Suchergebnisse

Eric Voegelin (1901–1985) zählt zu den prominentesten Vertretern einer neoklassischen politischen Philosophie im 20. Jahrhundert. Wesentliche Grundlagen seiner politischen Theorie entwickelt Voegelin in der Auseinandersetzung mit der staatstheoretischen Debatte der 1920er- und 1930er-Jahre und im Versuch der Grundlegung einer "Staatslehre als Geisteswissenschaft". Im weiteren Verlauf seiner theoretischen Arbeit erscheint ihm der Begriff des Staates als politiktheoretische Fundamentalkategorie aber zunehmend fragwürdig. Im Sinne der Leitfrage der Reihe Staatsverständnisse, was sich den Ideen von Staatsdenkern für ein zeitgemäßes Verständnis des Staates entnehmen lässt, erweist sich Voegelins Beitrag als das zunächst staatstheoretisch inspirierte Projekt einer Dekonstruktion des Staatsbegriffs und der Entfaltung ihrer theoretischen Konsequenzen – von der Herausarbeitung der im Staatsbegriff enthaltenen, aber verschleierten Verhältnisbestimmung zwischen Politik und Religion bis hin zum Entwurf einer politischen Theorie als "Ordnungswissenschaft".Mit Beiträgen von:Barry Cooper, Daiane Eccel, Jürgen Gebhardt, Bruno Godefroy, Michael Henkel, Manfred Henningsen, Oliver Lembcke, Matthias Riedl, Tilo Schabert, Christian Schwaabe, Hans-Jörg Sigwart, Klaus Vondung

This book interprets Hannah Arendt work as a "wandering" type of political theory. Focusing on the sub-text of Arendt writings which questions "how to think" adequately in political theory whilst categorically refraining from explicitly investigating meta-theoretical questions of epistemology and methodology, the book characterizes her theorizing as an oscillating movement between the experiential positions of philosophy and politics, and by its distinctly multi-contextual perspective. In contrast to the "not of this world" attitude of philosophy, the book argues that Arendt political theory is "of this world". In contrast to politics, it refrains from being "at home" in any particular part of this world and instead wanders between the multiple horizons of the many different political worlds in time and space. The book explores how these two decisive motives of Arendt theoretical self-perception majorly influence her epistemological, methodological and normative frame of reference and inspire her understanding of major concepts, including politics, judgment, understanding, nature, and space. Hans-Jörg Sigwart is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. He has held guest professorships, fellowships and research visits at Central European University, Budapest, Hungary; Duke University, USA; Hoover Institute at Stanford University, USA; Louisiana State University USA; University of Darmstadt, Germany; and, University of Damascus, Syria. His publications include books on the political thought of Hannah Arendt, John Dewey, and Eric Voegelin.

Notwithstanding its status as a modern classic, Hannah Arendt's study onThe Origins of Totalitarianismis generally considered to be lacking a clearly reflected methodological basis. This article challenges this view and argues that in her study Arendt implicitly applies a characterological method of political theorizing that provides a genuine conceptual framework for systematically connecting structural analysis with ideographic historical investigations and with a political theory of action. On this conceptual basis, the study renders an analysis of anti-Semitism, imperialism, and totalitarianism not merely in terms of abstract structural concepts, but in terms of dynamiccharacter-context constellations. Arendt's account not only shows interesting parallels to a number of similar conceptual reflections, especially in the 20th century's theory debate; it can also serve to inspire the current debate on methodology in political theory.