On May 2, 2000, Richard Rorty gave a lecture at the West Valley College, Saratoga, on the question "Is Religion Compatible with Science?"
Here is a video of Rorty's lecture:
Friday, June 28, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Thomas Scanlon - What is Morality? (video)
Professor Thomas Scanlon gave a lecture on "What is Morality?" at the University of Guelph, Canada, on March 21, 2013.
A video of the lecture is now available:
Introduction by Mark McCullagh.
Thomas Scanlon is Professor of "Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity" at the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University. His latest book is "Moral Dimensions" (Harvard University Press, 2008). His new book on "Being Realistic about Reasons" is coming out on Oxford University Press in 2014.
(Thanks to Das Philoblog for the pointer!)
A video of the lecture is now available:
Introduction by Mark McCullagh.
Thomas Scanlon is Professor of "Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity" at the Department of Philosophy at Harvard University. His latest book is "Moral Dimensions" (Harvard University Press, 2008). His new book on "Being Realistic about Reasons" is coming out on Oxford University Press in 2014.
(Thanks to Das Philoblog for the pointer!)
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Conference on "Facts and Norms"
The University of Copenhagen is hosting a conference on "Facts and Norms", August 22-23, 2013.
"The European financial crisis and the failures of climate politics call for a revisited political theory. What role do scientific facts about climate change and social facts about immigration and political identity play in the determination and justification of political and social norms? The purpose of this conference is to discuss two sets of questions. First, what relevance do facts have in normative political theory? Second, what relevance do norms have in the empirical political and social sciences?"
Among the papers are:
David Estlund
”Bad Facts”
Pablo Gilabert
“Dynamic Feasibility, Principles of Justice, and All-Things-Considered Political Judgment”
Jeffrey Lenowitz
"Creating Legitimate Constitutions: The Possible Role of Procedures"
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
"Facts, Norms, and the Nature of Justice: Reflections on Cohen and Anderson"
Christian F. Rostbøll
“Kant and the Critique of the Ethics-First Approach to Politics”
Eva Erman
"What to Expect (and not) from the Pragmatic Turn in Political Theory"
More information here.
"The European financial crisis and the failures of climate politics call for a revisited political theory. What role do scientific facts about climate change and social facts about immigration and political identity play in the determination and justification of political and social norms? The purpose of this conference is to discuss two sets of questions. First, what relevance do facts have in normative political theory? Second, what relevance do norms have in the empirical political and social sciences?"
Among the papers are:
David Estlund
”Bad Facts”
Pablo Gilabert
“Dynamic Feasibility, Principles of Justice, and All-Things-Considered Political Judgment”
Jeffrey Lenowitz
"Creating Legitimate Constitutions: The Possible Role of Procedures"
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
"Facts, Norms, and the Nature of Justice: Reflections on Cohen and Anderson"
Christian F. Rostbøll
“Kant and the Critique of the Ethics-First Approach to Politics”
Eva Erman
"What to Expect (and not) from the Pragmatic Turn in Political Theory"
More information here.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Roundtable on Critical Theory of Transnational Justice (video)
A roundtable with Rainer Forst (Frankfurt) under the titel "Towards a Critical Theory of Transnational Justice" took place at the University of Hamburg on June 10, 2013. Four editors of the journal "Global Constitutionalism" participated in the discussion: James Tully (Victoria), Mattias Kumm (New York/Berlin), Antje Wiener (Hamburg), and Anthony F. Lang (St Andrews). Introductions by Antje Wiener and Maximilian Steinbeis.
A video of the roundtable is now available:
See Rainer Forst's paper on "Transnational Justice and Democracy" (2011, pdf) and his book "The Right to Justification" (Columbia University Press, 2011).
A video of the roundtable is now available:
See Rainer Forst's paper on "Transnational Justice and Democracy" (2011, pdf) and his book "The Right to Justification" (Columbia University Press, 2011).
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Paper on Conceptual Analysis & Justice
Matthew H. Kramer has posted a new paper at SSRN:
"Conceptual Analysis and Distributive Justice"
Abstract:
"This paper, written for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Distributive Justice, ponders several understandings of conceptual analysis in the context of debates over distributive justice. The paper's first two main sections consider the concept/conception distinction in its multi-layered complexity in a couple of prominent recent accounts of justice. It explores how those theories of justice unfold over several levels of increasing specificity. Thereafter, the paper takes up the vexed question whether expositions of the concept of justice can ever be austerely analytical or formal rather than morally value-laden. A negative answer to that question emerges from an investigation of a major contemporary theory of justice. In a prelude to the substantiation of that negative answer, the paper distinguishes between value-independence and value-neutrality. Though some possible accounts of justice are at least partly value-neutral, no accounts are ever value-independent."
Contents
1. Concepts versus Conceptions: Rawls
2. Concepts versus Conceptions: Dworkin
3. Value-Independence versus Value-Neutrality
4. Justice from the Formal Constraint of Consistency?
5. Conflicts versus Contradictions
6. An Example of Conflicting Duties
7. From Formality to Substance
Matthew H. Kramer is Professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at Churchill College, Cambridge University.
"Conceptual Analysis and Distributive Justice"
Abstract:
"This paper, written for the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Distributive Justice, ponders several understandings of conceptual analysis in the context of debates over distributive justice. The paper's first two main sections consider the concept/conception distinction in its multi-layered complexity in a couple of prominent recent accounts of justice. It explores how those theories of justice unfold over several levels of increasing specificity. Thereafter, the paper takes up the vexed question whether expositions of the concept of justice can ever be austerely analytical or formal rather than morally value-laden. A negative answer to that question emerges from an investigation of a major contemporary theory of justice. In a prelude to the substantiation of that negative answer, the paper distinguishes between value-independence and value-neutrality. Though some possible accounts of justice are at least partly value-neutral, no accounts are ever value-independent."
Contents
1. Concepts versus Conceptions: Rawls
2. Concepts versus Conceptions: Dworkin
3. Value-Independence versus Value-Neutrality
4. Justice from the Formal Constraint of Consistency?
5. Conflicts versus Contradictions
6. An Example of Conflicting Duties
7. From Formality to Substance
Matthew H. Kramer is Professor of Legal and Political Philosophy at Churchill College, Cambridge University.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
New book by Habermas: "Im Sog der Technokratie"
Im Sog der Technokratie
Kleine politische Schriften XII
von Jürgen Habermas
(Suhrkamp Verlag, Juli 2013)
193 S.
Kurzbeschreibung
"Seit 1980 versammeln die Bände der Reihe Kleine politische Schriften Analysen, Stellungnahmen und Zeitdiagnosen Jürgen Habermas‘. Titel wie Die neue Unübersichtlichkeit sind längst in den allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch übergegangen. Im titelgebenden Aufsatz dieser Folge knüpft Habermas an seine viel beachteten europapolitischen Interventionen der letzten Jahre an. Angesichts der Gefahr, dass technokratische Eliten die Macht übernehmen und die Demokratie auf Marktkonformität zurechtstutzen könnten, plädiert er für grenzüberschreitende Solidarität. Neben Habermas‘ hochaktueller Heine-Preis-Rede enthält der Band Porträts von Denkern wie Martin Buber, Jan Philipp Reemtsma und Ralf Dahrendorf sowie einen Aufsatz, in dem der Philosoph sich mit der prägenden Rolle jüdischer Remigranten nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg auseinandersetzt. Mit Band XII beschließt der Autor eine Buchreihe, die kaleidoskopisch Grundzüge einer intellektuellen Geschichte der Bundesrepublik widerspiegelt.
Englische Titel: "The Lure of Technocracy".
Inhalt [pdf]
Vorwort [pdf]
I. Deutsche Juden, Deutsche und Juden
1. Jüdische Philosophen und Soziologen als Rückkehrer in der frühen Bundesrepublik
2. Martin Buber – Dialogphilosophie im zeitgeschichtlichen Kontext
3. Zeitgenosse Heine: »Es gibt jetzt in Europa keine Nationen mehr«
II. Im Sog der Technokratie
4. Stichworte zu einer Diskurstheorie des Rechts und des demokratischen Rechtsstaates
5. Im Sog der Technokratie. Ein Plädoyer für europäische Solidarität [Kurzfassung in Englisch]
III. Europäische Zustände. Fortgesetzte Interventionen
6. Der nächste Schritt. Ein Interview
7. Das Dilemma der politischen Parteien
8. Drei Gründe für »Mehr Europa«
9. Demokratie oder Kapitalismus?
IV. Momentaufnahmen
10. Rationalität aus Leidenschaft. Ralf Dahrendorf zum 80. Geburtstag
11. Bohrungen an der Quelle des objektiven Geistes. Hegel-Preis für Michael Tomasello
12. »Wie konnte es dazu kommen?« Eine Antwort von Jan Philipp Reemtsma
13. Kenichi Mishima im interkulturellen Diskurs
14. Aus naher Entfernung. Ein Dank an die Stadt München
Rezensionen:
* Uwe Justus Wenzel - "Überschwang und Misere"
(Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Juli 17, 2013)
* Stefan Müller-Doohm - "Eine zerrissene Union an der Schwelle"
(Süddeutsche Zeitung, Juli 17, 2013)
* Rudolf Walther - "Fortschritte und Probleme bei der Zivilisierung"
(Die Tageszeitung, Juli 20, 2013)
* Dieter Kaltwasser - "Plädoyer für eine europäische Solidarität"
(Glanz & Elend, Juli 25, 2013)
* Alexander Cammann - "Sechzig Jahre am Nerv der Zeit"
(Die Zeit, August 1, 2013)
* Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR5)
* Journal 21 (Stephan Wehowsky)
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Jeremy Waldron's tribute to Ronald Dworkin
Jeremy Waldron has posted a tribute to the late Ronald Dworkin at SSRN:
"Ronald Dworkin: An Appreciation"
Waldron's tribute was presented at the Memorial Service for Professor Ronald Dworkin, at St. John's Smith Square, London, on June 5, 2013.
Excerpt:
Dworkin's "vision was unified, in his great ethical work, Justice for Hedgehogs, by a principle of dignity. Each person, said Ronnie, has a certain responsibility for the precious shape of his or her own life, and everyone has a duty to respect the conditions under which others are able to discharge that responsibility. That’s what “human dignity” meant for Ronnie and it underpinned both the principles of responsibility that were so important in the luck-egalitarian side of his account of equality and the principles of mutual respect that are represented in the rule of law. His great work of synthesis, Justice for Hedgehogs revealed this as the foundation of all his positions — and I do mean “foundation,” which is not the same as the fortification that allows a philosopher to see off contrary intuitions. I mean that Justice for Hedgehogs bravely identified the very deep underpinning of his various positions, even though that explicit identification made each of them somewhat more vulnerable, by presenting a deeper as well as a wider and more integrated target."
See also Waldron's article on Dworkin in "The Chronicle of Higher Education", February 19, 2013.
See also Will Hutton's tribute to Dworkin in "The Guardian", June 9, 2013: "I despair as I watch the erosion of the liberal views I hold dear."
I have made a collection of links to other tributes to Dworkin here.
"Ronald Dworkin: An Appreciation"
Waldron's tribute was presented at the Memorial Service for Professor Ronald Dworkin, at St. John's Smith Square, London, on June 5, 2013.
Excerpt:
Dworkin's "vision was unified, in his great ethical work, Justice for Hedgehogs, by a principle of dignity. Each person, said Ronnie, has a certain responsibility for the precious shape of his or her own life, and everyone has a duty to respect the conditions under which others are able to discharge that responsibility. That’s what “human dignity” meant for Ronnie and it underpinned both the principles of responsibility that were so important in the luck-egalitarian side of his account of equality and the principles of mutual respect that are represented in the rule of law. His great work of synthesis, Justice for Hedgehogs revealed this as the foundation of all his positions — and I do mean “foundation,” which is not the same as the fortification that allows a philosopher to see off contrary intuitions. I mean that Justice for Hedgehogs bravely identified the very deep underpinning of his various positions, even though that explicit identification made each of them somewhat more vulnerable, by presenting a deeper as well as a wider and more integrated target."
See also Waldron's article on Dworkin in "The Chronicle of Higher Education", February 19, 2013.
See also Will Hutton's tribute to Dworkin in "The Guardian", June 9, 2013: "I despair as I watch the erosion of the liberal views I hold dear."
I have made a collection of links to other tributes to Dworkin here.
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