Power: A Philosophical Analysis, Second EditionWhen it first appeared, Power: A philosophical analysis was the first full-length attempt to analyse, in a philosophically rigorous way, what we mean when we talk about power. This revised second edition reprints the original, with an extended new forward which brings the book up to date by discussing recent developments in the literature, including those which were initiated by the first appearance of this book. The book starts by asking why we have concepts of power - a question which seemed, amazingly, never to have been asked before. It turns out that we use concepts of power for several different purposes, but in each case power is best thought of as a form of ability. The considerable philosophical literature on ability is discussed, and then extended to produce a full account of 'power'. This analysis is then used to show (for instance) how we can compare powers, and understand the relationship between power and freedom. It also explains why an understanding of power is so important in developing a radical critique of a society. Many arguments about power are empirical: by outlining ways of studying power, the book shows how these may be resolved. Power can also be measured, and, in a discussion of voting power, new mathematical indices of power are developed. The book finishes with general conclusions about the way to understand concepts. Power is a most ambitious and important book, which was well received on initial publication. It will be of interest to all social scientists and social philosophers, especially those who are interested in conceptual analysis. It is written in a clear, straightforward style, which makes it accessible to undergraduates and postgraduates throughout the social sciences, and particularly in politics, sociology, and philosophy. |
Contents
List of figures and tables page | ix |
Acknowledgements | x |
Acknowledgements for the second edition | xi |
Introduction to the second edition | xii |
1Prologue | 1 |
Part IWHAT POWER IS AND WHAT POWER IS | 7 |
2Power and influence contrasted | 8 |
3Dispositional concepts | 14 |
14Beyond personal power | 107 |
15Power and freedom | 116 |
Part IIIHOW TO STUDY POWER | 123 |
introduction | 124 |
17Direct experiments | 127 |
18Indirect experiments | 133 |
19Resources | 138 |
20Studying power | 145 |
4Power as a dispositional concept | 20 |
the differences concluded | 29 |
6Why we need concepts of power | 36 |
Part IITHE CONCEPTS OF POWER | 47 |
introduction | 48 |
epistemic nonepistemic and latent abilities | 52 |
9The ifs and cans of abilities | 60 |
10How to interpret conditional sentences | 71 |
ability and ableness | 80 |
12Comparing powers | 86 |
active and passive power | 98 |
introduction | 154 |
23Measuring ableness | 169 |
24Creating power | 182 |
Conclusion to Part IV | 198 |
1The redundancy argument rejected | 207 |
2David Lewis and his amazing possible worlds | 213 |
4The properties of the power indices | 222 |
Notes | 232 |
Bibliography | 261 |
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Common terms and phrases
able active power actor Alvin Goldman amount of power analysis approach argued argument assert Barry basic actions beliefs Brian Barry bribe British Columbia Chapter choice conditional choose claim concept of power Connolly consider context counterfactual counterfactual conditionals Dahl decision delegate develop direct democracy discussion dispositional properties distinction distribution Dowding effective epistemic ability Elster epistemic power equal evaluative example exercise false consciousness Felsenthal and Machover fragile freedom give happen important indices individual influence instance interested involves Jon Elster lack look mean moral standing Moshé Machover non-epistemic ability notion obtain opportunity cost outcomes party passive power Penrose index perhaps person philosophical phobias political possible worlds potential probability problem reason refer relevant seems sense Shapley and Shubik's Shapley-Shubik index simply social society someone square-root rule suggested suppose talk theory things tion unfree Victoria Charter voters want to know whilst