Social and Political Philosophy

The necessity defense is barely accepted in contemporary Western case law. The courts, relying on the opinion held by the majority of legal scholars, have reduced its margin of application to practically zero, since in the framework of contemporary welfare states, there is almost always a “legal alternative.” The needy person who acts on their own behalf, regardless of whether they save an interest higher than the one they injure, does not show due deference to democratic legal solutions and procedural (...) channels. This article aims to contest this abrogative interpretation of the necessity defense and to outline the limits of its legitimate scope. Even in welfare states, there are actions in a necessity scenario that neither question the legal decisions of the democratically elected legislature nor make a mockery of established procedural channels. (shrink)

Este número de acceso abierto tiene como objetivo resaltar los puntos de vista de los países latinoamericanos sobre la justicia en un contexto de pandemia y contribuir al diálogo entre estos y con la comunidad científica global. Explora los desafíos globales de la pandemia de COVID-19, las diferencias relevantes entre las medidas de salud pública y su impacto en los países de ingresos altos versus los países de ingresos bajos o medios, y cómo la injusticia global se profundizó debido a (...) la pandemia de COVID-19. También llama la atención sobre las experiencias, los resultados y las respuestas del norte global a la pandemia con respecto a poblaciones vulnerables y trayectorias de exposición que se reproducen en América Latina. (shrink)

Es probable que las vacunas contra COVID-19 sean escasas en los próximos años. Muchos países, desde la India hasta el Reino Unido, han adoptado el nacionalismo de las vacunas. ¿Cuáles son los límites éticos de este nacionalismo de vacunas? Ni el nacionalismo extremo ni el cosmopolitismo extremo son éticamente justificables. En cambio, proponemos el marco de prioridad justa para quienes residen en un país (PJR, por sus siglas en español), en el que los gobiernos pueden retener las dosis de la (...) vacuna COVID-19 para quienes residen en el país solo en la medida en que sean necesarias para mantener un nivel de mortalidad que no sea de crisis mientras están implementando intervenciones razonables de salud pública. En la práctica, un nivel de mortalidad sin crisis es el experimentado durante una mala temporada de gripe, el cual la sociedad considera un riesgo de fondo aceptable. Los gobiernos toman medidas para limitar la mortalidad por influenza, pero no existe una emergencia que incluya confinamientos severos. Este "estándar de riesgo de gripe" es una heurística no arbitraria y generalmente aceptada. La mortalidad por encima del estándar de riesgo de gripe justifica mayores intervenciones gubernamentales, incluida la retención de vacunas para quienes residen en un país por sobre la necesidad global. El nivel preciso de vacunación necesario para cumplir con el estándar de riesgo de influenza dependerá de factores empíricos relacionados con la pandemia. Esto vincula los principios éticos a los datos científicos que surgen de la emergencia. Por lo tanto, el marco PJR reconoce que los gobiernos deben priorizar la adquisición de vacunas para su país cuando sea necesario para reducir la mortalidad a niveles similares a los de la gripe sin crisis. Pero después de eso, un gobierno está obligado a hacer su parte para compartir vacunas para reducir los riesgos de mortalidad de las personas en otros países. Consideramos y rechazamos las objeciones al marco PJR basadas en que un país (1) haya desarrollado una vacuna, (2) haya aumentado los impuestos para pagar la investigación y compra de vacunas, (3) quiera eliminar las cargas económicas y sociales, y (4) sea ineficaz para combatir el COVID-19 a través de intervenciones de salud pública. (shrink)

Many social theorists hold that the corporation is the key institution of the modern world. Novak wrote four books on the corporation, viewing it as the chief instrument of innovation within “democratic capitalism”, and the concrete entity in which its three systems (political, economic, moral-cultural) converge. We look at Novak’s account with its roots in Maritain, and at Novak’s intention to ground this account in the ideals of the American Founding, and in a Christian understanding of grace. “The corporation” turns (...) out to be an excellent pathway into Novak’s thought and a safeguard against some fundamental mistakes in interpreting him. (shrink)

Michael Novak’s concept of democratic capitalism in Poland aroused great interest for several reasons. The most important of them consisted in its close relation to the teaching of the Polish Pope John Paul II. The second was its temporal coincidence with the start of a political transformation in Poland, when a model of development consistent with Polish tradition and social expectations was sought. The third was related to its Slavic roots and origin, which gained in importance given a perceived civilizational (...) backwardness of the countries belonging to the former socialist bloc. For Polish Catholic thinkers, the concept of democratic capitalism initially seemed to promise a smooth transition to a market economy, protecting society from the shock of a possible collision with predatory capitalism. But the discussions of Michael Novak’s conception which took place in Poland at that time were unfortunately burdened with fears of cultural pluralism and with leaving individuals too much freedom in implementing their own ways of achieving happiness. Polish conservatives, who were in power at that time, did not seem to understand the important need for a dynamic moral and cultural system in a society that was just starting its modernization processes. It is paradoxical, but in these discussions what was most feared was the weakening of religious traditions in Polish society. According to the author, this fear caused distrust of the democratic conception, and especially its moral foundations, which continues to this day. This paper, therefore, also contributes to reflection on to what extent the teachings of John Paul II have been absorbed in Polish conservative circles. (shrink)

The idea of this paper is to discuss the role of virtues in promoting general wellbeing for the common people. This is meant to contribute to the debate about possible linkages between overall wealth and individual character. My main source of inspiration is Michael Novak’s perspectives on the cultural basis for capitalism.

The aim of the contribution is to outline the ethical foundations in Maritain’s and Novak’s interpretation of human rights in a wider historical context and to assess its meaning for the present, with special regard to our Central European area. The issue of human rights has, in addition to its political aspect, an inherent ethical one. Fundamental human rights relate to the possibility of autonomy of a person as a moral being endowed with reason and striving for a meaningful life. (...) Therefore, these rights have a fundamental role in practical life; however, they have also become an issue of speculative philosophy and theology, where the focus is upon concepts of freedom and reason. Jacques Maritain and Michael Novak were important figures in the advancement of human rights at the international level, with exceptional impacts especially in Central Europe. Both have their roots in Christian humanism, and for both their concept of human relations is derived from Biblical religion and love for one’s neighbour. Novak accepts Maritain’s concepts of a person and human dignity, and he tries to explain his own concept of democratic capitalism in accordance with it. (shrink)

If we want to think about Michael Novak’s contribution to the development of democracy and the progress of society in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it will be necessary to look at several authors from whom he drew his ideas. With the help of the Italian moralist, Giuseppe Angelini, we will try to explain the historical and contemporary development of the concept of development as understood in the Social Doctrine of the Church and Novak’s commentaries on John Paul (...) II’s encyclicals on progress and development. Novak cites “Aquinas’s forgotten conclusion that social order is based on civil dialogue”. With these reflections, he seeks to build on the work of other prominent American philosophers and political scientists, such as John Courtney Murray, Paul Steidl-Meier, and others, while presenting his vision of economic and social progress for the countries living under the totalitarian regime of the Soviet bloc. The most important ideas here are directed towards notions such as the right to economic initiative and especially a notion of genuine individual freedom in society. (shrink)

How worried should we be about how impressionable we are—how susceptible we are to being influenced and even transformed by our encounters with one another? Some moral philosophers think we should be quite worried indeed: they hold that interpersonal influence is an especially morally dangerous way to change. It calls for additional moral scrutiny as compared with vectors of change that come from within the influencee’s own psyche—their antecedent values, desires, commitments, and so forth—just because it has an external source. (...) I argue that this heightened scrutiny of exogenous sources of change is unwarranted. Dramatic psychic changes do call for reflection and critical scrutiny, especially when they are sudden. But this scrutiny need not be concerned with the procedural issue of whether the impetus for the change came from inside or outside the changing person’s antecedent psychology. We can just evaluate the substantive changes themselves. (shrink)

Una vez que se desarrollen vacunas efectivas contra la enfermedad del coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), estas serán escasas. Esto plantea la cuestión de cómo distribuirlas equitativamente entre países. La asignación de vacunas entre países plantea cuestiones complejas y controvertidas que involucran la opinión pública, la diplomacia, la economía, la salud pública y otras consideraciones. Sin embargo, muchos líderes nacionales, organizaciones internacionales y productores de vacunas reconocen que un factor central en esta toma de decisiones es la ética [1, 2]. No obstante, (...) se ha avanzado poco en la definición de lo que constituye una distribución internacional equitativa de vacunas. Muchos han respaldado la “distribución equitativa de la vacuna contra el COVID-19” sin describir un marco o sin ofrecer recomendaciones [3, 4]. Se han presentado dos propuestas sustantivas para la asignación internacional de una vacuna contra la COVID19, pero presentan graves fallas. Ofrecemos una propuesta más éticamente defendible y práctica para la distribución equitativa de la vacuna COVID19: el Modelo de la Prioridad Equitativa. El Modelo de la Prioridad Justa está orientado principalmente a tres grupos. Una es la alianza COVAX, encabezada por GAVI (por sus siglas en inglés), la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) y la Coalición para Innovaciones en Preparación para Epidemias (CEPI por sus siglas en inglés), que tiene la intención de comprar vacunas para distribuirlas equitativamente entre países [5]. Un segundo grupo son los productores de vacunas. Afortunadamente, muchos productores se han comprometido públicamente con una distribución internacional de vacunas “amplia y equitativa” [2]. El último grupo son los gobiernos nacionales, algunos de los cuales también se han comprometido públicamente con una distribución equitativa [1]. Estos grupos necesitan un marco claro para reconciliar valores en competencia, uno que ellos y otros aceptarán legítimamente como ético y no solo como una afirmación de poder. El Modelo de la Prioridad Justa especifica lo que implica una distribución equitativa de vacunas, dando contenido a sus compromisos. Además, la aceptación de este marco ético común reducirá la duplicación y el desperdicio, lo que facilitará los esfuerzos por lograr una distribución equitativa. Eso, a su vez, promoverá la confianza de los productores en que las vacunas se asignarán de manera equitativa para beneficiar a las personas, lo que motivará un aumento en el suministro de vacunas para distribución internacional. (shrink)

This open-access issue aims to highlight views about justice in a pandemic context from Latin American countries and to contribute to the dialogue between them as well as with the global scientific community. It explores the global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, relevant differences between public health measures and their impact on high-income countries versus low- or middle-income countries, and how global injustice deepened because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also draws attention to experiences, outcomes, and responses to the pandemic (...) from the global north regarding vulnerable populations and exposure paths that are also present in Latin America. (shrink)

El neorepublicanismo comprende un amplio espectro de enfoques y concepciones en constante evolución. Para caracterizarlo podemos focalizarnos en una concepción o teoría y adoptarla como punto de referencia para luego indagar sobre las diferencias específicas de cada enfoque. Así, si quisiéramos caracterizar el liberalismo igualitario lo haríamos adoptando como punto de referencia la teoría de la justicia rawlsiana para luego avanzar sobre los debates subsecuentes que dialogan con aquella. Del mismo modo, para caracterizar al neorepublicanismo, haríamos bien en introducirnos a (...) él a través de la teoría republicana de Philip Pettit. (shrink)

La emergencia climática impacta en el derecho humano a la salud, por lo que los Estados y la comunidad internacional deben tomar medidas concertadas y urgentes para enfrentar esta problemática. Este informe tiene como objetivo brindar herramientas desde un enfoque centrado en la relación entre el clima y la salud para abordar algunas de las preguntas sobre las obligaciones de los Estados incluidas en la Opinión Consultiva sobre Emergencia Climática y Derechos Humanos presentada por Colombia y Chile ante la Corte (...) Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. En este contexto, la adaptación de los sistemas de salud emerge como una prioridad para enfrentar los desafíos de la emergencia climática, especialmente para los grupos vulnerables, como mujeres, niños, personas mayores, personas con discapacidad y pueblos indígenas. Se describen facilitadores para una transición justa hacia una sociedad resiliente al cambio climático, incluyendo diversas formas de justicia (reconocimiento, procedimental, distributiva, intergeneracional y epistémica). Así como también, el deber de los Estados de investigar y establecer prioridades de investigación como garantía del derecho a la salud. Se aborda la brecha epistémica en el acceso al conocimiento científico y se enfatiza la importancia de la justicia epistémica para superar desigualdades en el acceso y la utilización del conocimiento. Palabras claves: derechos humanos, salud, cambio climático. (shrink)

In this article I attempt a normative analysis of the relations between the ideal of democracy and the distribution of power. In particular, I suggest that democratic institutions and procedures, as they are generally understood, are not able per se to avoid domination. In line with the interpretation of domination that I propose, I claim that in order to promote an ideal of democracy as non-domination we need to take into account power inequalities present outside the political sphere. More specifically, (...) I suggest that the obtainment of a certain degree of equality in the distribution of social power should be understood as a procedural requirement for the realization of the democratic ideal. (shrink)

How will citizen rights be affected by global warming and related environmental disasters? Citizen rights have been demanded of and conferred by nation states. As a result, the benefits of citizenship remain highly variable across nations. Several schools of scholarship argue that nations states are weakening due to neoliberalism (Harvey), the rise of a world culture (Meyer), or privileged individuals’ ability to shield themselves from risk (Beck, Giddens). This article addresses those claims against the likely consequences of global warming. I (...) begin with a brief review of theories on the origins of and durability of nationalism and examine how such theories account for variability in social and political rights and group identities across the globe. I then identify the ways in which those theories have been challenged by accounts of neoliberalism, world culture, and risk society. Various reports by scientific societies, global agencies and the US government identify the likely consequences of global warming. I propose the likely reactions by states to those consequences and identify the effects those actions will have on national identity and citizen rights. (shrink)

M. Walzer considère que la philosophie, portée à constituer des propositions universelles, ne parvient pas à penser le pluralisme des voies démocratiques. La conception théorique qu’elle se fait de la démocratie est ce qu’il appelle un universalisme surplombant, extérieur aux réalités auxquelles il doit s’appliquer. Cet article vise à montrer d’une part que Walzer ne distingue pas suffisamment la constitution des propositions philosophiques et la question de la normativité de ces propositions, d’autre part que la construction philosophique de la démocratie (...) tente le plus souvent d’éviter de tomber dans l’universalisme surplombant. (shrink)

Mill’s famous meta-inductive argument for freedom of speech claims that the adoption of norms of freedom and tolerance exposes our convictions to dissent and falsification and thus makes progress towards truth possible. It also claims that this is an argument accessible to any person capable of inductive rationality, while not appealing to any substantive value. The paper will question both these claims and show that the argument is much weaker than generally thought. The argument turns on exposing an incompatibility between (...) an implicit assumption of Mill’s argument that truth is a goal of inquiry that is worth pursuing and his explicit fallibilist claim that we can never be sure that we have achieved the truth in our inquiry. (shrink)

What is the secret of good government? Both Mill in his Representative Government, and Bentham, in his Constitutional Code, believe that neither individual qualities or institutions are sufficient on their own and both are interested in institutional devices such as voting systems, civic education or public administrations that can shape and foster a new democratic citizenry. The paper will compare their two different approaches to the way individual aptitudes can be harnessed to democratic policies and processes.

In this essay, I examine aspects of Walzer's exposition of The Jewish Political Tradition (=the title of a multi-volume work of which he is leading editor) as they intersect with his work on political theory more generally. The Jewish tradition seems to present a radical example of "anti-politics": of a people existing outside the political realm. This is due both to the historical fact of their long exile, and to the shadow cast upon human politics by the prophetic ideology of (...) Divine Sovereignty. Despite their long-lasting lack of sovereignty, Jewish communities sustained a significant political life and a rich political discourse; this can serve to illustrate the primacy of the people's common life over the state, whose function is to support this life. As for divine sovereignty, it need not negate human political agency; instead, it can furnish – as in the case of the biblical prophets – the grounding for effective social criticism; though it is far from clear who, if anyone, is heir to the prophetic-critical mantle in post-biblical Judaism. (shrink)

Contemporary theories have generally focused on either the behavioral, cognitive or emotional dimensions of prosocial moral development. In this volume, these three dimensions are brought together while providing the first comprehensive account of prosocial moral development in children. The main concept is empathy - one feels what is appropriate for another person's situation, not one's own. Hoffman discusses empathy's role in five moral situations. The book's focus is empathy's contribution to altruism and compassion for others in physical, psychological, or economic (...) distress. Also highlighted are the psychological processes involved in empathy's interaction with certain parental behaviors that foster moral internalization in children and the psychological processes involved in empathy's relation to abstract moral principles such as caring and distributive justice. This important book is the culmination of three decades of study and research by a leading figure in the area of child and developmental psychology. (shrink)

---Introduction: Appendix A. The Tudor literature on church and state. Appendix B. Crowell's interpreter. Appendix C. James and the Puritans. Appendix D. A conference about the next succession to the crown of England, and other books by Robert Parsons. Appendix E. Bibliography, ---The political works of James I : Basilikon Doron. The trew law of free monarchies. An apologie for the oath of allegiance. A premonition to all Christian monarches, free princes and states. 'A defence of the right of kings, (...) against Cardinall Perron. Speech of 1603-1604. Speech of 1605. Speech of 1607. Speech of 1609-1610. Speech in the Star chamber, 1616. ---Index. (shrink)

Una voz.--La ensñanza del positivismo.--El estado.--La escuela Maquiavelo.--La justicia.--La política agraria.--La política docente.--Las instrucciones eclesiásticas.--La moral.--Rectificar a Europa.--Los síntomas del mal.--La beligerancia americana.--La democracia americana.--El ideal político de la filsofía.--El programa de la democracia.--Las ciudades.

How may nations protect their interests in space if its fragility makes military operations there self-defeating? This essay claims nations are in Prisoners Dilemmas on the matter, and applies David Gauthier’s theories about how it is rational to behave morally—cooperatively—in such dilemmas. Currently space-faring nations should i) enter into co-operative space sharing arrangements with other rational nations, ii) exclude—militarily, but with only terrestrial force—nations irrational or existentially opposed to other nations being in space, and iii) incentivize all nations into co-operation (...) by redistributing some space-generated wealth to nations that might otherwise ruin space. Further, since all nations are rationally incentivized to ever greater dependence on space, and since each, by threatening space, can hold hostage its benefits to all, each can demand resolution of terrestrial discontents with other nations. So each has a rational interest in treating others morally both in space and on terrestrial issues. (shrink)

This paper presents a longue durée account of the discursive emergence of ‘the market'. It seeks to develop understanding of the ‘crisis system' by showing that the crises of the present have their origins earlier than some critical realist scholars have suggested and can be better understood by the theorization of the generative mechanisms that emerged from the economic and political chaos of the early 1600s. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) is employed to show that in the context of the emergence (...) of capitalism in England, these generative mechanisms resulted in the meaning of the word ‘market’ slipping loose of the geo-spatial semiotic bounds by which it had commonly been delineated – i.e. as a physical space in a town or city where goods were bartered or sold – and being re-semioticised to refer to abstract space where all acts of capitalist economic exchange, including those impacting upon the natural world, take place. (shrink)

The issue of the nature of the state is one of the most important issues in political philosophy, and any interpretation of it will follow an interpretation of government ends, ideal government, and the necessity to obey the government, political legitimacy and freedom in its own way. The present study, which is theoretical in terms of its fundamental content, applies the theoretical framework of Mouffe's radical democracy, and focuses on one of the prominent figures of the political philosophy of public (...) law in the 20th century, and finally attempted to answer the main question of what is the ideal government the type and the nature of it in the political theology of Karl Schmitt? The results illustrate that the understanding and interpretation of the nature of the state as well as the desired government in Schmitt's political philosophy and political theology in the light of understanding the fundamental concepts in his thought such as political theology is political matter, rule friend/enemy/independent dictatorship, sovereignty, the concept of exception in criticism of European liberal parliamentary system, negative anthropology, adaptation of citizenship to political nationality, criticism of the concept of majority in liberal democracy. The results also state that Schmidt's ideal government is compatible with the identity-oriented type of radical democracy. The significance of the study dates back to the growing criticism of liberal democracy and the emergence of radical democratic governments, especially in Latin America. (shrink)

I doubt that we will ever achieve a consensus on the value and scope of free speech on colleges campuses. In a liberal democracy, like ours, that is a virtue rather than a vice.

As Hegel claims in the phenomenology of the soul, subjectivity as the fate of the history of consciousness aims to show how the soul tries to establish a dialectical relationship between the objective and the subjective by becoming aware of itself and reconciling consciousness with self-awareness and to reconcile the two in the subjectivity found in absolute idealism. The main problem of this article is to show how and with what conceptual possibilities Hegel can overcome the one-sidedness of objective realism (...) and subjective idealism by means of the subjectivity in the phenomenology of the soul. To answer this question, the author tries to explain the subjectivity in the book Phenomenology of the Spirit through the conceptual possibilities of consciousness, self-awareness, human society and political situation, and how to actualize the abstract absolute existing at the beginning of the history of consciousness through the mentioned concepts. show for this reason, it is explained that by bringing the absolute closer to the human community and creating an ontological dialectic between God and human "us", Hegel integrates the absolute into the political situation, and by integrating God into the political state, to reveal the absolute both to himself and to human "us" in philosophical knowledge and in this way establish a dialectical union between the realm of the subject and the realm of the object. In this article, the author has used the descriptive-analytical method to explain his position. (shrink)

One of the key issues for European Union political elites is determining how to engage with Caspian littoral states and increase their influence on Caspian regional politics. The main directions of EU activities in the region, its legal foundations and practical steps are analysed in this article. The author studies the main problems and difficulties faced by the political elites of the European Union in the Caspian region, and also considers the current challenges and prospects for the successful realisation of (...) their interests. The author substantiates the point of view that the influence of European elites on the policy of the Caspian countries is increasing every year, which is reflected in the political decision-making of the governments of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. At the same time, the main task of the EU is to weaken the influence of Russia and Iran, primarily in the energy sphere. The aim of this paper is to study the directions of activity of the political elites of the European Union in the Caspian region and related political and economic processes. The research is based on an interdisciplinary approach, as well as systemic, comparative and institutional methods. As a result of the analysis of modern domestic and foreign scientific literature and nor-mative legal acts, the main political-economic tasks of European elites in the Caspian region were identified. The research findings will allow us to continue studying regional political processes and forecast the ways of further development of relations between the represented parties. (shrink)

Complexity is among the most used yet rarely defined and often misunderstood terms in sustainability science. In this text, I argue that the conventionalization of the concept of complexity has resulted in the conflation of “thin” (i.e., reductionist) complexity and “thick” (i.e., perspectivist) complexity, and the resultant confusion surrounding these categories has created unnecessary tensions between sustainability science and environmental justice. Employing William E. Connolly’s ontopolitical-genealogical approach, I tease out implicit ontological commitments relating to complexity, holism, organicism, and environmental determinism, (...) in the intellectual history of systems theory, cybernetics, and theoretical ecology. I critique key interlocutors in the pluralism debate within ecological economics to illustrate how conventionalized complexity has created barriers to pluralistic engagement between ecological economics and political ecology. Following radical democratic theorists, I argue that the distinction between thick and thin complexity is essential to fostering “agonistic pluralism” between sustainability science and environmental justice while also serving as a defence against the misuse of systems concepts by anti-pluralists, authoritarians, and technocrats. I argue that totalizing, functionalist expressions of systems theory exacerbate political violence by displacing political discourse and serving as a pretext for ecofascism. As an alternative to functionalist organicism, I articulate a relational ontology of life, in the tradition of Robert Rosen and Terrance Deacon, that creates affordances for agency that is both creative and reflexive. I explore how such an ontology destabilizes politically conservative, neoliberal, anti-pluralist interpretations of thin complexity, and I argue that thick complexity, relational holism, and teleodynamism can serve as core concepts for a more robust discourse in ecological political economy that is concurrently attentive to the dual imperatives of biophysical limits and environmental justice. (shrink)

Hedonisme merupakan permasalahan yang cukup mendasar di dalam masyarakat, khususnya di Indonesia. Terdapat beberapa dampak buruk yang dihasilkan oleh hedonisme seperti kemiskinan, permasalahan hutang-piutang, dan konflik sosial. Dengan tingkat pendapatan yang tidak sesuai dengan tingkat pengeluaran seseorang, hal ini dapat menyebabkan ketidakseimbangan kondisi finansial seseorang. Teori ekonomi marxisme—yang dipelopori oleh Karl Marx melalui salah satu bukunya yang berjudul Das Kapital—membantu kita untuk memahami lebih lanjut tentang pertimbangan logis ketika melakukan konsumsi dan memaksimalkan utilitas untuk memenuhi kepentingan kolektif. Kapitalisme menciptakan dorongan (...) yang cukup radikal di dalam aktivitas konsumsi seseorang, di mana dengan adanya analisa Law Diminishing Marginal Utility, para kapitalis akan dengan mudah untuk membuat inovasi baru sehingga dapat menghasilkan komoditas baru yang dengan sengaja diposisikan sebagai komoditas yang dibutuhkan oleh masyarakat. Debt to Income Ratio yang menjadi salah satu rasio untuk mengukur kewajiban dan pendapatan entitas dapat digunakan sebagai langkah untuk mencegah atau memperlambat perkembangan budaya hedonisme dan menimbulkan kesadaran kolektif di tengah-tengah sistem kapitalisme yang cukup kacau. (shrink)

This paper argues: (1) the concept of human rights has not yet well founded. The human rights in terms of natural rights are problematic, theoretically and even practically leading to the risk of anti-justice so that self-defeating in some possible cases; (2) a more reasonable concept of human rights could be defined in terms of credit rights. It means that human rights should be granted unconditionally and equally to everyone in terms of human credit rights, but be conditionally kept, if (...) and only if, one would carry out the human obligations of a human being as a return to his granted rights. Simply put, human rights are granted unconditionally but enjoyed conditionally. (shrink)

The idea of modernity is closely associated with the expectation of progress. In Europe, the combination of Enlightenment thought, French Revolution and Industrial Revolution is often seen to spell the onset of modernity; and the new society that was emerging would leave all limitations of the past behind and open up towards the wide horizon of a future of steady improvement in the human condition. This enthusiasm about the future was generated by the possibilities that would emerge with freedom: freedom (...) as self-realization in personal terms and freedom as political self-determination in collective terms. Increase in the possibilities for personal self-realization will here be understood as social progress; and increase in the possibilities for collective self-determination as political progress. In this light, the purpose of this article is to review the connection between modernity and progress through freedom, a connection that is much more complicated than often assumed because the meaning of freedom has always been contested and different interpretations of the concept have been and keep being proposed. That is why the article proceeds by diachronically contextualizing interpretations of freedom and, by implication, analyzing the ways in which realizations of freedom are seen as constituting social and political progress. In other words, it looks at transformations of modernity from the angle of possible progress achieved through the increase of freedom, of some kind or other. (shrink)

In many of his works, Zygmunt Bauman has expressed a critical position regarding the politics of multiculturalism, showing how it can be and has been used to downgrade the problems of inequality and uneven access to education, while sequestering minorities in their inherited cultural situations, which are portrayed by the leaders of such communities as “fortresses under siege”. While agreeing with his critique of unequality, this article shows that the target of his criticism are not the honest efforts to find (...) a modus vivendi for multicultural societies that would preserve cultural identities while opening them up to a common social ground, but essentializing and simplifying political discourses that make use of multicultural vocabulary in order to promote other agendas. The article further develops a model in which to view the interests and legitimate rights of individuals and groups and shows how conclusion arises as a result of manipulating them. Finally, the article compares the cultural attitudes and relations to their particular environment of two groups, immigrant minorities and expats, and comes to the conclusion that expats, normally people who come from economically equal or wealthier backgrounds share many of the problems usually associated with immigrant cultural communities in contemporary societies, thus demonstrating that the discourse of multiculturalism can and should be legitimately and fruitfully separated from the discussion of other social problems. (shrink)

The democratic principle in its extreme form is the assertation that the mere fact of free birth is alone sufficient to constitute a claim to all offices. It is never the claim of a majority to rule, but it is the demand that every one, whether rich or poor, high- or low-born, shall be equally represented in the constitution. This is what Aristotle calls the principle of numerical equality.-from "Chapter VI: Democracy"One of the most renowned classical scholars of the turn (...) of the 20th century here offers a lucid and highly readable overview of a difficult and little understood aspect of Greek history: its public law, not just how it was structured but how it behaved in action. This 1896 book-perfect for university students, amateur historians, and readers of the history of the law-covers the full range of Greek legal development, from the origin of the city-state and the beginnings of the Greek monarchy to the social and political institutions of the far-flung Greek civilization to the rise of federalism and its long-term historical impact on the cultures that came after.British classical scholar A.H.J. GREENIDGE was a lecturer in ancient history at Brasenose College, Oxford. He is also the author of Roman Public and Private Law (1894), Legal Procedure in Cicero's Time (1901), and Roman Public Life (1901), among many other works of ancient history. (shrink)