Book notes

Mott T. Greene: Natural Knowledge in Preclassical Antiquity. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.     

The Environmental Record of the Soviet Union

ABSTRACT

This article rethinks John Holloway’s emancipatory theory by “opening” his key concept of “dignity.” It argues that, while Holloway’s use of this concept works well for emphasising the uniqueness of human beings’ ability to both resist and challenge capitalist social relations, due to its underlying Kantian heritage, it is both excessively restrictive and limits the extent to which he can unlock the full potential of his theory, particularly when considering the development of new ecological sensibilities. To this end, the article explores the possibility of supplanting the concept of dignity with that of “Self-realisation.” While not entirely unproblematic, this concept not only reinforces the uniqueness Holloway associates with human agency but also helps unravel a more substantive virtue-orientated approach consistent with his thought.     

Human Ecology and Public Policy: Overcoming the Hegemony of Economics

The thinking of those with the power to formulate and implement public policy is now almost totally dominated by the so-called science of economics. While efforts have been made to supplement or modify economics to make it less brutal or less environmentally blind, here it is suggested that economics is so fundamentally flawed and that it so completely dominates the culture of late modern capitalism (or postmodernity) that a new master human science is required to displace it and provide an alternative co-ordinating framework for research and for defining reality. This could then provide an alternative basis for formulating public policy. It is argued that if human ecology is to fill this role, it must be developed on consistently anti-reductionist foundations, and that such a social science would totally reorient public policy from a domain for power elites to a domain for genuinely democratic societies to define and control their destinies.     

The Politics of Recognition versus the Politics of Hatred

Hatred of America expressed in the 11 September attack is more than matched by the hatred by Americans for Islamists expressed in the war on Afghanistan, the War against Terror and the threatened wars against the 'Axis of Evil'. It is argued here that there is a pattern of self-reinforcing hatred operating in the world set in motion by the actions of the United States, particularly by George Bush Snr, and embraced and used by George Bush Jr to reinforce and further develop this pattern. To oppose this it is necessary to understand how hatred is generated, how this system operates and how Bush is exploiting it, and then to provide an alternative. It is argued this requires a new story of civilisation as the quest for justice understood as true recognition to oppose to the myths based on hatred promulgated by Bush. In terms of this story, the extreme economic, social, political and military policies of Bush and the myths used to justify them should be recognised for what they are, the challenge of barbarism to civilisation.     

Post-modernism as the Decadence of the Social Democratic State

In this paper it is argued that the corresponding rise of post-modernism and the triumph of neo-liberalism are not only not accidental, the triumph of neo-liberalism has been facilitated by post-modernism. Post-modernism has been primarily directed not against mainstream modernism, the modernism of Hobbes, Smith, Darwin and social Darwinism, but against the radical modernist quest for justice and emancipation with its roots in German thought. The Social Democratic State, the principles of which, it is here argued, were articulated by Hegel, was a partial triumph of this radical modernism, realising a higher level of reciprocal recognition and overcoming much of the brutality of the Liberal State. Post-modernism is shown to be a manifestation of the decadence of the Social Democratic State, characterised by the disintegration of cognitive and ethical developments which have been the condition for people to form communities based on reciprocal recognition. In this regard it parallels the decadence which took place in ancient Rome, for similar reasons: both the Roman Empire and the social democratic state reduced people to passive recipients of the benefits of their societies. The implications of this are twofold. If social democracy is to be revived, it will require a struggle for 'strong' democracy; that is, for a major role for participatory democracy. On the other hand if people opt for the creation of confederations of genuinely democratic communities to replace the state, this will not be achieved by post-modern decadence but through the developments of cognitive forms and communities through which the recognition of people as free agents is institutionalised.     

法律与生态文明

为恰当地发挥法律的社会功能,即法律是为了解放人民而不是把人民沦为权力精英的工具,就需要树立正确法律观念指导下的生态世界观。现代工业文明面临的最大危机以及这种危机所带来的所有其他难题,包括现代法律制度的失败,都是全球生态系统的危机以及人类不能有效地解决这个危机。在这一危机中蕴含着一种持续存在的宇宙论,这种宇宙论认为不仅人类是有感觉能力的、有创造性的社会存在物,而且生命本身也是如此。孤立地为激进启蒙运动的社会哲学作辩护是不够的。相反,有必要为激进启蒙运动的宇宙论作辩护,并通过发展这种宇宙论来提供秩序观念,以此来支撑社会的法律制度。这种宇宙论本质上是过程形而上学宇宙论,即建设性后现代主义宇宙论。     

Systems Theory and Complexity: Introduction

In this paper the central ideas and history of complexity theory and systems theory are described. It is shown how these theories lend themselves to different interpretations, and different interpretations lead to different political conclusions.     

Aleksandr Bogdanov and Systems Theory

The significance and potential of systems theory and complexity theory are best appreciated through an understanding of their origins. Arguably, their originator was the Russian philosopher and revolutionary, Aleksandr Bogdanov. Bogdanov anticipated later developments of systems theory and complexity theory in his efforts to lay the foundations for a new, post-capitalist culture and science. This science would overcome the division between the natural and the human sciences and enable workers to organise themselves and their productive activity. It would be central to the culture of a society in which class and gender divisions have been transcended. At the same time it would free people from the deformed thinking of class societies, enabling them to appreciate both the limitations and the significance of their environments and other forms of life. In this paper it is argued that whatever Bogdanov's limitations, such a science is still required if we are to create a society free of class divisions, and that it is in this light that developments in systems theory and complexity theory should be judged.