Via cross-x forum

De Beistegui, Miguel. “Questioning Politics, or Beyond Power,” European Journal of Political Theory, Volume 6, issue 1 (January 2007), p. 87-103,

Abstract
The axiom at the heart of this article stipulates that everything that can be extracted from Heidegger’s thought by way of political contribution can be so extracted only from a position that is itself essentially non-political. This means that everything Heidegger says about politics, or that can be seen to resonate with our political situation, is articulated from a position or a space that is itself not political, a space that, furthermore, defines and decides the essence of politics. His contribution, then, is not to the political debate as such. Rather, it consists in asking whether what is historically at stake in politics and played out in political terms is itself political, and so a matter for political thought, or whether the questions and concepts of political thought are themselves shaped in response to a phenomenon, possibly an event, which it, as political thought, cannot interrogate, or even intimate. Following Heidegger, I envisage our political situation from a non-political perspective, and provide the measure for an evaluation of contemporary politics as an ontohistorical phenomenon. This, I do by following a lead Heidegger develops in the 1930s and 1940s, and by focusing on the concept of Macht, the translation of which will turn out to raise key philosophical issues. Despite its obvious political connotations and overtones, this concept will turn out to designate a phenomenon that is not so much political, as it is metaphysical: it is metaphysics itself, and metaphysics in its entirety, that is of power. This means that all metaphysics is metaphysics of power, and that power itself is through and through metaphysical. Politics, especially modern politics, turns out to be an effect of Macht understood as a metaphysical phenomenon. Having revealed the structure of power, its logic, imperatives and different regimes, I consider briefly the possibility of a politics that would not be governed by such a principle of power, the possibility of what I would call a politics of powerlessness, or a politics of the otherwise than power (Ohnmacht). Could that be ‘politics’ in the highest and ownmost sense? Could ‘Europe’ stand for such radical politics?

The Departments of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at Emory University will be hosting the second independent conference for the Hannah Arendt Circle, March 28-30, 2008.

Papers on any aspect of Arendt’s work, as well as studies, critiques, and applications of her thinking, are welcome.

Please send an abstract of the paper, by e-mail (750 word limit). Abstracts should be formatted for anonymous review and submitted to the program committee chair, Stephen Schulman, at sschulman@elon.edu on or before November 14th, 2007.

Please indicate “Arendt Circle submission” in the subject heading, and include the abstract as a “.doc” attachment to your message. Program decisions will be announced by mid-December.

Program Committee:
Stephen Schulman, Elon University
Karin Fry, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
Adrian Switzer, Emory University

Our first independent meeting was outstanding, and we are looking forward to the same camaraderie and intense discussion of Arendt’s work at this year’s conference. Like last year, the meeting will begin with an informal welcoming reception on Friday evening. There will be morning and afternoon paper sessions on Saturday, followed by a business meeting and dinner. The conference will conclude with paper sessions on Sunday morning. Each speaker will have approximately 35 minutes for paper presentation and discussion combined —papers should be a maximum of 3000 words (15-20 minutes).

Lodging has been reserved at the Holiday Inn Decatur: phone 404.371.0204.
Program and other information will be available no later than January 2008 at:
www.arendtcircle.com

13 September 2007 is the final proposal deadline in the call for papers for the:

THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE BOOK
Madrid, Spain, 20 to 22 October 2007
http://book-conference.com/

This broad-ranging and cross-disciplinary conference will discuss the past, present and future of publishing, libraries, literacy, learning and the information society.

Plenary speakers include:
* Lawrence Lessig, Stanford University, USA, author of ‘Free Culture’ and chair of the Creative Commons Project.
* Anna Nistal, leader of the Digital Library Project of the City of Madrid.
* Jason Epstein, distinguished US publisher and author of ‘Book Business’
* Francoise Dubruille, Director of the European Booksellers Federation, Paris
* Jose Luis Gonzalez Quiros, Institute of Philosophy, Madrid.

All presenters may choose to submit written papers for publication in the fully refereed International Journal of the Book. If you are unable to attend the conference in person, virtual registrations are also available which allow you to submit a paper for review and possible publication in the journal, and provide access to the online edition of the journal.

To submit your proposal, please visit the Submit Proposal link on the conference website http://book-conference.com/

We look forward to receiving your proposals and hope you will be able to join us in Madrid in October 2007.

Yours Sincerely,

Karim Gherab Martin
Director,
Bibliotecas Digitales, Madrid, Spain
For: The International Advisory Board of the International Conference on the Book

Open Court, publisher of the philosophy and contemporary culture series, has a number of podcasts that could be of interest to some. Here is the link.

Avax forum has posts on Rorty and Vatimo’s The Future of Religion and Gadamer’s Reason in the Age of Science

Thom Brooks (his blog) has posted his paper entitled “Hegel on the Family” at the new Philosophy Research Network

Abstract:
Perhaps one of the areas of Hegel’s political philosophy that has received the least attention is his theory of the family. This lack of attention is certainly not the result of agreement with his readers. In fact, Hegel’s views have attracted much criticism. This criticism concerns Hegel’s defence of the traditional family: a husband and wife raising children in a monogamous relationship where only the husband engages in activities outside the home, such as employment or full political participation. Such views have brought the ire of feminists, in particular, leading one feminist critic to argue we should all ’spit on Hegel’ as a result(!). Others are equally dismissive, but on different grounds. For example, Peter Steinberger argues that the ‘Hegelian account [of] marriage seems to speak to a simpler time, a time long past’. Thus, it is not so much that Hegel is wrong by our standards, but that he is simply defending the prejudiced view of the family of his day.

I share the view with most, if not all, contemporary philosophers that the ideal family is not a heterosexual, monogamous married couple with children where the wife’s roles are limited to homemaker and mother; I do not believe there is such a thing as ‘an ideal family’. Nonetheless, what I am interested in doing here is merely setting straight Hegel’s arguments in favour of the family and the particular form this family takes. I will argue that the substance of Hegel’s arguments only make sense if we take seriously the rationalist dialectical structure that informs the whole of the Philosophy of Right. The view of the family we find may be familiar, but my account is able to best make sense of Hegel’s arguments and we will be left with a more robust understanding of Hegel’s views on the family that improves upon and corrects previous accounts.

Emergent Village Podcast

* Jack Caputo
* Richard Kearney
* 50 minutes

Here’s the mp3 file for download

(H/t: Michael O’Rourk)

Kevin Winters points out that Sean Kelley is working on a new translation of Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. The “Preface: is out on his blog. Here is the link.

e-text via avaxforum

KRITIKE: An Online Journal of Philosophy | www.kritike.org ISSN 1908-7330

CALL FOR PAPERS | December 2007 Issue

KRITIKE is a Filipino independent, open access, peer-reviewed, and interdisciplinary journal of philosophy founded by a group of University of Santo Tomas alumni. The journal seeks to publish articles and book reviews by local and international authors across the whole range of philosophical topics and schools of thought. The journal primarily caters to works by academic philosophers and graduate students, but contributions by undergraduate students are also welcomed.

KRITIKE is interested in publishing original articles across the whole range of philosophical topics and schools of thought. Publishing in the journal is not limited to academic philosophers and philosophy majors; we do encourage contributors from disciplines other than Philosophy (Political Science, Literature, Cultural Studies, Sociology, Communication, History, Linguistics, Law, Economics, Natural Sciences, etc). The basic condition is that the paper should have a strong philosophical bent to it.

KRITIKE is also accepting book reviews of books published within the years 2004-2007 (2000 words maximum).

Please send your submissions to editors@kritike.org

Please visit of our CFP page for the guidelines for submission

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