The Modernist-postmodernist Quarrel on Philosophy and Justice: A Possible Levinasian Mediation

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Lexington Books, 2006 - Law - 233 pages
This book examines the social relevance of philosophy as this problem is posed in the contemporary Modernism-Postmodernism debate. Manuel P. Arriaga critically investigates the two sides of the debate in their various presuppositions and their equally diverse ramifications in fields ranging from political theory, philosophy of religion, and theory of knowledge, among others. Making use of the problematic of social justice as touchstone in threshing out the issue and aided particularly by the thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Arriaga then presents a view of the social relevance of philosophy that incorporates the good points of the opposing camps of the debate. The Modernist-Postmodernist Quarrel on Philosophy and Justice will interest anyone wishing to ask about the social relevance of what philosophers do.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Framing the Issue
11
Modernism Critical Theory and Haber mass Reconstructive Science
29
Habermass Discourse Ethics and the Question of Justice
53
JeanFrancois Lyotard Justice Philosophy and Undecidability
71
Richard Rorty on the Social Irrelevance of Philosophy
97
The Dichotomy in LiberallyInspired Views of Justice
131
Some Integrative Approaches
149
Levinass Integrative View
167
Conclusion
203
Bibliography
221
Index
229
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About the author (2006)

Manuel P. Arriaga is assistant professor of Philosophy at California State University, San Marcos.

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