American Political Philosophy Research Articles

Civil Disobedience or Not – The Case of Road Blockades in Serbia

The aim of this paper is to answer the question whether the road blockades that took place in Serbia in November and December of 2021 could be characterized as an act of justified civil disobedience. The answer comes from the analysis of the arguably most influental and well-known conception of civil disobedience that can be found in contemporary political theory – the conception that was proposed by the American political philosopher John Rawls. I will argue in support of the thesis that the blockades were an act of justified civil disobedience because they fit the definition of civil disobedience and meet all the conditions for a justified act of civil disobedience that Rawls presented us with.

John Witherspoon, the Scottish Common Sense School, and American Political Philosophy

This article thus argues that we should interpret Witherspoon's relationship to slavery through the lens of his philosophical commitments. Perhaps John Witherspoon's most lasting contribution to American political culture was his introduction of Scottish Common Sense philosophy into American life. This body of philosophical thought that Witherspoon brought over from Scotland soon became dominant in American seminaries and universities. It helped shape the language of the Patriot cause during the American Revolution and seems to have, in concrete ways, influenced the Constitution. Scottish Common Sense philosophy helped to undergird much of the early anti-slavery movement. In this sense Witherspoon contributed significantly to the foundations of early American abolitionism. As the anti-slavery movement radicalized, though, decades after Witherspoon's death, Common Sense philosophy proved less useful, and generally faded as a source of anti-slavery commitment.

Participation on whose terms? Applied linguistics, politics and social justice

The aim of this position paper is to engage with the focus of this yearbook on language and participation by revisiting some of the arguments advanced by the North American political philosopher Nancy Fraser, who theorized (1) the structural components that enable and/or constrain participation, and (2) the ways in which we can transform the status quo with a view to achieving a more just society. The paper begins by outlining Fraser’s main ideas; it then moves on to illustrate how this theoretical framework may help us shed light on the dilemmas and/or pitfalls of well-meaning initiatives that seek to enhance adult migrants’ participation. The empirical focus is on courses in civic orientation (samhällsorientering) for newly arrived adult migrants in Sweden. The paper ends with some reflections about the importance of a politically engaged applied linguistics.

Truth that Matters

Truth that Matters

The significance of deliberation for the legitimation of social institutions

The concept of deliberation in the Ukrainian philosophical discourse is both underestimated and overestimated. Underestimated — as a self-sufficient category that is not reducible to another con- cept, even if it is the concept of consensus or the concept of democracy. Deliberation appears pri- marily as a careful weighing and selection of arguments when making an important decision. Collegiality may or may not be present here, as well as openness. Therefore, the concept of deliber- ation is somewhat overestimated as something that necessarily improves the quality of democratic procedures, and therefore, supposedly, deliberation itself is something democratic in nature. American political philosopher Joshua Cohen drew attention to the fact that deliberation can be of at least three types: individual deliberation, jury deliberation, and oligarch deliberation. The article analyzes these three types of deliberation and found that the closest to the democratic type of government is individual deliberation, or rather, joint deliberation of responsible citizens. While the deliberation of the jury is mostly closed, it is naturally limited access to the extent of the necessary competence of its possible participants. The deliberation of the oligarchs is even more closed and often even secret. However, the article states that it is more appropriate to replace the name «oligarchs» with the term «captains of business»: then the deliberation of the oligarchs ceases to be a cartel conspiracy, and turns into a coordinated protection of the interests of the national economy. However, for this, de- liberation itself is not enough, so not procedural, but other, namely, value factors of decision-making are needed. Democracy benefits from deliberation when the latter is complemented by the liberal and patriotic values of the participants in the deliberation. Already John Locke convincingly argues the importance of citizens achieving a common conscious agreement in state matters. However, for Locke, the very fact of having property was important, while in practice, achieving an effective agreement requires mechanisms for reconciling the positions of owners with very different amounts of property. To some extent, this problem can be solved by John Rawls` concept of justice.

Koneczny a Fukuyama. Szkic porównawczy

The article compares the views of the Polish philosopher of civilisation, Feliks Koneczny with the American political philosopher and political scientist, Francis Fukuyama. Koneczny is a conservative, while Fukuyama is a liberal, but there are great similarities in their concepts of the world’s major civilisations. Their views on national identity are also similar. The author considers Koneczny’s concept of pluralism of civilisations compared to Fukuyama’s concept of unification of the world by liberal democracy as the main difference between the two scholars.

The Foundations of Distributive Justice: A Morphogenetic Analysis of Gomberg and Fraser

This article applies Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic analytical dualism framework to critically compare the sociological foundations underpinning the work of two key American political philosophers: Paul Gomberg and Nancy Fraser. First, I focus upon Gomberg’s ideas for reforms to the division of labour and their impact upon race relations in the USA. I argue that, while Gomberg offers a radical egalitarian vision, it is flawed by its weak understanding of the relationships between structure and agency and between culture and economy. Following this, I consider Fraser’s theory of two-dimensional participatory justice premised upon distributive and recognition justice. I argue that, due to a more sociologically nuanced approach, her theory avoids the conflationism and epiphenomenalism that Gomberg lapses into. I conclude by noting that these conceptual issues have pertinence beyond these two authors and have implications for theories of distributive justice more generally.

The Philosophy of Black Lives Matter

The Philosophy of Black Lives Matter

Review: Architecture, Liberty and Civic Order: Architectural Theories from Vitruvius to Jefferson and Beyond, by Carroll William Westfall

Review: <i>Architecture, Liberty and Civic Order: Architectural Theories from Vitruvius to Jefferson and Beyond</i>, by Carroll William Westfall

Nancy Fraser’s theory of justice as an contribution to the analysis of affirmative action policies in Brazilian higher education

This article seeks the presentation of the formulation of social justice appointed by the American political philosopher Nancy Fraser through which

After Marx, the Deluge

Abstract ‘After Marx’ or ‘According to Marx’. Thus translates the intentionally ambiguous title of ‘Nach Marx’, an international collection of twenty diverse essays in German on Marx and social philosophy today. ‘Nach Marx’ contains over five hundred pages of contributions from twelve prominent German philosophers and sociologists (Hauke Brunkhorst, Alex Demirović, Rainer Forst, Axel Honneth, Rahel Jaeggi, Daniel Loick, Andrea Maihofer, Oliver Marchart, Christoph Menke, Hartmut Rosa, Michael Quante, Titus Stahl), six American political philosophers, German idealists, and historians (Wendy Brown, Daniel Brudney, Raymond Geuss, Frederick Neuhouser, Terry Pinkard, Moishe Postone), along with a British Hegelian philosopher (Andrew Chitty) and a French political thinker (Étienne Balibar). Although the book is divided into six themed parts (I. Freedom and Community, II. Normativity and Critique, III. Truth and Ideology, IV. Right and Subjectivity, V. Critique of Capitalism and Class Struggle, VI. Political Praxis), the essays are mostly individual excurses in Marx scholarship.

Conserving America?: Essays on Present Discontents

Patrick J. Deneen provides a trenchant critique of contemporary American liberalism with essays of great interest to scholars studying American religion, politics, and political philosophy. His view of what constitutes liberalism, however, can be too narrow and, in places, unwarranted. Even so, the essays here cover a wonderful range of subjects, from manners to movies, with Deneen's unmistakable voice.

Connecting domination contracts

ABSTRACTIn Black Rights/White Wrongs, Charles Mills continues his critique of contemporary American political philosophy for ignoring issues of racial oppression, and in particular for ignoring the way that liberal social contracts rest on underlying domination contracts. In this commentary, I will discuss some of the new research inspired by Mills’ account of domination contracts, including recent accounts of the “capability contract” and the “species contract”, and explore how they relate to Mills’ own work on the “racial contract”. While this new research on diverse domination contracts confirms the richness of Mills’ analysis of the social contract tradition, it may also require some revisions to his own preferred vision of how we theorize racial justice.

Saving Samuel Huntington and the Need for Pragmatic Civil–Military Relations

How the U.S. military establishment interacts with other parts of the American government and the people impacts American national power. Because civil–military relationships are influenced by the context of the environment and the “kind of war” being waged, there are a variety of ways that military and civilian leaders can work together to improve the nation’s security. This article proposes an alternative civil–military relations model called pragmatic civilian control. It integrates Samuel Huntington’s objective civilian control theory with traditional American political philosophy and concepts established by Morris Janowitz, while accounting for current geopolitical conditions.

The Problem of Peace in the Ecumenic Age

After a brief presentation of the work of the German-born American political philosopher Eric Voegelin, Prof. Barry Cooper focuses on what Voegelin calls the Ecumenic Age, the period from the rise of the Persian around the eighth century BC to the fall of the Roman Empire around the eighth century AD. From this period, we can learn that any intramundane apocalyptic efforts to unify politically the ecumene (or inhabited world) and thus to bring an end to history are doomed to fail. Yet this dream remains the driving force behind many contemporary radical ideologies.

“As a Human to Humans”: The Second Vatican Council’s Understanding of “Self-Revelation” in Context

1. How Speak About Revelation? The basic meaning of the term is to take away a veil, or even more precisely, to retrieve a veil. In other words: something which has not been evident before, because it was covered, becomes visible through a certain action--it is revealed. This point of view departs from a potential object of cognition that is hidden from the eyes of an observer; the reason why the observer cannot see the object is grounded in the object itself, in its concealment, its Verborgenheit (1) or even Verdrehung, as the late Martin Heidegger would say. The American political philosopher John Rawls casts--probably unintentionally--a different light on the concept of revelation: in work A Theory of Justice, first published in 1971, he introduces the idea of a of ignorance, an imaginative state of origin that disables the subject from knowing his place in society, class position or social status, nor does anyone know fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, intelligence, strength, and the like. (2) Behind this of ignorance, people are able choose and determine principles of justice in a way that is not influenced by personal interests, because they do not know about their position in the society and judge therefore in a fair way. For the context of a reflection on the concept of revelation, it is interesting that Rawls in understanding of a of ignorance does not attribute the concealment an object, but the subject of cognition; it is not that the object is unknowable, but that the subject is not knowledgeable. What sounds trivial at first glance offers an interesting perspective on the sense of revelation: revelation does not only mean that a veil is removed from a concealed object, but it also could signify that a veil is withdrawn from the eyes of a subject enable the person see what was already unconcealed in itself, but is still invisible for the subject with the veil in front of eyes. This provides an interesting understanding of revelation which will serve as a preliminary definition for the reflections come: revelation is not primarily a supernatural appearance or a visitation of things, but an empowerment of human beings recognize seemingly ordinary and contingent occurrences as meaningful and disclosing of the question of who God, oneself, and the world is. 2. Revelation in its Conceptual Diversity: The Intellectual Background of Vatican II Christian manifests itself in a visible, concrete, and positive form as a phenomenon. (3) Cultural phenomena can always be considered from different perspectives: one and the same medieval text, for instance, can be interesting for theologians or philosophers, for historians or sociologists, for law scholars, librarians, or scientists who try determine its exact age. A similar observation could be made with regard revelation. One could choose several perspectives: the Existentialist philosopher Karl Jaspers asks, for example, whether a revelation destroys what he calls the philosophical faith (4) in God, which has simple assumptions and which, so Jaspers claims, bases itself on reason alone. Together with the Idealistic philosopher Schelling, one could consider whether there are other forms of revelation outside religion, like art or philosophy. (5) Referring the enlightenment thinker Lessing, one could investigate the practical consequences of revelation in the form of the education of mankind, as he called it. (6) All these are possible approaches, but they do not fulfil the Council's primary perspective. On November 18, 1965, the Fathers of the Council voted accept a so-called dogmatic constitution on the meaning of revelation with a majority of 2,344 affirmative votes, and only 4 votes opposed. (7) The initial words of the document already offer a vision and gave the name the entire text, Dei Verbum: Hearing the word of God with reverence and proclaiming it with faith. …

Postsecular punk: Evangelical Christianity and the overlapping consensus of the underground

Abstract Utilizing interviews and fieldwork with Evangelical Christians involved in the punk scenes of Australia, Britain, South Africa and the United States, this article brings the study of the punk subculture into dialogue with key political theorists of the regulation of religiously diverse societies. Focusing on the work of the late American political philosopher John Rawls, furnished with more recent work by Jürgen Habermas, this article examines the processes of negotiated inclusion undertaken by Evangelical Christians in local punk scenes. Closely analyzing the acceptance of the contestability of religious claims, ‘translation’ between religious and secular discourses and modalities, and an ‘overlapping consensus’ on the desirability of diversity within the punk scene, it is argued that the negotiated inclusion of religiously diverse social actors in punk scenes can inform ongoing debates about diversity and inclusion in punk scenes’ ‘postsecular’ parent societies.

CITIZENSHIP, WAR, AND THE ORIGINS OF INTERNATIONAL ETHICS IN AMERICAN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, 1960–1975

ABSTRACTThis article examines a series of debates about civil disobedience, conscription, and the justice of war that took place among American liberal philosophers, lawyers, and activists during the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War. It argues that these debates fundamentally reshaped American political philosophy, by shifting the focus from the welfare state to the realm of international politics. In order to chart this transition from the domestic to the international, this article focuses on the writings of two influential political theorists, John Rawls and Michael Walzer. The turn to international politics in American political philosophy has its origins, in part, in their arguments about domestic citizenship. In tracing these origins, this article situates academic philosophical arguments alongside debates among the American public at large. It offers a first account of the history of analytical political philosophy during the 1960s and 1970s, and argues that the role played by the Vietnam War in this history, though underappreciated, is significant.

Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America By Jack Turner

Reviewed by: Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America by Jack Turner Shannon Sullivan Jack Turner Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2012. xv + 199pp, incl. index. Don’t let the size of this slim volume fool you: Awakening to Race is chock-full of fresh insights and original arguments regarding individualism and race in the American democratic tradition. Individualism in America often takes atomistic forms that are antithetical to a rich sense of the social constitution of the self. For that reason, individualism often is viewed as antithetical to a critical consciousness of how race and white racism operate. In Awakening to Race, Jack Turner boldly takes the bull of American individualism by its horns. He argues that the rhetoric of individualism can be used against, rather than in service of an allegedly colorblind society in which independent, post-racial individuals pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. The result of Turner’s skillful intervention into American political philosophy is to take back individualism from conservative forces and refashion it into a progressive tool for racial justice movements. Turner sets the stage for his intervention in chapter one, which provides an overview of the book. Beginning with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Awakening to Race proceeds to focus on Frederick Douglass and Ralph Ellison and concludes with James Baldwin. One of the primary tasks of chapter one is to outline the book’s major Emersonian theme, which is that an individualist notion of self-reliance should lead a person to become more, rather than less aware of structural and social injustices. Properly understood, individualism should lead to an awakening to race, as Turner’s book is aptly titled, not to ignoring or failing to see it. An individual who wishes to be self-reliant should be wary and watchful of the ways in which she depends on social structures, including those of social injustice. An atomistic notion of the individual is not adequate to this task; an Emersonian democratic individual is needed instead. As Turner explains with reference to adherents of atomistic individualism, “their failure to awaken to the socially indebted nature of the self desensitizes them to structural—and thus racial—injustice” (11). Chapter two turns to Tocqueville, Emerson, and (to a lesser extent) Thoreau to flesh out this idea. In this chapter, Turner develops [End Page 170] Emerson’s notion of self-reliance as “a politically dynamic ethical ideal, one that can motivate and energize democratic political action” rather than withdrawal from society (29). To do so, Turner references Tocqueville’s analysis of race in the United States, which reveals an affinity between white individualism and white supremacy. White individuals could contrast themselves with black slaves to reassure themselves that they were free while simultaneously ignoring their dependence on social and legal structures of white supremacy to ensure their psychological and personal sense of personhood. Individual self-sufficiency can operate as a racialized marker of freedom that is in bad faith because it evades its dependence on race and racism. With Emerson, Turner argues that genuine self-sufficiency requires reckoning with all sorts of ways that one is dependent on and complicit with societal structures, including those of white supremacy. Drawing on Emerson’s anti-slavery addresses, Turner develops a theory of democratic individual responsibility that requires of genuine self-reliance that it not interfere with the self-reliance of others. This requirement obligates the individual to take political and other forms of action to ensure that his or her free, self-reliant life is not dependent on the exploitation of others (45). In addition to its nonexploitation obligation, democratic individualist responsibility includes a democratic egalitarian obligation. Turner develops the latter idea in chapter three through the work of Frederick Douglas. While Douglas’s notion of self-help often is read as atomistically individualist, Turner shows how it is instead tied to social responsibility. In the case of Douglasian self-help, “ought implies can” and so requiring of people that they help themselves means ensuring that they have the resources available to do so (62). While dominant notions of self-help have been used in the United States...

The Title and Three Core Values from the First Three Lines of The Declaration of Independence

Teaching the Declaration of Independence can be a challenge. This article presents a lesson plan based on an explication of the title and the first three lines of the Declaration intended to make the American founding era relevant to today's college students. Assuming civic education is a major goal of teaching American Government, assuming founding documents are important to that goal, and assuming classical political philosophy is relevant to that goal, I present here 17 topics related to American Government derived from a line-by-line reading of the beginning of the Declaration: the American Revolution and classical political philosophy, Socrates, framing, the politics of holidays, consensus, state v. society, separation of church and state, standard of violence, unity, foreign policy, self-evident truths, equality, natural right, life, liberty, happiness, and self-government. Evidence reveals that this lesson plan challenges students to read the text closely and connects the founding era to current political issues.