Abstract While critical utopias sought to rescue the political import of utopia, recently scholars have questioned their overemphasis on literary forms and a disempowering pluralism. Challenging the applicability of these claims to one of the instigators of critical utopias, I provide a political reading of Miguel Abensour's understanding of utopia and connect this to councils as a concrete institutional infrastructure. This begins with a re-reading of his influential conception of the ‘education of desire’ in relation to the simulacrum as a utopian ‘model’ that, in rejecting identity-thinking, refuses to reduce utopias to a blueprint. I then turn to conceptualising the utopia of councils through the simulacrum on two fronts: first, as a form subject to innovation in the context of the dialectic of emancipation; second, as a content that aims to both ‘democratise utopia’ by embracing plurality and ‘utopianize democracy’ by expanding the realm of democratic space.
{"title":"Beyond the Education of Desire","authors":"Paul Mazzocchi","doi":"10.3167/th.2023.7017604","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2023.7017604","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract While critical utopias sought to rescue the political import of utopia, recently scholars have questioned their overemphasis on literary forms and a disempowering pluralism. Challenging the applicability of these claims to one of the instigators of critical utopias, I provide a political reading of Miguel Abensour's understanding of utopia and connect this to councils as a concrete institutional infrastructure. This begins with a re-reading of his influential conception of the ‘education of desire’ in relation to the simulacrum as a utopian ‘model’ that, in rejecting identity-thinking, refuses to reduce utopias to a blueprint. I then turn to conceptualising the utopia of councils through the simulacrum on two fronts: first, as a form subject to innovation in the context of the dialectic of emancipation; second, as a content that aims to both ‘democratise utopia’ by embracing plurality and ‘utopianize democracy’ by expanding the realm of democratic space.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135735145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hans Asenbaum, Reece Chenault, Christopher Harris, Akram Hassan, Curtis Hierro, Stephen Houldsworth, Brandon Mack, Shauntrice Martin, Chivona Newsome, Kayla Reed, Tony Rice, Shevone Torres, Terry J. Wilson II
Abstract In response to its current crisis, scholars call for the revitalisation of democracy through democratic innovations. While they make ample use of life metaphors describing democracy as a living organism, no comprehensive understanding of ‘life’ has been established within democratic theory. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement articulates the urgency of refocusing on life and its meaning through radical democratic practice. This article employs a grounded theory approach, enriched with participatory methods, to develop a radical democratic concept of life in conversation with BLM. It conceptualises life as the existence of a perspective that constantly transforms through its fundamental interconnectedness. Building on this concept, the article outlines four principles of a living democracy that go beyond the revitalisation discourse. A living democracy (1) safeguards the existence of all humans and nonhumans, (2) nurtures a diversity of perspectives, (3) fosters social and planetary connectivity, and (4) enables self- and collective transformation.
{"title":"A Democratic Theory of Life","authors":"Hans Asenbaum, Reece Chenault, Christopher Harris, Akram Hassan, Curtis Hierro, Stephen Houldsworth, Brandon Mack, Shauntrice Martin, Chivona Newsome, Kayla Reed, Tony Rice, Shevone Torres, Terry J. Wilson II","doi":"10.3167/th.2023.7017601","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2023.7017601","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In response to its current crisis, scholars call for the revitalisation of democracy through democratic innovations. While they make ample use of life metaphors describing democracy as a living organism, no comprehensive understanding of ‘life’ has been established within democratic theory. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement articulates the urgency of refocusing on life and its meaning through radical democratic practice. This article employs a grounded theory approach, enriched with participatory methods, to develop a radical democratic concept of life in conversation with BLM. It conceptualises life as the existence of a perspective that constantly transforms through its fundamental interconnectedness. Building on this concept, the article outlines four principles of a living democracy that go beyond the revitalisation discourse. A living democracy (1) safeguards the existence of all humans and nonhumans, (2) nurtures a diversity of perspectives, (3) fosters social and planetary connectivity, and (4) enables self- and collective transformation.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135735148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Digitality is increasingly central to individuals’ existence, which has political implications. The article maps the political implications of digitalisation, focusing on African political thought. The latter is marked by Afro-communitarianism ideas, which foster solidarity, relationality, and communalism as foundational values of the polity. However, African communitarianism has granted little attention to contemporary phenomena such as digitalisation. Also, political theory discussions on digitality have looked mainly at (neo)liberal contexts. How the digital age is reshaping the tenets of communitarian political theories represents an underdiscussed issue. This article outlines a research agenda on digitality and African political thought. New digitality-enabled relational modes change human and political interactions. The issue at stake is how these new modes challenge or strengthen the Afro-communitarian political outlook. This article recognises digital-humanism, political community, relations of power as central matters of inquiry. The analysis relies on bibliographic sources from African philosophy and comparative political theory.
{"title":"Digitality and Political Theory","authors":"Claudia Favarato","doi":"10.3167/th.2023.7017602","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2023.7017602","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Digitality is increasingly central to individuals’ existence, which has political implications. The article maps the political implications of digitalisation, focusing on African political thought. The latter is marked by Afro-communitarianism ideas, which foster solidarity, relationality, and communalism as foundational values of the polity. However, African communitarianism has granted little attention to contemporary phenomena such as digitalisation. Also, political theory discussions on digitality have looked mainly at (neo)liberal contexts. How the digital age is reshaping the tenets of communitarian political theories represents an underdiscussed issue. This article outlines a research agenda on digitality and African political thought. New digitality-enabled relational modes change human and political interactions. The issue at stake is how these new modes challenge or strengthen the Afro-communitarian political outlook. This article recognises digital-humanism, political community, relations of power as central matters of inquiry. The analysis relies on bibliographic sources from African philosophy and comparative political theory.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135735144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction to ‘A new bridge principle for the normativity of logic’","authors":"","doi":"10.1111/theo.12458","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/theo.12458","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"46 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136292065","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The paper focuses on emotional subjectivity (a sense of own identity based on an emotional reception of values) on the one hand, and the constitution of an organic community (one characterized by immediacy, as opposed to a formal community, which is permeated by institutional relations that mediate intersubjective relations between the community?s members). The argument rests on the idea, supported by modern experimental neuroscience, that emotions are the key dynamic factors of decision-making, quite contrary to the asumption of a rational deliberation. This idea generates significant consequences for the understanding of virtue, individual and collective identity, and the way in which informal communities are formed, even within larger institutionalized societies. One of the implications of the idea that emotional subjectivity is at the core of decision-making is that any therapeutic intervention, including philotherapy, must take as its starting assumption the fundamental emotional foundations of all decisions and actions taken in society. When this therapeutic approach is applied to issues that reach beyond the individual concerns or interests, it becomes activist, and takes on the shape of social engagement. The paper argues that the emotionality of intersubjective dynamism in society necessitates a social role for philosophical practice, both as a therapeutic activity (in the form of individual or group socialization or resocialization with regard to values), and as a shaping influence on social discourse on values, specifically focusing on developing a particular collective sensibility for key values that contribute to ideas such as the good life, a cohesive community or common fate, all of which characterize organicism in community-building that has proven as a form of social healing in cases of collective distress.
{"title":"Philotherapy as a social engagement","authors":"Aleksandar Fatic","doi":"10.2298/theo2303125f","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303125f","url":null,"abstract":"The paper focuses on emotional subjectivity (a sense of own identity based on an emotional reception of values) on the one hand, and the constitution of an organic community (one characterized by immediacy, as opposed to a formal community, which is permeated by institutional relations that mediate intersubjective relations between the community?s members). The argument rests on the idea, supported by modern experimental neuroscience, that emotions are the key dynamic factors of decision-making, quite contrary to the asumption of a rational deliberation. This idea generates significant consequences for the understanding of virtue, individual and collective identity, and the way in which informal communities are formed, even within larger institutionalized societies. One of the implications of the idea that emotional subjectivity is at the core of decision-making is that any therapeutic intervention, including philotherapy, must take as its starting assumption the fundamental emotional foundations of all decisions and actions taken in society. When this therapeutic approach is applied to issues that reach beyond the individual concerns or interests, it becomes activist, and takes on the shape of social engagement. The paper argues that the emotionality of intersubjective dynamism in society necessitates a social role for philosophical practice, both as a therapeutic activity (in the form of individual or group socialization or resocialization with regard to values), and as a shaping influence on social discourse on values, specifically focusing on developing a particular collective sensibility for key values that contribute to ideas such as the good life, a cohesive community or common fate, all of which characterize organicism in community-building that has proven as a form of social healing in cases of collective distress.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"64 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135649750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper explores and criticizes some aspects of David Lewis? theory of knowledge ascriptions. In section one I present the sceptical paradox and the basic assumptions of epistemic contextualism. In section two I explain how Lewis combines the relevant alternatives theory with epistemic contextualism in formulating his theory of knowledge ascriptions. In section three I show that this theory allows knowledge which is based purely on ignoring and I argue that this unfavourable consequence stems from the way in which Lewis formulated the rule of belief within his theory. In the concluding section I point out the problematic aspects and ad hoc character of Lewis? rule of attention and claim that it was thus formulated so as to be able to solve the sceptical paradox. Finally, I claim that Lewis? theory of knowledge ascriptions is untenable in its original form.
{"title":"Some weak points of Lewis’ theory of knowledge ascriptions","authors":"Aleksandra Davidovic","doi":"10.2298/theo2303021d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303021d","url":null,"abstract":"This paper explores and criticizes some aspects of David Lewis? theory of knowledge ascriptions. In section one I present the sceptical paradox and the basic assumptions of epistemic contextualism. In section two I explain how Lewis combines the relevant alternatives theory with epistemic contextualism in formulating his theory of knowledge ascriptions. In section three I show that this theory allows knowledge which is based purely on ignoring and I argue that this unfavourable consequence stems from the way in which Lewis formulated the rule of belief within his theory. In the concluding section I point out the problematic aspects and ad hoc character of Lewis? rule of attention and claim that it was thus formulated so as to be able to solve the sceptical paradox. Finally, I claim that Lewis? theory of knowledge ascriptions is untenable in its original form.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135649720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, I am presenting Devitt?s Expertise Defence and the Modest Theory of Intuitions as a response to Machery, Mallon, Nichols, and Stich?s claims that the method of cases is flawed and that we should consult folk intuitions in supporting theories of reference, which they in turn support by experimental data that referential intuitions differ cross-culturally. Some authors present Devitt?s response and his own project as an attempt to keep a moderate position between armchair philosophy and experimental philosophy that Machery et al. advocate, as he defends the position that although intuitions are not universally reliable, experts? intuitions are more reliable and could potentially be used for supporting adequate theories. In turn, I will try to show why Devitt?s Expertise Defence should only be considered as a negative project aimed at criticising both armchair and experimental philosophy based on testing folk intuitions, and why he does not have to fully justify the Modest Theory of Intuitions, and that is sufficient to introduce it as a further alternative in order to successfully object to mentioned styles of philosophy. I will support this view by using Ramsey and Cummins?s objections against the possibility of establishing a proper account of the reliability of any kind of intuitions. In the end, I will consider Devitt?s request to test language usage and to explore linguistic reality in theorising about language as the only proper part of his positive program and reconsider the role of philosophy of language that is forbidden to rely on intuitions.
{"title":"Intuitions and theories of reference","authors":"Miljana Milojevic","doi":"10.2298/theo2303005m","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303005m","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, I am presenting Devitt?s Expertise Defence and the Modest Theory of Intuitions as a response to Machery, Mallon, Nichols, and Stich?s claims that the method of cases is flawed and that we should consult folk intuitions in supporting theories of reference, which they in turn support by experimental data that referential intuitions differ cross-culturally. Some authors present Devitt?s response and his own project as an attempt to keep a moderate position between armchair philosophy and experimental philosophy that Machery et al. advocate, as he defends the position that although intuitions are not universally reliable, experts? intuitions are more reliable and could potentially be used for supporting adequate theories. In turn, I will try to show why Devitt?s Expertise Defence should only be considered as a negative project aimed at criticising both armchair and experimental philosophy based on testing folk intuitions, and why he does not have to fully justify the Modest Theory of Intuitions, and that is sufficient to introduce it as a further alternative in order to successfully object to mentioned styles of philosophy. I will support this view by using Ramsey and Cummins?s objections against the possibility of establishing a proper account of the reliability of any kind of intuitions. In the end, I will consider Devitt?s request to test language usage and to explore linguistic reality in theorising about language as the only proper part of his positive program and reconsider the role of philosophy of language that is forbidden to rely on intuitions.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135649731","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Among the prominent aspects of our experience of time is its asymmetry which can be pointed at by using somewhat vague notions of fixity of the past and openness of the future. Among the influential attempts to explain this asymmetry is an analysis by David Lewis, based on his influential similarity semantic analysis of counterfactual conditionals. I examine Lewis? attempt and criticisms it was exposed to in the literature. By focusing on the criticism by Penelope Mackie, I show that Lewis? analysis can be fortified in a way consistent with his basic project so that it withstands the examined criticisms. However, one important consequence of this fortification is that its success depends on his counterfactual theory of causation. This means that every (successful) criticism of Lewis? theory of causation is a fortiori a (successful) criticism of his analysis of the relevant asymmetry of time.
{"title":"Counterfactuals, causation and the asymmetry of time","authors":"Igor Stojanovic","doi":"10.2298/theo2303055s","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303055s","url":null,"abstract":"Among the prominent aspects of our experience of time is its asymmetry which can be pointed at by using somewhat vague notions of fixity of the past and openness of the future. Among the influential attempts to explain this asymmetry is an analysis by David Lewis, based on his influential similarity semantic analysis of counterfactual conditionals. I examine Lewis? attempt and criticisms it was exposed to in the literature. By focusing on the criticism by Penelope Mackie, I show that Lewis? analysis can be fortified in a way consistent with his basic project so that it withstands the examined criticisms. However, one important consequence of this fortification is that its success depends on his counterfactual theory of causation. This means that every (successful) criticism of Lewis? theory of causation is a fortiori a (successful) criticism of his analysis of the relevant asymmetry of time.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135650047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The work points to irreconcilable differences and internal tensions that under the term ?republic? are inherited, primarily, by the eighteenth century, which was favorable to it. Those disagreements and ambivalences, which determine modern theory to a good extent, are presented, respectively, through understandings of the republic in the Enlightenment, romanticism, republicanism and in the tradition of the ?republic of letters?. It is concluded that the emancipatory potential that is invested in the republic, if it has the same or a similar point of resistance - for example: monarchy, church domination of social life, what was once called the concise catchphrase ?throne and altar?, the abolition of privatized and/or particular decision-making monopolies and all misconceptions, prejudices, and the authorities that legitimize them - did not have at all the same or a similar vision of the desirable state after the coup has taken place, that is, in the name of what the republic should be established.
{"title":"How to concieve republic: Four visions","authors":"Predrag Krstic","doi":"10.2298/theo2303107k","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303107k","url":null,"abstract":"The work points to irreconcilable differences and internal tensions that under the term ?republic? are inherited, primarily, by the eighteenth century, which was favorable to it. Those disagreements and ambivalences, which determine modern theory to a good extent, are presented, respectively, through understandings of the republic in the Enlightenment, romanticism, republicanism and in the tradition of the ?republic of letters?. It is concluded that the emancipatory potential that is invested in the republic, if it has the same or a similar point of resistance - for example: monarchy, church domination of social life, what was once called the concise catchphrase ?throne and altar?, the abolition of privatized and/or particular decision-making monopolies and all misconceptions, prejudices, and the authorities that legitimize them - did not have at all the same or a similar vision of the desirable state after the coup has taken place, that is, in the name of what the republic should be established.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135649741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In this paper, we will attempt to consider the issue of constructing and justifying political beliefs under the conditions of populist politics and authoritarian regimes. We will address the non-ideological nature of the so-called ?catch-all? populism, attempts to exclude the educated and intellectual elite from public political life, and the use of certain informal logical fallacies in the development of a populist propaganda model. We will also point out the similarities between religious and political propaganda. In this regard, we will try to interpret the leader-centric propaganda model from the perspective of Leibnizian theodicy and, relying on Wittgenstein?s religious fideism, introduce the category of political fideism as a way to better understand the effects of populist-leader propaganda.
{"title":"Political beliefs, “catch-all” populism, and political fideism: The leader-centric propaganda model","authors":"Drago Djuric, Sladjana Djuric","doi":"10.2298/theo2303141d","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2298/theo2303141d","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we will attempt to consider the issue of constructing and justifying political beliefs under the conditions of populist politics and authoritarian regimes. We will address the non-ideological nature of the so-called ?catch-all? populism, attempts to exclude the educated and intellectual elite from public political life, and the use of certain informal logical fallacies in the development of a populist propaganda model. We will also point out the similarities between religious and political propaganda. In this regard, we will try to interpret the leader-centric propaganda model from the perspective of Leibnizian theodicy and, relying on Wittgenstein?s religious fideism, introduce the category of political fideism as a way to better understand the effects of populist-leader propaganda.","PeriodicalId":44638,"journal":{"name":"THEORIA","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135650041","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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