This book outlines a new conception of political aesthetics based on the notion of order as an aesthetic category pertaining to human perception. Engaging with the thought of a range of figures, including Veblen, Honneth, Foucault, Popper, and MacIntyre, it explores the nature of political aesthetics as an enquiry into the ways in which politics and our perceptions shape one another and our moral choices. Moving beyond the consideration of politics as a matter of perception, the author employs the concept (...) of recognition to shed fresh light on the normative dimensions of politics, before presenting a series of case studies designed to show the utility of this conception of political aesthetics for explaining contemporary urban social phenomena and political conflicts. As such, Politics and Recognition will appeal to sociologists, philosophers, and political social theorists. (shrink)

Preview: /Adam Chmielewski interviewed by Eli Kramer / AC: In the nineteenth century, some people thought that the sciences should free themselves from the philosophical speculations from which they originated, and that philosophy itself, as obsolete, should be replaced by strict science. Gradually, however, the strict and uncontestable sciences resorted back again to the allegedly obsolete philosophy to understand what they are, what they are actually doing, and why. In other words, not only did science not replace philosophy (...) but returned to it. That is why there emerged the philosophy of science and philosophies of individual sciences, e.g. mathematics, biology, etc. This applies also to urban studies pursued by a great number of specialized disciplines, but a need for a general, philosophical view of the nature of the city is increasingly felt by many people, urban specialists included. The role of philosophy in today’s urban studies cannot mirror the ancient one, which was much more foundational, as in Protagoras, Plato, Aristotle, or Zeno. But it does resemble it. A philosopher cannot pretend to be an architect, urbanist, or city planner. But he or she is particularly qualified to address the problems of how contemporary cities allow their inhabitants to satisfy their needs and ambitions; in other words, to what extent the city is an environment in which human life may flourish. Such questions may profitably be addressed by moral and political philosophy, as well as philosophical anthropology. (shrink)

In this paper, I address the issue of the possible applicability of the ideas of Karl R. Popper’s social and political philosophy in the contemporary political life of postcolonial countries. Through reference to the reception of Popper’s philosophy in Central and Eastern Europe, I argue that Popper’s writings were effective in catalysing the political wholesale transformation by undermining Marxists’ pretensions to scientific status rather than through his anti-utopian and anti-revolutionary political recommendations. In the context of attempts to apply Popper’s ideas (...) in postcolonial countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, I claim that the influence of Popper’s social thought on the politics of those countries may not be as effective as expected or desired. (shrink)

Communitarian social philosophy was born in opposition to some tenets of liberalism. Liberal individualism has been among its most strongly contested claims. In their criticisms, the communitarians point to the Enlightenment’s sources of the individualist vision of society and morality. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that, even if the communitarian line of argument has been justified in more than one way, it is at the same time important to remember that the greatest figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, (...) that of of David Hume, does not fit the individualistic picture too well. I shall begin with a contemporary definition of individualism, as defined by John Watkins, then I shall proceed to argue that methodological individualism is rarely an innocent philosophical position, i.e. that it is very often a preliminary step in attempts to find a solution to many other, much more important and more practically relevant issues. For methodological individualism is usually associated with ontological, as well as moral and political individualistic doctrines, and they usually go hand in hand, influencing and strengthening each other. (shrink)

The global lockdown following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to generate all sorts of consequences: psychological, social, economic, and political. To hypothesize about what will emerge from the present situation is at this point both premature and impossible. The impossibility comes primarily from the gravity and vastness of this emergency and from the lack of intellectual resources to deal with the challenge. At the same time, however, the need to get a grasp of the condition in which (...) we have found ourselves is both understandable and irresistible. One way of responding, at least partially, to the demand and its possible consequences may be to refer to the concept of abstract society, an idea formulated 75 years ago by the Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper. (shrink)

[Anna Krzynówek, Rozum a porządek polityczny. Wokół sporu o demokrację deliberatywną].

Przedmiotem artykułu jest konceptualizacja problemu autentycznych i domniemanych deficytów teoretycznych doktryny etyki chrześcijańskiej, rozmaicie diagnozowanych na gruncie współczesnej chrześcijańskiej filozofii moralnej. Artykuł ten stanowi polemikę z próbą ujęcia tych deficytów, a także prób ich przekroczenia, sformułowaną przez Sebastiana Gałeckiego w jego książce Etyka chrześcijańska dla postchrześcijańskiej epoki (2020). Doceniając śmiałość podjętego zadania teoretycznego oraz istotność teoretyczną zaproponowanej przezeń koncepcji uspójnienia nurtów etycznych w ramach chrześcijaństwa, wskazuję na szereg uchybień w realizacji zaprojektowanych dociekań. Należy do nich m.in. okcydentalność perspektywy teoretycznej obranej (...) przez autora, problematyczność operacjonalizacji kategorii postchrześcijaństwa w diagnozie współczesnych przemian społecznych, pomijanie endemicznych wobec instytucji kościelnych przyczyn odchodzenia od chrześcijańskiego kanonu etycznego oraz wewnętrzna niespójność projektu integracji rozmaitych perspektyw teoretycznych chrześcijańskiej teologii moralnej. (shrink)

Piotr Machura, Ideał człowieka-filozofa w koncepcji Alasdaira Maclntyre'a.

rec. D. Sepczyńska, Katolicyzm a liberalizm. Szkic z filozofii społecznej, Kraków: Nomos 2008.

Zygmunt Bauman was unquestionably one of the most popular contemporary thinkers. His writings provoked not only worldwide acclaim but also severe criticism, while the complexities of his personal life gave rise to international controversies. On the basis of three recently published biographies of Bauman, as well as a personal acquaintance and scholarly cooperation, in this paper I attempt to explain the sources of his astounding popularity, but also try to dispel mysteries and controversies surrounding his difficult carrier, especially those pertaining (...) to the critical assessments of the scholarly quality of his work. I argue that having been released from academic duties, gradually and ever more boldly he abandoned the regime of scientific explanatory poetics in favour of an interpretative narrative of the social world, helping himself to the results of science, but also to idiosyncratically read works of poetry and fiction. Flouting academic orthodoxies, Bauman developed a unique art of transforming scientific knowledge into wisdom, and transformed himself from a scientist into a sage. (shrink)

[Barbara Grabowska, Samotny egoista czy odpowiedzialny obywatel].

[Michał Herer, Filozofia aktualności Za Nietzschem i Marksem].