Hans Joas, Richard Sennett and Antje Gimmler: Creativity, Pragmatism and the Social Sciences: A Discussion between Hans Joas and Richard Sennett
In this discussion, Richard Sennett and Hans Joas elaborate on the role of both creativity and pragmatism in the social sciences. They pursue these topics from different perspectives: the role creativity played in the history of ideas and in classical pragmatism, what creativity means in the practice of the arts and how a creative pragmatist sociology might be possible. Pragmatism, they conclude, may not be a new idea, but the practice of pragmatism offers a new political vision beyond the traditional frontiers of left and right.
Keywords: Action theory; art; charisma; Chicago School; creativity; Dewey; experience; innovation; James; pragmatism; symbolic interactionism.
Chris Thornhill: Niklas Luhmann: A Sociological Transformation of Political Legitimacy?
This article argues, first, that the works of Niklas Luhmann have not yet been fully assimilated into political theory, and that political theory which wishes to remain adequate to the conceptual evolution of the contemporary social sciences should allow itself to be challenged by the paradigm shift in Luhmann's approach to the political system. Second, it sets out a reconstruction of Luhmann's social theory in terms of its implications for normative political inquiry, political concept-formation, and the theoretical foundations of political-theoretical discourse. In this regard, it asserts that Luhmann's theory incorporates a sociological transformation of political theory, and indeed of politics itself, and that it identifies most standard preconditions of political theory as conveniently simplified residues of metaphysical philosophy, albeit reconstituted through the perspective of Enlightenment. Third, it argues that Luhmann's account of politics also contains certain highly controversial implications, not least in its diminution of society's politicality, and that political theorists might wish to engage in an immanently critical analysis of his work in order to counteract some of its claims about politics and political legitimacy. In setting out this claim, it suggests that Luhmann's concept of legitimacy is unaccountably restricted, and it outlines certain theoretical opportunities for imagining, on the ground of a critical reading of Luhmann, a restatement of legitimacy as a central concept of societal analysis.
Keywords: Differentiation and convergence; Enlightenment; metaphysics; Niklas Luhmann; normative theory; political legitimacy; systems theory.
Mikael Carleheden: The Transformation of Our Conduct of Life: One Aspect of the Three Epochs of Western Modernity
In this article a concept of structural transformation is worked out and applied on the history of modernity. It involves a distinction between abstract modernity and epochs of realized modernities. The general theory of a structural transformation of modernity is applied on a special case; the transformation of the modern conduct of life in the West. The Weberian concept 'conduct of life' is today almost forgotten, but the author argues that it is a very useful conceptual tool for grasping crucial aspects of everyday life. These theoretical points of departure are then related to some classical American sociological investigations, but also to recent investigations. The result is a division of the history of conduct of life in Western modernity in three different epochs: the age of asceticism, the age of organization and the age of authenticity.
Keywords: Conduct of life; epochs of modernity; modernity; structural transformation; the age of asceticism; the age of authenticity; the age of organization.
Rasmus Kleis Nielsen: Hegemony, Radical Democracy, Populism
This article demonstrates what it means to construe Ernesto Laclau's work as precisely political theory. By analyzing his work in terms of the relations between 'hegemony' as a theory of the political, 'radical democracy' as a normative theory, and the ever-present but often overlooked element of 'populism' as a theory of a form of politics, it captures the full-fledged political character of his work (as opposed to simply moral theory). Though the article offers various criticisms of the ways the three elements are elaborated and interlinked, especially through the imprecise notions of 'the underdogs' and 'the underprivileged', it also highlights the value of attempting to situate the act of political theorizing in the world at hand by explicitly trying to identify an immanent form of politics thought in terms of a theory of the political and a normative theory, an act that will allow one to go beyond value-neutral political analysis, empty moral theory, or blind political strategizing. Only together do these three elements make up proper political theory.
Keywords: Chantal Mouffe; Ernesto Laclau; hegemony; political theory; populism; radical democracy; strategy.
Christian Borch: Crowds and Total Democracy: Hermann Broch's Political Theory
This article discusses the Austrian author Hermann Broch's voluminous crowd theory with a special emphasis on its political superstructure. The aim of Broch's theoretical work is to understand modern crowd phenomena and, against this background, to fight totalitarian mass aberration. The article first outlines his basic socio-psychological analysis of the modern individual and its alleged urge for the totalitarian. Next, it discusses Broch's political theory of how to prevent fascist totalitarianism through a so-called total democracy that is based on extensive human rights. In the final part, the article offers a critical assessment of the legacy of Broch's political theory. It is argued that Broch provides an important understanding of irrational energies in modern political life. This could serve as a supplement to recent discussions of the socio-political impact of passions and affect.
Keywords: Crowd theory; Gabriel Tarde; Hermann Broch; human rights; irrationality; modernity; totalitarianism.
Mattias Wahlström: Unformulable Practices? Articulating Practical Understanding in Sociological Theory
This essay proposes an argument that supports a pragmatic standpoint in relation to sociological description and theorization. The argument is based on a Wittgensteinian approach to human action and tacit knowledge. Taking as a starting point a controversy concerning the role of language in social practices, it is argued that the whole idea of tacit knowledge, in the sense of in principle unformulable knowledge, is based on a misconception of the nature of description. Theorizing or describing a practice is best conceived as a translation from one social practice to another. Thus, formulability can only be comprehended as a relation between two practices, not as a general characteristic of a practice. The quality of a description, or theory, is dependent on the use one tries to make of it within another practice.
Keywords: Knowing how; practical understanding; practice theory; pragmatism; rule following; tacit knowledge; Wittgenstein.
Rasmus Ugilt Holten Jensen: Agamben and Schelling on Potentiality
This article discusses the notion of a pure potentiality in Giorgio Agamben and argues that it is central to his thought. It is unavoidable if we wish to understand his general project of establishing a philosophical thought which can adequately conceptualize political freedom. That project is ultimately a defence of the concept of a 'form-of-life', a neologism that is to denominate a form of life where the crude fact of living is inseparable from its particular form. I suggest that we seek aid in our attempt to understand the concept of a pure potentiality in the works of Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, to whom Agamben implicitly (but only implicitly) refers in the text 'On Potentiality', where we find some of his most illuminating remarks on potentiality. This suggestion ends up necessitating a critique of Agamben, as the comparison with Schelling demonstrates that Agamben operates with an insufficient concept of the human will; a concept which we find a compelling discussion of in the so-called 'Weltalter' phase of Schelling's intellectual development. I conclude by discussing the significance of the concept of potentiality for political theory and the idea of a political act in particular.
Keywords: Contemplative life; freedom; ontology; political act; potency; state of exception; will.