1,721,015 research outputs found
The Politics of Economic Life
No full textIn recent years, economic life has become increasingly politicized: now, every company has a ‘philosophy’, promising its customers some ethical surplus in return for buying their products; consumers shop for change; workers engage in individualized forms of employee activism such as whistleblowing; and governments contribute to the re-configuration of the economic sphere as a site of political contestation by reminding corporate and private economic actors of their duty to ‘do their bit’. The Politics of Economic Life addresses this trend by exploring the ways in which practices of consumption, work, production, and entrepreneurship are imbued with political strategy and ideology, and assesses the potentials and perils of the politicization of economic activity for democracy in the 21st century
The Cambridge Companion to Oakeshott by EfraimPodoksik (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. 386pp., £19.99, ISBN 978 0 521 14792 7
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Egalitarian political economy beyond market socialism. A comment on John E. Roemer.
Get PDFOn reflecting about the prospects of advancing the egalitarian cause in the United States, John Roemer makes the case for more traditional strategies than the coupon socialism model he advocated in earlier work. First of all, he suggests, an ethos of solidarity must be developed and the super-rich be subjected to higher taxation. This comment assesses this proposal. On the one hand it is discussed whether the ethos of solidarity Roemer calls for in order to counteract the culture of greed among American elites requires nurturing an undesirable culture of envy among the rest of the population. On the other hand it is considered whether the neoclassical principal-agent model—that Roemer believes must be contested in order to popularize a steep progressive income tax—might be one of the more promising tools to restructure the incentives of economic elites and curb casino capitalism
The concept of a living tradition
Get PDFStarting with Popper, social theorists across the board have acknowledged that traditions serve socially valuable functions. However, while traditions are usually understood as ‘living’ entities that come in overlapping varieties and evolve over time, the socially valuable functions attributed to tradition tend to presuppose invariability in ways of thinking and acting. Addressing this tension, this article provides a detailed analysis of the concept of tradition, and directs special attention to conceivable criteria for the authentic continuation of a tradition. It is argued that the ways of thinking and acting that constitute the material of a tradition must – among faithful members of that tradition – stand in a relation of equivalence – not identity or similarity. The implications of this account concern our ability to decide (normatively) conflicts over authenticity among rival tradition branches as well as the role that traditions play in policy-makin
Was bedeutet Freiheit für Sie?
No full textSie haben bestimmt diesen Satz auch schon gehört: Freiheit ist das höchste Gut. Ist es das wirklich? Was bedeutet Freiheit für Sie? Wann fühlen Sie sich frei? In der Sendung «Treffpunkt» philosophieren wir mit dem Publikum über den Begriff «Freiheit».
Diskussion mit Philosoph Martin Beckstein
In der Sendung «Treffpunkt» wollen wir mit dem Publikum unter anderem herausfinden, ob die persönliche «Entscheidung» der Schlüssel ist, um sich frei zu fühlen. Und ob Freiheit heisst, auch einmal Nein zu sagen. Gast in der Sendung ist Martin Beckstein, Philosoph und Politikwissenschaftler an der Universität Zürich. Ihn fasziniert das Thema schon lange.
Moderation: Michael Brunner, Redaktion: Sirio Flückige
Machiavellis Der Fürst: Die Rezeption vor der Publikation (1513‒1532)
Get PDFSeit fünfhundert Jahren wird Machiavellis Der Fürst gelesen, kontrovers diskutiert und von politischen Theorien für sich in Anspruch genommen, und dies, obgleich die Schrift eigentlich erst 1532 veröffentlicht wurde. Wohl auch aufgrund dieses Umstands sind die Diskussionen über Der Fürst vor allem nach 1532 zum Gegenstand von Untersuchungen geworden, während die Rezeptionsgeschichte der Schrift in den zwanzig Jahren zwischen der ersten Erwähnung der Schrift (1513) und der Erstveröffentlichung (1532) weitgehend unbeleuchtet geblieben ist. Der vorliegende Artikel widmet sich diesem Forschungsdesiderat. Dafür werden die uns überlieferten Quellen – wie etwa Vorworte zu Manuskriptkopien, Briefwechsel und Anekdoten – systematisch ausgewertet und auch die kommentierenden Stellungnahmen Machiavellis, des ,ersten Lesers‘ von Der Fürst, berücksichtigt. Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass die frühsten Rezipienten den Deutungshorizont von Der Fürst maßgeblich verschoben und bis heute populäre Interpretationsmuster der Schrift entwickelten. Neben dem Aufzeigen der mit einer solchen Untersuchung einhergehenden methodischen Probleme bietet der Artikel eine funktionalistisch-rezeptionstheoretische Erklärung der koproduktiven Leistung der Leserschaft für die Bedeutungsgenese von Der Fürst an.
Abstract: Machiavelli’s The Prince has been the subject of controversial debates among political theorists for five hundred years, even though, strictly speaking, The Prince was published no earlier than 1532. Probably owing to this fact, scholarship has primarily analyzed the reception of The Prince from 1532 onwards, while the reception between its first mentioning in 1513 and the first publication of the writing in 1532 has rarely been studied. The present article addresses this research gap by systematically analyzing the surviving textual sources of earliest readership, including prefaces to manuscript copies, letters and anecdotes. Additionally, the article draws on how Machiavelli himself – as the ,first reader‘ – commented on his writing. The inquiry reveals that the earliest recipients substantially adjusted the horizon of possible interpretations and supplied a number of readings of The Prince that have been handed down to the present day. In addition to providing a functional explanation of why the earliest receptions could play such an active part in producing the meaning of The Prince, this article identifies a number of methodological challenges that research on Machiavelli’s The Prince based on reception history needs to address
Nation Building in Contemporary Germany. The strange transformation of Hitler’s “word made of stone“
Get PDFThis article examines the contending redefinitions of national identity in contemporary Germany's memorial culture, focusing particularly on the ensemble of monuments and parade fields known as the former Nazi Party rally grounds in Nuremberg. In a detailed case study, I analyse the recent conversion of one of the physical remnants of National Socialism – Albert Speer's transformer station – into a fast-food restaurant and interpret this conversion as a novel contribution to the discourse on German nationhood. I argue that the provocative commercial reutilisation of the former Nazi monument gives expression to a renewed self-confidence that Germany has gained from displaying a willingness to face up to its past as perpetrator nation. While the intervention thus deviates from the self-indicting spirit that had been characteristic for Germany's memorial culture after World War II, an ironic note is conspicuous in this act of commemorative politics that indicates a way of dealing with the fascist legacy that is, surprisingly in some respects, superior to more conventional memory strategies
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