Emeğin Hayal Gücü ve Aklın Hükmü: Burjuva Düşüncesinin Politik Metafiziği Üzerine Bir Tartışma
The Imagination of Labor and the Rule of Reason: A Discussion on the Political Metaphysics of Bourgeois Thought

Summary/Abstract: It is possible to speak of a political metaphysics based on certain ahistorical conclusions regarding the political existence of labour, its relationship with social order and its ontology in political and social theory. This metaphysics has exerted an enduring influence from its formulation in ancient thought to the present day and is characterised by the attribution of a negative and destructive nature to the collective political agency of labour. In this study, the aforementioned political metaphysics is defined and discussed through its manifestations in 18th century bourgeois political thought. The discussion is conducted through a critical evaluation of some texts related to the subject by Edmund Burke and Adam Smith, who can be considered representative examples in this regard, and the contemporary literature related to them. The study posits the argument that bourgeois thought's political metaphysics of labour is essentially a metaphysics of social order based on the opposition between reason and imagination, which subjects people's imaginary powers to class division.

• Details
• Contents