ABOUT DEMOCRACY, BETWEEN IDEAL AND REALITY

Author(s): Simona Busoi / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2018

Modern democracy preserves as a basic principle that in a democratic political system the demos is free and sovereign. Discontents, more or less accentuated, regarding political and economic crises, and government failures in representative democracies have led to a decrease in citizens' confidence in the politicians who represent them. As a result, there are attempts to find solutions by returning to a form of direct democracy. Because it is no longer possible to convene the People's Assembly as in Ancient Greece, the internet seems to have the potential to become a contemporary agora. In this paper we are discussing whether e-democracy forms can be viable solutions to the problems faced by representative democracies.

About reform in the work of Ștefan Zeletin

Author(s): Mihaela Radoi / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2016

Ştefan Zeletin (1882- 1934) – a philosopher, an economist and a sociologist – is one of the household names of Romanian interwar liberalism. He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy and Classical Philology in Iaşi, and in 1914 he defended his doctoral thesis (and was granted magna cum laude) at the University of Berlin. After finalizing his studies, Zeletin taught at the University of Iaşi. Concerning his work, Ştefan Zeletin did not have the same attitude towards the two aspects of his thought: philosophy and sociology. He considered himself a philosopher who failed to complete his system of thought only because of the tough circumstances. Persuaded that there is an organic connection – yet to be discovered – between the economic life of a country, on one hand, and the political, legal and cultural institutions, on the other, (Claudian 1935) Ștefan Zeletin began his sociological writings, which marked the political and cultural life of those times. The sociological and political works, which had made him known in several settings, were viewed by Zeletin as an episode within his activity, which he would have wanted to be focused on purely philosophical works. The author explains the approach to the practical aspects of social reality by the fact that he was determined to attend various events, which he felt the need to understand. An event that marked him deeply was the War of 1916-1918, to which he took part as an infantry officer; this event drew him closer to the often-disappointing reality of the Romanian society in an ongoing process of construction. “Hence, I decided to make the ultimate sacrifice: to renounce, for now, to any philosophical activity, to get to know our society just like it is and to try to give back to it something that may be in its interest. This also helped me fulfil an ardent desire I had felt on the front where, the carbine on my shoulder, I saw our society collapse like a cardboard castle.” (Zeletin 1927 p. 276) This article aims at unravelling several aspects regarding the life, the work and the sociological view of the author.

ABOUT STUPIDITY AND MORALITY IN POLITICS ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ GLUCKSMANN

Author(s): Nicolae Iuga / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 11/2017

Generally, the historical moment of separating the moral of politics is placed upon the appearance of Machiavelli's writings. There is, however, in the same century, a less famous French thinker, Jean Bodin (1530-1569), who performs the same operation as Machiavelli, a writer analyzed by André Glucksmann. After Bodin, the idea of sovereignty is what allows us to explain why the state is preserved as existence. The state is good because it exists, because it survives, and it does not exist because it would be good. So political philosophy frees itself from all servitude to Ethics. On the other hand, under the conditions of nuclear arming, politicians can not totally abstain from the moral norms called upon to regulate political relations. Thus Max Weber's idea is that the politician has to practice an ethic of responsibility, that is, to seek to provide as much as possible the consequences of his actions and to assume responsibility for his decisions.

Acorduri sentimentale. Instantanee filosoficești și logicești cu Ion Ungureanu

Author(s): Mihai Cimpoi / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 2/2017

Acting Together: The Art of Collective Improvisation in Theatre and Politics

Author(s): Sonja Vilc / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2017

The paper analyzes the concept of collective improvisation and draws out its potentials for social and political theory. Translating the ideas of collective improvisation from their original context in the theatre into the field of political thought, I argue that they offer a new understanding of political action by reevaluating the concepts of dissensus (Rancière) and community (Nancy), as well as the ways in which politics as a system needs to produce collectively binding decisions (Luhmann). I conclude that the ideas inherent in the practice of collective improvisation, as it has been developed within the tradition of modern theatre improvisation, subvert our intuitive ways of thinking about politics and thereby offer an alternative model of being and acting together.

Adam Schaff wobec ewolucji poglądów filozoficznych Leszka Kołakowskiego. O sporach programowych w polskim marksizmie

Author(s): Renata Merda / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 38/2017

In my article I intend to analyze L. Kołakowski’s departure from Marxism. I will conduct my reflections in the context of his relationship with Adam Schaff. It is precisely this that A. Schaff was the promoter of the dissertation of Master and Candidate (PhD) Leszek Kołakowski.Both these philosophers in the sixties of the twentieth century revisited their views on Marxism by entering into a current called revisionism. Leszek Kołakowski, however, criticized Marxism and became his leading critic, while Adam Schaff attempted to reform it by enriching the existing ideology of man’s philosophy. The views of both philosophers differed from the official version of Marxism. While Kolakowski had completely escaped from Marxism, Schaff tried to defend him. Schaff did not particularly approve the assessment of Marxism embodied in Mainstream Marxism of Kołakowski. It is not by chance, therefore, that both philosophers can be regarded as the most outstanding representatives of Marxism before 1968 in Poland.Their views were not always contradictory, but they were often similar because Schaff approached Kolakowski talking about ecumenical Marxism — and therefore their antagonism was primarily personal and less philosophical.

Adornova kritika Heideggera (II)

Author(s): Miroslav Prokopijevic / Language(s): Serbian / Issue: 262/1980

Rasprava o prethodnim pitanjima tematski pripada jednim delom i onom o čemu će ovde biti reči. Jer, Heidegger pod tubitkom podrazumeva ono jedino između različitih bića u kojem se otvara pitanje bitka, te da ukoliko se ono otvara, tj. odnosi prema bitku, Heidegger takav tubitak naziva ek-sistencijom. Tubitak se bitno konstituira u egzistenciju na temelju svoje odlučnosti (Entschlossenheit). Neodluč(e)ni tubitak naziva Heidegger se (das Man). Oba modusa bitka, autentičnost i neautentičnost, temelje se u tome da se tubitak određuje kao prisebnost (Jemeinigkeit). To znači da ovo određenje proizilazi iz temelja (načina) bitka bića, a ne iz opšteg načina bitka. Zato će Heidegger na samom početku S + Z, gl. 9, zapisati: »Das Seiende, dessen Analyse zur Aufgabe steht, sind wir je selbst. Das Sein dieses Seienden ist je meines.« Bit tubitka leži u njegovoj egzistenciji (gl. 9). Od toga treba razlikovati da je bitak tubitka egzistencija, što Heidegger ne tvrdi. Kako je odlučnost autentična istina tubitka, to je tubitak u autentičnoj egzistenciji samo onda kada se ova konstituira kao prethodna odlučnost. Odlučnost je pokazani (odlikovani) (ausgezeichneter) modus otključenosti tubitka (Erschlossenheit des Daseins). Heidegger čak kaže da je tubitak zapravo njegova otključenost (Das Dasein ist seine Erschlossenheit, gl. 28, 177, 133), a ona se artikuliše kroz izvorne načine onoga tu: raspoloženje i razumevanje koji se određuju kroz govor.

Against the Crisis of time: Portraits of conservative thinkers

Author(s): Dušan Dostanic / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2015

Book Review

Against the Current. A Remarkable Literary Discourse on Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe in Terms of Self and Other

Author(s): Emma Klever / Language(s): English / Issue: 2 (05)/2015

The political reality of the European Union is not reflected in the general discourse on the relationship between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, which is characterized by an adverse attitude towards the latter. This impacts identity construction on the European level, where Central and Eastern Europe has long been regarded as the “Other” against which the European “self ” was defined. However, a new discourse on this relationship has emerged in literary works written by scholars and journalists that are able to take an overarching perspective. The present study analyses four publications to see how the relationship between Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe is portrayed in terms of the self and the Other, employing the Discourse Historical Approach and a spectrum of the self and the Other perspectives. It emerges that the discussed authors share a discourse which respects differences, focuses on similarities as well as differences and shows an awareness of the interwovenness of the narratives of the self and the Other. This new, shared discourse holds directions for the further development of a European-wide discourse that includes the same notions of respect and the interwovenness of narratives, and which could in turn influence European identity construction.

Agon i higiena. Nieposłuszeństwo obywatelskie a sfera publiczna

Author(s): Mikolaj Rakusa-Suszczewski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 9/2015

„Odwaga cywilna” tak jak „nieposłuszeństwo obywatelskie” jest formąaktywnego upominania się o określone zasady: porządek obyczajów, uczciwą władzę i poszanowanie prawa. Obie postawy cechują nie tylko nonkonformizmi sprzeciw, lecz także chęć obrony jakiegoś lepszego, uczciwszegoczy piękniejszego świata. Obie znoszą podział między „dobrym człowiekiem”a „dobrym obywatelem”. Ponieważ każda z nich zawiera w sobierównorzędne elementy społecznie zaangażowanej niezgody i troski, ichwyjaśnienie wymaga wyraźnie zdefiniowanej koncepcji sfery publicznej.Stawiamy tezę, że jest to w istocie konieczne, aby uznać społeczną i etycznądoniosłość i sens każdej z tych postaw. Żeby zilustrować, na czym możepolegać taka interpretacja, odniesiemy się do dwóch odmiennych koncepcjisfery publicznej: pluralistyczno-agonicznej Hannah Arendt i ceremonialno-higienicznejHelmutha Plessnera.The main thesis of this article is that related concepts and attitudes of„civil disobedience” and „civil courage” are comprehensible only throughthe idea of public sphere. To illustrate this rule, we describe two utterly differentviews of the public sphere: as a space of Agon and rivalry (Arendt),where disobedience and courage regenerates a motionless political process,as well as an environment of hygiene and correctness, where acquiescenceto these attitudes is at least limited (Plessner). This rule applies to all interpretationsof this issue, as illustrated by an example of John Rawls. Inother words, whenever the aforementioned issues appear, the problem ofthe public sphere occurs as well. Secondly, the idea of what it is sends usback to the sources of the Self. What might seem to be a problem of socialethics turns out to be more a subject of political philosophy and anthropology.Finally, we believe that this rule might be applied as well to socialmovements that frequently initiate activities of a civil disobedience. Theirfunctions and role is closely linked to the idea of the public sphere.

Ajhman u Hagu

Author(s): Obrad Savic / Language(s): Serbian / Publication Year: 0

Pitanje političke pravde, i s tim u vezi, lične, kolektivne, i međunarodne odgovornosti neposredno je pokrenuto nakon traumatskog iskustva sa različitim oblicima totalitarizma (»Moram da vas zamolim izraz lična odgovornost shvatite kao suprotnost političkoj odgovornosti koju svaka vlast preuzima za dela i nedela svojih prethodnika, a svaki narod za dela i nedela svoje prošlosti« – Hana Arent).

Aksjologia Europejskiej Partii Ludowej

Author(s): Piotr Burgonski / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 11/2017

The European People’s Party is called the “party of values” due to the fact that it refers to Christian democratic axiology in its programmes and actions. An analysis of programming documents of the EPP from the 1992–2014 period has shown that the EPP presents its values in various ways. The adopted values are given a festive character, they are being used to rationalise political actions and treated as functional elements of the political system. In the programming documents of the EPP, in passages which refer to values, one may find the traces of the power struggle in which the EPP participated during the analysed period. In addition to the above, a re-view of the said documents reveals that the EPP has been experiencing a tendency to redefine the identity of this political group. This happened as a result of weakening or even negating the hitherto prevailing metaphysics, in which the values which constituted the foundation of the identity of the EPP were anchored.

Aksjologia, prawa człowieka i kultura polityczna Unii Europejskiej

Author(s): Jan Czaja / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 2/2013

Aktualność i historyczność myśli Marksa

Author(s): Halina Walentowicz / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 41/2018

In the first part of the article, the author raises the problem of the current relevance of Marx’s heritage. She believes that the key to this problem is the breakthrough in the philosophy, which initiated the development of contemporary philosophy. The second part of the article deals with Marx’s prophecies of the future, which, according to the author, have only a historical value. Although Marx – who foresaw the global expansion of the capitalist system – can be counted in among the precursors to the theory of globalization, the current trends of social development are contradictory to his prediction of the kingdom of freedom.

Aktualnost političke teologije

Author(s): Davor Rodin / Language(s): Croatian / Issue: 01/1989

There are three sources of antibourgeois attitude in the political theory of Carl Schmitt: antiscientism, antiliberalism and antitecnicism. Schmitt, determines the political in the existential and not in the class, confessional or the ethnic. Thus he develops his idea of the political constituted in the relation friend-foe and the notion of the sovereign as the one who makes the decision on the state of emergency. It is just the notion of difference, which will grow into discrimination in the political process, that distinguishes the political from the economic or religious. Absolutizing the difference finds its most extreme form in radical monism and the destruction of all, even the political, generality. From these premises Schmitt fails to draw (necessary) radical methodological conclusions.

Alain Badiou: Komunizm w sztuce

Author(s): Joost de Bloois / Language(s): Polish / Issue: 03/2015

The article discusses the artistic work of Alain Badiou, a philosopher and political activist. The text highlights Badiou’s surprising combination of modes of existence – the artist and the lover. Long before he earned acclaim for his philosophical doctrine of events, he published several short stories and popular plays, which penetrated into the bloodstream of his philosophical doctrine in many amazing ways.

Aletta J. Norval: Averzivní demokracie: Dědictví a originalita v demokratické tradici

Author(s): Marián Sekerák / Language(s): Slovak / Issue: 1/2017

book review

Alfabetizare politică prin lexic, instituții și modele teoretice englezești: România în a doua jumătate a secolului al XIX-lea

Author(s): Roxana Patra? / Language(s): Romanian / Issue: 10/2015

The present article endeavours to explore the political terminology of Anglo-Saxon origin, as well as to emphasize the influence of the Anglo-American political model through the analysis of some speeches delivered in various political contexts by the most appreciated Romanian orators of the 19th century. The assumption that, besides the interactions with French and German models, a third influence (the English, the British or the American) may be taken into consideration has been already suggested by several historians’ research. However, our hypothesis is that the Anglo-Saxon model can be emphasized not only in the “archives” of immediate economic or diplomatic interests, but as a cultural „mediator” between the French culture’s “modelling influence” and the German culture’s “catalytic influence” (according to Lucian Blaga’s theories). The relationship between the beginning of the Romanian political civilization (the stage of political literacy) and the Anglo-Saxon tradition shall be inquired from three perspectives: 1. As a step-by-step evolution; 2. As an ideal standard of political civilization; 3. As a mediation formula between opposite realities and principles (absolutism – democracy/ constitutional monarchy; centralisation – local autonomy/ federalism etc.). In the first part of the article, I propose a list of English words that are imported in the Romanian language of the 19th century and are put into circulation by the speeches delivered in the Romanian Parliament. In complementarity with the lexicographic analysis, I will emphasize the fragments where works by Edmund Burke, Benjamin Disraeli, William Ewart Gladstone, Thomas Babington Macauley, Thomas Hare, James Stuart Mill, Henry Wheaton and others are mentioned by the Romanian orators, and follow the track of their dissemination through either English originals or Romanian/ French translations.

Alkalomadtán

Author(s): Zádor Tordai / Language(s): Hungarian / Publication Year: 0

Amíg értelemmel fel lehet fogni Az emberi jogok köznapi értelme A szegény kis nemzetek panaszai A nemzetállam nem virág Az ideológiák zűrzavara A létező nemzetiszocializmus A gazdasági racionalizmus hiánya Kultúra és erőszak Az európai kultúra színeváltozása A felelősség dilemmái A jóléti Európa krízise A brutalitás nem politika Az idegenek Rendszerváltás és demokrácia A szerb tragédia Elit és demokratizálás A falak leomlása Klerokrácia és Isten országa Európa lehetőségei A modern demokrácia metamorfózisa A demokrácia alakulása Kisebbségek az átalakulásban

Allegories of the Invisible. Or, How to Estrange Economy (Theologically)?

Author(s): Mateusz Piotrowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 17/2015

The paper tries to once again bring into play the classical ideas of the Marxian critique of political economy and to demonstrate how these ideas can be reactivated by an injection of theology. Special attention will be dedicated to the theologically intensified notion of alienation, treated not only as a subject but also as a method of criticism. The aim of such an estranging method is to make visible the “transcendental plane” of the capitalist historical a priori. This will be done through the production of allegories, that is figurations of the infinite movement of the capitalist totality. Starting with a critique of the disenchanted Euhumerism of Hardt and Negri, who want to demythologise political economy as nothing but relations between people, I attempt to show the limits of their approach, by exposing the constitution of capital as the creation of an inverted reality. In this process, hypostasis of human labour (i.e. capital) gets the upper hand over human beings, not only in imagination, but also in reality, making a clear-cut distinction between real and imagined entities questionable. Through the analysis of the focal points of this process, I will attempt to demonstrate a complex interplay of subsequent disenchantments and miraculations, which establish capital as something more than human, while simultaneously naturalising its phantasmic becoming as the very core of the reality principle. Alienation as method tries to break the simultaneity of miraculation/disenchantment by dividing apparently unitary semblance – fetish – into distinct and potentially conflicted layers. Potential for this conflict is produced by two estrangement effects. Firstly, by juxtaposing a finite human subject with the infinite process of capital. Secondly, by thinking of conversion, which – becoming the highest point of alienation – could enable the human being to establish itself as an autonomous subject against the gods of this world and its own worldly self.