancière has never made the question of critical theory his explicit focus, but this chapter traces an important thread concerning this question—a thread that runs across the entirety of Rancière's writings, from his earliest publication in 1965 in the famous seminar of Louis Althusser. The chapter shows how Rancière begins with a notion of critique that rests on the traditional logic of inversion, in which a false appearance is unmasked to locate the true essence underneath. However, Rancière soon comes to reject this logic of inversion (despite sometimes falling back on it himself), and in recent writings he has pointed toward the possibility of a new critical dispositif that does not rely on inversion. This chapter pushes this line of argument far beyond where Rancière has taken it, making the case for a new critical dispositif that rejects inversion and links up with Rancière's radical pedagogy.Less
Rancière has never made the question of critical theory his explicit focus, but this chapter traces an important thread concerning this question—a thread that runs across the entirety of Rancière's writings, from his earliest publication in 1965 in the famous seminar of Louis Althusser. The chapter shows how Rancière begins with a notion of critique that rests on the traditional logic of inversion, in which a false appearance is unmasked to locate the true essence underneath. However, Rancière soon comes to reject this logic of inversion (despite sometimes falling back on it himself), and in recent writings he has pointed toward the possibility of a new critical dispositif that does not rely on inversion. This chapter pushes this line of argument far beyond where Rancière has taken it, making the case for a new critical dispositif that rejects inversion and links up with Rancière's radical pedagogy.
Samuel A. Chambers
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199927210
- eISBN:
- 9780199980529
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199927210.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory, Democratization
“Liberal democracy” is the name given to a regime that much of the world lives in or aspires to, and both liberal and deliberative theorists focus much of their intellectual energy on working to ...
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“Liberal democracy” is the name given to a regime that much of the world lives in or aspires to, and both liberal and deliberative theorists focus much of their intellectual energy on working to reshape and perfect this regime. But what if “liberal democracy” were a contradiction in terms? Taking up Jacques Rancière’s polemical claim that democracy is not a regime, Samuel Chambers argues that liberalism and democracy are not complements, but competing forces. By way of the most in-depth and rigorous treatment of Rancière’s writings to date, this book seeks to disentangle democracy from liberalism. Liberalism is a logic of order and hierarchy, of the proper distribution of responsibilities and rights, whereas democratic politics follows a logic of disordering that challenges and disrupts any claims that the allocation of roles could be complete. This book resists the tendency to collapse democracy into the broader terms of liberalism, by defending a vision of “impure” politics. chambers shows that there is no sphere proper to politics, no protected political domain. The job of political theory is therefore not to say what is required in order for politics to occur, not to develop ideal “normative” models of politics, and not even to create new political ontologies. Instead, political theory is itself an enactment of politics in Rancière’s sense of dissensus: politics thwarts any social order of domination. The book explores the possibility of a critical theory beyond unmasking and a democratic politics beyond liberalism.Less
“Liberal democracy” is the name given to a regime that much of the world lives in or aspires to, and both liberal and deliberative theorists focus much of their intellectual energy on working to reshape and perfect this regime. But what if “liberal democracy” were a contradiction in terms? Taking up Jacques Rancière’s polemical claim that democracy is not a regime, Samuel Chambers argues that liberalism and democracy are not complements, but competing forces. By way of the most in-depth and rigorous treatment of Rancière’s writings to date, this book seeks to disentangle democracy from liberalism. Liberalism is a logic of order and hierarchy, of the proper distribution of responsibilities and rights, whereas democratic politics follows a logic of disordering that challenges and disrupts any claims that the allocation of roles could be complete. This book resists the tendency to collapse democracy into the broader terms of liberalism, by defending a vision of “impure” politics. chambers shows that there is no sphere proper to politics, no protected political domain. The job of political theory is therefore not to say what is required in order for politics to occur, not to develop ideal “normative” models of politics, and not even to create new political ontologies. Instead, political theory is itself an enactment of politics in Rancière’s sense of dissensus: politics thwarts any social order of domination. The book explores the possibility of a critical theory beyond unmasking and a democratic politics beyond liberalism.
Michael P. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195333527
- eISBN:
- 9780199868896
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195333527.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
The turn of the millennium has brought with it a vigorous revival in the interdisciplinary study of theology and art. The notion of a Catholic imagination, however, as a specific category of ...
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The turn of the millennium has brought with it a vigorous revival in the interdisciplinary study of theology and art. The notion of a Catholic imagination, however, as a specific category of aesthetics, lacks thematic and theological coherence. More often, the idea of a Catholic imagination functions at this time as a deeply felt intuition about the organic connections that exist among theological insights, cultural background, and literary expression. The book explores the many ways that the theological work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) provides the model, content, and optic for demonstrating the credibility and range of a Catholic imagination. Since Balthasar views arts and literatures precisely as theologies, the book surveys a broad array of poetry, drama, fiction, and film and sets these readings against the central aspects of Balthasar's theological program. A major consequence of this study is the recovery of the legitimate place of a distinct “theological imagination” in the critical study of literary and narrative art. The book also argues that Balthasar's voice both complements and challenges contemporary critical theory and contends that postmodern interpretive methodology, with its careful critique of entrenched philosophical assumptions and reiterated codes of meaning, is not the threat to theological meaning that many fear. On the contrary, postmodernism can provide both literary critics and theologians alike with the tools that assess, challenge, and celebrate the theological imagination as it is depicted in literary art today.Less
The turn of the millennium has brought with it a vigorous revival in the interdisciplinary study of theology and art. The notion of a Catholic imagination, however, as a specific category of aesthetics, lacks thematic and theological coherence. More often, the idea of a Catholic imagination functions at this time as a deeply felt intuition about the organic connections that exist among theological insights, cultural background, and literary expression. The book explores the many ways that the theological work of Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988) provides the model, content, and optic for demonstrating the credibility and range of a Catholic imagination. Since Balthasar views arts and literatures precisely as theologies, the book surveys a broad array of poetry, drama, fiction, and film and sets these readings against the central aspects of Balthasar's theological program. A major consequence of this study is the recovery of the legitimate place of a distinct “theological imagination” in the critical study of literary and narrative art. The book also argues that Balthasar's voice both complements and challenges contemporary critical theory and contends that postmodern interpretive methodology, with its careful critique of entrenched philosophical assumptions and reiterated codes of meaning, is not the threat to theological meaning that many fear. On the contrary, postmodernism can provide both literary critics and theologians alike with the tools that assess, challenge, and celebrate the theological imagination as it is depicted in literary art today.
David Johnson
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183150
- eISBN:
- 9780191673955
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183150.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This chapter deals with Shakespeare criticism and radical critical theory and explores how this radical theory has travelled to South Africa in the last 25 years. It is based on the conviction that ...
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This chapter deals with Shakespeare criticism and radical critical theory and explores how this radical theory has travelled to South Africa in the last 25 years. It is based on the conviction that this criticism represents an interesting departure from previous formulations of English literature's social function. Two key essays from U.S.-based academics have been particularly influential. The first is Edward Said's ‘Traveling Theory’ and the second is Adrienne Rich's ‘Notes toward a Politics of Location’. The chapter also introduces an analysis associated with Roland Barthes's famous essay ‘The Death of the Author’. Much of the credit for adding scare quotes to the name ‘Shakespeare’ can be given to Barthes's essay, with William Shakespeare, the most authorised of all authors, placed under fresh critical scrutiny in the light of Barthe's attempted murder.Less
This chapter deals with Shakespeare criticism and radical critical theory and explores how this radical theory has travelled to South Africa in the last 25 years. It is based on the conviction that this criticism represents an interesting departure from previous formulations of English literature's social function. Two key essays from U.S.-based academics have been particularly influential. The first is Edward Said's ‘Traveling Theory’ and the second is Adrienne Rich's ‘Notes toward a Politics of Location’. The chapter also introduces an analysis associated with Roland Barthes's famous essay ‘The Death of the Author’. Much of the credit for adding scare quotes to the name ‘Shakespeare’ can be given to Barthes's essay, with William Shakespeare, the most authorised of all authors, placed under fresh critical scrutiny in the light of Barthe's attempted murder.
Sally Haslanger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199892631
- eISBN:
- 9780199980055
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199892631.003.0000
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
This chapter introduces the main themes of the book and provides summaries of background ideas in feminist theory and analytic philosophy that are helpful for understanding the material that follows. ...
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This chapter introduces the main themes of the book and provides summaries of background ideas in feminist theory and analytic philosophy that are helpful for understanding the material that follows. Discussions cover issues concerning the sex/gender distinction, externalism in philosophy of language, the methodological aims of critical social theory, and feminist epistemology with an eye to showing how feminist theory contributes to and draws upon debates in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and related areas of analytic philosophy.Less
This chapter introduces the main themes of the book and provides summaries of background ideas in feminist theory and analytic philosophy that are helpful for understanding the material that follows. Discussions cover issues concerning the sex/gender distinction, externalism in philosophy of language, the methodological aims of critical social theory, and feminist epistemology with an eye to showing how feminist theory contributes to and draws upon debates in metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and related areas of analytic philosophy.
Shai Ginsburg, Martin Land, and Jonathan Boyarin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780823282005
- eISBN:
- 9780823284795
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823282005.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Judaism
This introductory chapter discusses the intersections of the terms Jews, theory, and ends. These intersections have informed strategies of scholarly and intellectual engagements with society, ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the intersections of the terms Jews, theory, and ends. These intersections have informed strategies of scholarly and intellectual engagements with society, culture, history, and politics that informed the “human sciences” in Western and Central Europe and North America. Often, such strategies came to be grouped together under the monikers criticism, theory, or, at times, critical theory. The chapter then considers the question of Jewishness in relation to critical theory. Tracing the spectral figure of the Jew in theory, the chapters put forward “spectral reading,” one that entails appellation: identification and naming. In light of the great catastrophes that have befallen Jews, which were often accompanied by the endeavor to extricate culture from the figure of the Jew and the Jewishness of the figure, spectral reading has often been an endeavor to excavate traces of a past that cannot be thought of but under the sign of violence.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the intersections of the terms Jews, theory, and ends. These intersections have informed strategies of scholarly and intellectual engagements with society, culture, history, and politics that informed the “human sciences” in Western and Central Europe and North America. Often, such strategies came to be grouped together under the monikers criticism, theory, or, at times, critical theory. The chapter then considers the question of Jewishness in relation to critical theory. Tracing the spectral figure of the Jew in theory, the chapters put forward “spectral reading,” one that entails appellation: identification and naming. In light of the great catastrophes that have befallen Jews, which were often accompanied by the endeavor to extricate culture from the figure of the Jew and the Jewishness of the figure, spectral reading has often been an endeavor to excavate traces of a past that cannot be thought of but under the sign of violence.
Daniel J. Levine
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199916061
- eISBN:
- 9780199980246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199916061.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
How does sustainable critique differ from other appropriations of Frankfurt school social theory—the focus of “third” and “fourth” debate—into IR? The answer lies in differentiating the work of ...
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How does sustainable critique differ from other appropriations of Frankfurt school social theory—the focus of “third” and “fourth” debate—into IR? The answer lies in differentiating the work of contemporary Frankfurt school theorists, in particular Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth, from that of their predecessors: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse. I argue that IR has been too quick to dismiss these earlier scholars. Building on Max Weber’s notion of a constellation and Graham Allison’s classic Essence of Decision, I suggest a basis for their re-consideration.Less
How does sustainable critique differ from other appropriations of Frankfurt school social theory—the focus of “third” and “fourth” debate—into IR? The answer lies in differentiating the work of contemporary Frankfurt school theorists, in particular Jürgen Habermas and Axel Honneth, from that of their predecessors: Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse. I argue that IR has been too quick to dismiss these earlier scholars. Building on Max Weber’s notion of a constellation and Graham Allison’s classic Essence of Decision, I suggest a basis for their re-consideration.
Michael O. Emerson and George Yancey
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199742684
- eISBN:
- 9780199943388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199742684.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Race and Ethnicity
For the scholars who disagree with the solutions put forward in the previous chapter, it is whites who must dismantle the racialized society. But since the majority group benefits from the racialized ...
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For the scholars who disagree with the solutions put forward in the previous chapter, it is whites who must dismantle the racialized society. But since the majority group benefits from the racialized society, why would it be willing to work against its own racial advantage? From a utilitarian premise, no real reason exists for individuals in the majority group to want change the racial status quo. Another persistent problem for those advocating majority-group obligations is that past racial discrimination was quite blatant and easy to see. Advocates of racial solutions that emphasize majority-group obligations appeal to racial justice as a holistic approach for racial healing and thus a necessary component in solving the problems of racial alienation. This chapter explores racial justice and its importance in eliminating racism in the United States. It also discusses the concept of white responsibility, antiracism, the deconstruction of whiteness, reparations, critical race theory, multiculturalism, Marxism, and Cornel West's book entitled Race Matters (2001).Less
For the scholars who disagree with the solutions put forward in the previous chapter, it is whites who must dismantle the racialized society. But since the majority group benefits from the racialized society, why would it be willing to work against its own racial advantage? From a utilitarian premise, no real reason exists for individuals in the majority group to want change the racial status quo. Another persistent problem for those advocating majority-group obligations is that past racial discrimination was quite blatant and easy to see. Advocates of racial solutions that emphasize majority-group obligations appeal to racial justice as a holistic approach for racial healing and thus a necessary component in solving the problems of racial alienation. This chapter explores racial justice and its importance in eliminating racism in the United States. It also discusses the concept of white responsibility, antiracism, the deconstruction of whiteness, reparations, critical race theory, multiculturalism, Marxism, and Cornel West's book entitled Race Matters (2001).
