Sheer Life Revolting: The Concept of Life and Its Political Meaning in Spinoza, Agamben, and Butler

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2008

By virtue of expression intrinsic to it, Spinozian conatus of self-preservation can be defined as intensive whereas the latter, i.e., intensity, is defined by infinity (Deleuze 1990). In accordance with the immanence that defines it (the conatus of infinity), self-preservation is transgressive or hubristic. Namely, if human “appetite” consists in the necessary tendency toward an infinite power of existence, and if infinity bears the mark of – or gives mark to, i.e., defines – immortality (or godlike existence), we can conclude that human essence is hubristic. It is an inherent tendency of the finite being, always already participating in the Infinity, to endlessly increase its Desire (Spinoza’s “conscious emotion”) for perfection of life, that is, for a life that offers as complete and as undisturbed as possible state of pleasure.

Бунтот на голиот живот: Концептот за животот и неговото политичко значење кај Спиноза, Агамбен и Батлер

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova / Language(s): Macedonian Issue: 1-2/2008

By virtue of expression intrinsic to it, Spinozian conatus of self-preservation can be defined as intensive whereas the latter, i.e., intensity, is defined by infinity (Deleuze 1990). In accordance with the immanence that defines it (the conatus of infinity), self-preservation is transgressive or hubristic. Namely, if human “appetite” consists in the necessary tendency toward an infinite power of existence, and if infinity bears the mark of – or gives mark to, i.e., defines – immortality (or godlike existence), we can conclude that human essence is hubristic. It is an inherent tendency of the finite being, always already participating in the Infinity, to endlessly increase its Desire (Spinoza’s “conscious emotion”) for perfection of life, that is, for a life that offers as complete and as undisturbed as possible state of pleasure.

Civilitet u kontekstu odnosa između luksuza i vrlina

Author(s): Alpar Lošonc / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2015

The paper traces the genesis of the notion of civilisation and civility and of the interpretation of the differences between them. Relying primarily on theories by Adam Smith, John Millar, and other thinkers, the author presents in the central part of the paper a theoretical and normative distinction between the notions of ‘civility’ and ‘barbarity’. The latter part of the paper discusses the relation between military and civil virtues and identifies the production of fear and crisis of public goods in contemporary societies.

COMUNICARE, AUTENTICITATE ŞI UNIFORMIZARE SOCIALĂ

Author(s): Daniel Nica / Language(s): Romanian,Moldavian Issue: 2/2020

At its outset, the Romantic ideal of authenticity promised to liberate the Western individual from their conformity and standardization. But what, in theory, seemed to be a promise of individual emancipation, in practice, proved to be a large mechanism of alienation and social leveling. In this paper, which draws its theoretical insight from Critical Theory, I will try to offer a brief sketch of this paradoxical turn of authenticity. By extending some of Adorno’s consideration on the “jargon of authenticity”, I will outline how the contemporary obsession of authenticity subverts a truthful communication and neutralizes the critical potential of nonconformity.

THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF DEMOCRACY: THE EPISTEMIC VIRTUES OF DEMOCRACY

Author(s): Snježana Prijić-Samaržija / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The new and vibrant field of the epistemology of democracy, or the inquiry about the epistemic justification of democracy as a social system of procedures, institutions, and practices, as a cross-disciplinary endeavour, necessarily encounters both epistemologists and political philosophers. Despite possible complaints that this kind of discussion is either insufficiently epistemological or insufficiently political, my approach explicitly aims to harmonize the political and epistemic justification of democracy. In this article, I tackle some fundamental issues concerning the nature of the epistemic justification of democracy and the best theoretical framework for harmonizing political and epistemic values. I also inquire whether the proposed division of epistemic labour and the inclusion of experts can indeed improve the epistemic quality of decision-making without jeopardizing political justification. More specifically, I argue in favour of three theses. First, not only democratic procedures but also the outcomes of democracy, as a social system, need to be epistemically virtuous. Second, democracy’s epistemic virtues are more than just a tool for achieving political goals. Third, an appropriate division of epistemic labour has to overcome the limitations of both individual and collective intelligence.

IUS SIVE POTENTIA: PAUL AND SPINOZA

Author(s): Miroslav Milović / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

This article is a part of a research project entitled Law as Potency, that, broadly put, investigates the relation between law and ontology. I argue, starting from St. Paul, that an ontological perspective can be understood as the possibility of justice, in a sense of a liberation of the human being. Thus, this paper offers an analysis of the concepts of potency and universality. Even though the term ‘universalism’ is not explicitly mentioned, it is present in St. Paul’s thinking and brought onto its practical consequences. In addition, Spinoza’s reading of St. Paul opens up a possibility to challenge this concept to a concept of modern teleology. Therefore, I discuss the consequences of this confrontation in regard to law, politics and economics. This leads to an articulation of another modernity, where, perhaps, the universal appears as the affirmation of difference.

НЕПОВЕРЉИВОСТ ТРУБАДУРСКЕ МАСКЕ

Author(s): Dragan Prole / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 173/2020

Трубадурска маска означава фигуру коју Ниче активира да би се сучелио са властитим временом. Трансформативни капацитети њене несавремености испитивани су из перспективе савремене политичке кризе демократије, коју је бугарски политиколог Иван Крастев препознао као израз све веће кризе поверења у демократски поредак. За разлику од тезе Крастева, овај рад показује да процес апсолутизација поверења одликује путања од религијске вере до антидемократског, ропског потчињавања. Максимализовано поверење води ка тоталитарном поданику, који је неизбежно нем, лишен језика и моћи говора, толико различит од Аристотеловог политичког бића обдареног логосом. Услов демократског субјекта је језички компетентан говорник чије полазиште није у поверењу, него у неповерењу. Утолико корен савременог неповерења није антидемократски, како је тврдио Иван Крастев, него је изразито демократски оријентисан и представља директну последицу отпора тоталитарном култу вође.

Toward a law of healthy peoples: From the Perspective of the Right to Health

Author(s): Yusheng Tan / Language(s): English Issue: 13/2020

With the outbreak of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the international community is forced to face the global health crisis again. Even though, throughout the course of history, the human race has seldom succeeded in getting rid of infectious diseases and global health inequalities completely. Faced with this tragic situation and extreme inequality, some philosophers have put forward some exciting plans, and it is undoubtedly regrettable that Rawls, one of the most outstanding contemporary political philosophers and ethicists, has not addressed this issue in his The Law of Peoples. However, if Rawls wants its philosophical blueprint for the future world – the law of peoples as a “realistic utopia” to be feasible, he has to face the challenges of global health and make a reasonable response. Otherwise, the magnificent building of this “realistic utopia” will collapse. Therefore, the author tries to develop Rawls’ international justice theory by introducing the idea of the right to health into the law of peoples, so as to hopefully provide a feasible philosophical plan to solve the global health problems.

A liberális demokrácia védelmében?

Author(s): Zsolt Kapelner / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 01/2020

Kis János: Alkotmányos demokrácia. Kalligram, Budapest, 2019., 576 oldal, 5990 Ft

Wojciech Lewandowski, Od faszystowskiej dystopii do anarchistycznej utopii. Idee polityczne w powieści graficznej V jak Vendetta Alana Moore'a i Davida Lloyda, Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, Toruń, ss. 323

Author(s): Christopher Colwill / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2019

LİBERALİZME KÜLTÜREL FARKINDALIK AÇISINDAN ELEŞTİREL BİR BAKIŞ

Author(s): Aybike CAN / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2020

In this study, the question of what are the contributions of contemporary liberalism in terms of cultural awareness is investigated. The subject of the study is examined through John Rawls’s theory of distributive justice and Will Kymlicka’s theory of multiculturalism, who are the important names of contemporary liberalism. In the study, concept analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, is used. In the article, it was concluded that Rawls created awareness in terms of disadvantaged individuals and Kymlicka created awareness in terms of the rights of minority groups.

The Confucian doctrine of the Mean, the optimality principle, and social harmony

Author(s): Jungho Suh / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The Confucian doctrine of the Mean teaches that too much is as bad as too little. The Aristotelian doctrine of the Mean coincidently articulates that there can be too much or too little of nearly every human passion and action. In neoclassical economics, it is assumed that people tend to take any action at the optimal (not too much and not too little) level to maximise the net happiness from the action. This article argues that the Confucian doctrine of the Mean concurs with the optimality principle, and therefore that the optimality principle is a representation of human nature and can be understood as universal human wisdom. It follows that people can adopt both the Confucian doctrine of the Mean and the optimality principle as worldly common wisdom beyond the blunt dichotomy of spiritual orientalism and materialistic individualism. Too much emphasis on the technical differentials between the two has undermined the common wisdom embedded in them.

Why ruling politicians grow rich faster—Rent-seeking or selection bias?

Author(s): Łukasz Wiktor Olejnik / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2020

The high rate of increase of ruling politicians' wealth has been empirically proven many times. However, in the literature it is almost always assumed that politicians grew rich faster due to political rent-seeking or corruption. The aim of this article is to discuss the assumption whether corruption and rent-seeking is indeed the only possible cause, and to present empirical findings undermining the assumption. The results of the analysis of levels and rate of growth of Polish politicians' wealth clearly show that the other explanation is the selection of people exercising authority. Based on statistical analysis of 2024 asset declarations of 689 councillors from Polish voivodeship assemblies from two terms in the period of 2010–2018, the paper demonstrates that the different rates of changes of the value of assets of coalition and opposition councillors are at least partly the effect of the selection bias.

Skausmas ir pasaulėžiūrų karai: heidegeriškoji analizė

Author(s): Nerijus Stasiulis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 101/2019

The article presents the political aspect of Heideggerian thought and relates it to an analysis of the ontological meaning of pain. Modern political thought is considered to be a part of modern technological thought. Therefore, the fundamentals of modern politics are related to discussions on the destruction of metaphysics and the articulation of ontological difference. An articulation of ontological difference in Heidegger’s philosophy is the ontological analysis of pain. Pain is one of the names for the ontological difference. Its structure in the Heidegger’s late thought developed from a conception of spatiality as Befindlichkeit in Being and Time, which was` a Heideggerian development of Kant’s conception of productive imagination. Hence, the articulation of the new space of being invokes an analysis of ontological origins of both the great poesy and the fundamental words of philosophy.

Politička filozofija Tome Akvinskog

Author(s): Milenko A. Perović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 31/2019

The author exposes the basic points of Aquinas’ politico-philosophical conception. He puts at the forefront the relation of that conception to the Aristotle’s and Augustine’s concept of politics, as well as to the whole of Aquinas’ theologico-philosophical conception. On that research path, the author proves that Aquinas’ conception would be most productive understood if it would be understood as the apology of feudal-christian world picture.

Coronavirus ca metaforă filosofico-politică

Author(s): Viorella Manolache / Language(s): Romany Issue: 2/2020

The present text is required to be read, as a reflection in/from the self-isolation, thus opening and implying some ideatic-relevant accents, necessary both for a philosophical and political evaluation of the illness (here, „evaluation” is a metaphorically term, part of the assertion delivered by Susan Sontag, for whom "some illnesses – regarding here and now, Coronavirus – seem more open for a philosophical-political meditation"), through a dedicated dossier (in European Journal of Psychoanalysis, February-March 2020, focused upon the relationship between Coronavirus and Philosophers), and through a virtual-dialogic with the Italian political philosopher Roberto Esposito. The dialogue is more necessary and actual, as it happens just when Romania announces the first case of Coronavirus death, and Italy continues to surpass – unfortunate and tragic – China, in the highest death ranking!

RECENZII

Author(s): Henrieta Anișoara Șerban / Language(s): Romany Issue: 2/2020

Does Philosophy Require De-Transcendentalization? Habermas, Apel, and the Role of Transcendentals in Philosophical Discourse and Social-Scientific Explanation

Author(s): Anna Michalska / Language(s): English Issue: 34/2019

The heritage of transcendental philosophy, and more specifically its viability when it comes to the problematic of the philosophy of social sciences, has been a key point of dissensus between Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel. Whereas Apel has explicitly aimed at a transcendental-pragmatic transformation of philosophy, Habermas has consequently insisted that his formal pragmatics, and the theory of communicative action which is erected upon it, radically de-transcendentalizes the subject. In a word, the disagreement concerns whether transcendental entities have any substantial role to play in philosophical discourse and social scientific explanations. My aim is to reconstruct how Apel establishes a connection between transcendentals, qua the ideal communicative community and the possibility of non-objectifying self-reflection. As I shall demonstrate, the principles that transcendental pragmatics sees as underlying social actions are not to be understood in a strictly judicial way, as “supernorms.” Rather, they should be conceptualized and used as a means for action regulation and mutual action coordination. Against this backdrop, I show that the concept of the ideal community provides the necessary underpinnings for Habermas’ schema of validity claims and the project of reconstructive sciences.

Habermas and Rawls on an Epistemic Status of the Principles of Justice

Author(s): Krzysztof Kędziora / Language(s): English Issue: 34/2019

The so-called debate between Jürgen Habermas and John Rawls concentrated mainly on the latter’s political liberalism. It dealt with the many aspects of Rawls’s philosophical project. In this article, I focus only on one of them, namely the epistemic or cognitivistic nature of principles of justice. The first part provides an overview of the debate, while the second part aims to show that Habermas has not misinterpreted Rawls’s position. I argue that Habermas rightly considers Rawls’s conception of justice as a moral one. In the last part, I discuss two key questions raised by Habermas. The first concerns the relation between justification and acceptance of the principles of justice. The second concerns the relation between two validity terms: truth and reasonableness.

Nie będzie pluralizmu form i sposobów życia bez uniwersalizmu zasad. Wywiad z Karlem-Otto Aplem

Author(s): Florian Rötzer,Karl-Otto Apel / Language(s): Polish Issue: 34/2019

In an interview with Karl-Otto Apel, conducted and published by Florian Rötzer in 1987, a number of issues of Apel’s transcendental-pragmatic philosophy were discussed. The interview presents what was the subject of the main debates conducted at the time by this defender of reason and rationalist tradition in philosophy, who spoke out against all radical scepticism and was known above all as a philosopher defending the thesis of the need and the possibility of providing ultimate justification. Karl-Otto Apel explains how this thesis should be understood and what the transcendental-pragmatic ultimate justification consists of. The interview also expounds what is the argument of performative self-contradiction that is used in the final justification procedure. Apel refers to the critics directed at discourse ethics, its “formalism” of Kantian provenance (critics that accuse this current of ethics that it leads to the elimination of diversity and pluralism); his critical remarks are directed at the advocates of postmodernity and postmodernism. Karl-Otto Apel defends a universalistic model of ethics and a Kantian, purely formal image of man as an image which at the same time creates conditions for cultural pluralism and free articulation of dissent, as well as for the search for consensus.