Suchergebnisse

open ; deliberative democracy participatory democracy citizens deliberative arenas ; Partendo dei presupposti teorici della democrazia deliberativa e la "promessa" di trasformazione del cittadino in cittadino "ideale" per via della deliberazione pubblica questo studio affronta tale problema empiricamente. In particolare, cercando di analizzare se i cittadini, partecipando alla deliberazione si trasformano in cittadini non solo più informati ma anche capaci di riconoscere ed accettare come legittime la pluralità di visioni esistenti nella società, cioè i cittadini caratterizzati da enlarged mentality, si esamina un caso di studio specifico rappresentato da Deliberative Polling svolto a Torino nel marzo 2007. I dati utilizzati in questa ricerca provengono dai questionari sottoposti ad un campione rappresentativo della popolazione di Torino che ha partecipato al Deliberative Polling. All'inizio e alla fine del trattamento sperimentale tutti i partecipanti hanno compilato il questionario identico, sui due temi oggetto dell'esperimento che riguardavano la realizzazione del collegamento ferroviario Torino-Lione e il riconoscimento del diritto di voto nelle elezioni locali per i cittadini non europei. ; Sistemi Sociali, Organizzazione e Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche ; democrazia deliberativa partecipazione dei cittadini ; open

The book reconstructs the utopian tensions present in positivism, generally projected towards imaginary descriptions of the future, taking its cue from Comte's doctrine of political positivism in which he describes an ideal society based on collaboration between different classes. The temptation to describe the future in terms of achievement of perfection is a trait shared by many other writers that were close to positivism. Nevertheless, the book demonstrates how at times these operations of alternative history can nourish an image that is not confident, but on the contrary concerned about the repercussions on human qualities of a world overly grounded in technology and the tangible values of economic development.

This essay focuses on the approach to the study of political and legal phenomena that can be defined "critical realism" and with its apparent paradox. By "critical realism" I understand a way of looking at political and legal phenomena that combines a blunt analysis of social reality with a transformative, non-resigned critical attitude towards the status quo. I argue that this is the approach that inspired Danilo Zolo's lifelong reflections on politics and law. The same approach, moreover, is in my opinion shared by authors such as Raymond Geuss and Bernard Williams, who, since the beginning of the new millennium, have contributed to re-shape the international debate on the methods of political philosophy. Inherent in this approach is a paradox that can be encapsulated in the following two questions. First, if the theoretical analysis should not start from ideals and principles, but must instead take as point of departure the social and political situation in which we are inescapably entangled (both central assumptions of the critical realism), how is it possible to gain the distance necessary for criticisms? Second, if we cannot transcend our societal reality and cannot therefore rely on external and objective values, on which basis is it possible to suggest "better" alternatives to the status quo? The mentioned authors could not explain convincingly, in my opinion, how these two questions can be answered. However, and this is the central claim of the article, the paradox is not unresolvable. The two questions mentioned above can be answered, so my argument, by recurring, respectively, to the negativism characteristic of Judith Shklar's approach to political and legal theory and to the concept of "immanent critique" as understood by Rahel Jaeggi. Shklar convincingly shows that the critique of the status quo can be made not notwithstanding the blunt analysis of social reality, but exactly in reason of it. In order to recognise abuses of power and injustices, so her argument, we do not need an ideal theory of justice or of the perfect state. On the contrary, nothing better than history and the analysis of contemporary social reality can show us that injustices and abuses of power are a recurring and ever possible characteristics of politics. Jaeggi's concept on immanent critique, moreover, indicates how it is possible to build an alternative to the criticized situation that is not anchored on transcendent principles and yet can plausibly explain why the suggested alternative is "better" than the status quo. Finally, I argue that both Shklars' negativism and Jaeggi's concept of immanent critique operate implicitly in Zolo's approach, but that they, having not being made explicit, could not develop their whole potential.

Augustine's approach to politics and, hence, to political ethics, begins with consideration of the human being or "soul" and reaches its highpoint in the ideal of a Christian statesman, not in an ideal political order. Augustine offers no theory concerning the relationship between the church and the political order. On the other hand, the paper contends that his concept of the ideal statesman provides the elusive bridge in his thought between ecclesia and res publica. Augustine's ideal of the Christian statesman is framed against the background of his reflections concerning Christ, because, in his view, Christ alone mediates true virtue to the soul, and therefore to the statesman. Augustine thus takes up the task in the City of God and in his letters to public officials to deconstruct all other accounts of political virtue – philosophical and religious – on the grounds that real virtue is to be understood exclusively as Christ's virtue acting through the human soul. This principle is what characterizes the radical originality of Augustine's approach to political ethics.

Mathematical game theory – developed starting from the publication of The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1944), by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern – aims to outline an ideal model of behaviour of rational agents involved in some interaction with other rational agents. For this reason, game theory has immediately attracted the attention of philosophers dealing with practical rationality and, since the fifties, has been applied to the analysis of several issues concerning ethics and philosophy of politics. Here we will focus on one of the most interesting applications of game theory to ethical-political inquiry, i.e., with the game theoretic analysis of some problems related to the evolution of moral norms. Firstly, we will provide a short outline of the development of game theory, which has lead to the formulation of a plurality of different game theories. It will be shown that such theories can be classified in two main groups: rationalistic game theories –in two different versions: classical and epistemic – and evolutionary game theories. Moreover, some basic elements of classical game theory will be introduced and the key ideas of epistemic and evolutionary game theories will be illustrated. Afterwards, the main approaches developed within the ethical-political applications of game theory will be shortly described. Finally, some results obtained in the last twenty years by the researchers who have analysed the evolution of moral norms by the conceptual tools of evolutionary and epistemic game theories, will be examined.

It is well known that Locke's political theory with regard to the concepts of the law of nature, the state of nature and the transition from it to the commonwealth is at best highly problematic, if not inconsistent. Locke's incoherence has often been related to the combination of different approaches; he accepted the traditional metaphysical doctrine of natural law (which he found restated in Richard Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity), but combined it with naturalistic ethics of Epicurean origin centred on the ideas of self-preservation and of the search for pleasure and avoidance of pain as the basic motivations of human behaviour. In my essay I examine the notion of natural law and try to show the inadequacy of this theory to account for the transition from the state of nature to political society. I focus particularly on theologico-political issues related to the transgression of natural law, which is conceived both as an ideal rational norm and as a natural, practical principle. Locke's texts conceal a dilemma which he never discussed, but which undermines his political theory: either natural law's obligation is effective, and in this case rational human agents should live in a self-regulating natural society without need of building the commonwealth and its repressive apparatus; or natural law is no more than a postulated set of ideal values, unable to regulate the dominant forces of human actions, and in this case it is difficult to understand how the positive laws of the commonwealth should respect its supposed prescriptions. I conclude my essay arguing that the shaky theological foundation of Locke's political theory is not merely related to Locke's inconsistencies, but reveals the deficiency of the traditional notion of natural law when faced with the elements of realism which Locke includes in his theory and which he shares with modern political thought.

Riassunto: Il saggio prende in esame la formazione del canone romantico in Manzoni partendo dall'analisi dei drammi scespiriani analizzati dallo scrittore nei Materiali este­tici e nella Lettre à M.r Chauvet ai fini di creare una nuova teoria del teatro drammatico che si rivelerà fondamentale per il passaggio al romanzo storico. Sulla discussione teo­rica relativa al nuovo genere interviene Mazzini in numerosi saggi che esaminano le di­verse 'scuole' letterarie, unendo alla riflessione sul canone romantico nuove e forti idea­lità politiche e individuando un modello nella Sand delle Lettres d'un voyageur. Abstract: The essay examines the formation of the romantic canon in Manzoni star­ting from the analysis of the Shakespearean dramas analyzed by the writer in the Mate­riali estetici and in the Lettre à M.r Chauvet in order to create a new theory of dramatic theater which will prove to be fundamental for the transition to historical novel. Mazzi­ni intervenes on the theoretical discussion relating to the new genre in numerous essays examining the different literary 'schools', combining the reflection on the romantic ca­non with new and strong political ideals and identifying a model in Sand's Lettres d'un voyageur. Key words: Manzoni, dramatic theatre, historical novel, Shakespeare, Mazzini, Geor­ge Sand, romantic canon, political ideals

Some of the liveliest philosophical debates in contemporary democratic theory address two issues: (1) Why is democracy desirable? (2) What institutions are needed to realize the democratic ideal? In response to the first question, instrumentalists maintain that democracy is justified only if it produces good results; non-instrumentalists take into account, in addition, the values that democratic procedures realize in themselves. As for the second question, the debate concerns the form that democratic institutions should have to realize the democratic ideal (majority vote, deliberative, or contestatory). The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical presentation of these debates. ; Alcuni tra i dibattiti filosofici più vivaci nell'ambito della teoria democratica contemporanea si articolano lungo due questioni: (1) Perché la democrazia è desiderabile? (2) Quali istituzioni sono necessarie per realizzare l'ideale democratico? In risposta alla prima questione, gli strumentalisti sostengono che la democrazia è giustificata esclusivamente se produce buoni risultati; i non-strumentalisti considerano anche i valori che le procedure democratiche realizzano in sé. Quanto alla seconda questione, il dibattito riguarda la forma che le istituzioni democratiche dovrebbero avere – maggioritaria, deliberativa o contestataria – per realizzare l'ideale democratico. Lo scopo di questo contributo è di offrire una presentazione critica di questi dibattiti.

This essay summarizes the history and politics of Constantinos Doxiadis's urban vision which flourished internationally after the Second World War, reinventing architects planners as scientists, technocrats, and development experts, while renegotiating modernism's rationalism and individualism. Focusing on "entopia," Doxiadis's vision of an ideal urban fabric, the essay exposes the social and formal ambitions of Doxiadis's theory of Ekistics, and analyses his firm Doxiadis Associates' alignments with new postwar discourses on international socioeconomic development and environmental management. Entopia provides the basis for a critical reflection on Doxiadis's version of modernism, his emphasis on multi-disciplinarity, and his conceptions of global "harmony," all of which resonate with current socio-political, urban and environmental predicaments. ; Questo saggio riassume la storia e la politica della visione urbana di Constantinos Doxiadis, fiorita a livello internazionale dopo la seconda guerra mondiale, che reinventava gli architetti pianificatori come scienziati, tecnocrati e esperti di sviluppo, rinegoziando il razionalismo e l'individualismo del modernismo. Concentrandosi su "entopia", la visione di Doxiadis di un tessuto urbano ideale, il saggio espone le ambizioni sociali e formali della teoria Echistica di Doxiadis e analizza gli allineamenti del suo Doxiadis Associates con i nuovi discorsi postbellici sullo sviluppo socioeconomico internazionale e sulla gestione ambientale. Entopia fornisce la base per una riflessione critica sulla versione modernista di Doxiadis, la sua enfasi sulla multidisciplinarietà e le sue concezioni di "armonia" globale, tutte in linea con le attuali situazioni socio-politiche, urbane e ambientali.

The victory of Western liberal states that ended the Cold War generated the hope that international relations could be inspired by the ideals of democracy & the rule of law. Cosmopolitan democracy is a collective project of normative political theory originally developed by a group of European thinkers in the early 1990s with the aim to provide intellectual arguments in favor of an extension of democracy within states & at the global level. While some significant successes have been achieved in terms of democratization within states, much less has been attained in democratizing the global system. The aim of this review article is twofold: on the one hand, it reaffirms the basic concepts of cosmopolitan democracy. On the other hand, it discusses the critical remarks made by a variety of perspectives including the Realist, the Marxist, the Communitarian & the Multiculturalist. References. Adapted from the source document.

Is it possible to think progress and history not as a mere succession of facts but as a process involving a complex and determinate meaning? Marxism (and its political history, which cannot be reduced to crime nor completely justified in the name of an ideal) still offers us a critical-conceptual apparatus, able to analyze the concrete reality of our times with lucidity and accuracy. The quality of its methodology and tools is the most important inheritance of Marx and Engels' lesson. In this perspective, we absolutely need to keep philosophical criticism and historical memory together. This choice implies the loss of that side of Marxism that indulges to philosophical-ideological predictions (and therefore to forms of prophetism) and the pursuit of a critical theory of society that, thanks to Gramsci's indication, gives us a dynamic conception of history. A conception that moves from the objectivity of history, but at the same time emphasizes the role of subjectivity and its freedom.Keywords: Progress; Historicism; Marxism; Gramsci.

According to Crozier and Friedberg, organizations are not rational structures but arenas in which every actor is engaged in a struggle of power with other actors. The article adopts their approach in order to understand one of the most important features of film production, the relationship among directors and screenwriters. Most film critics and viewers tend to discuss films as if they are products of a single author (usually the director). The article challenges this view. It adopts a "multiple authorship" perspective and uses examples from the history of cinema to show how screenwriters have left their personal sign on films. In order to build a convincing theory of "multiple authorship", it is necessary to understand the relations of collaboration and conflict among the numerous actors involved in making a film. Therefore, the article focuses on the relationship between directors and screenwriters and outlines a typology that identifies five different ideal types of relationship between these two crucial roles. The article aims to provide a first conceptualization for a sociological study about the activity of screenwriters and about their contribution to the making of a film.

The series of notes gathered in this paper mirrors the complexity of populism: from the tendency to have a negative use of the concept to its semantic and rhetoric-communicative vagueness; from an undetermined historical-theoretical integration of the concept to a theoretical-practical, cultural and ideological differentiation (which invites us to discuss 'populisms' instead of 'populism'); from the problem of the classification of different forms of populism to the study of new expressions of it (which, prevalently, is an effect of the vast circulation and use of new social technologies); and from the opportunity to deepen fundamental mechanisms that are the bases in formation of the populist representational discourse, movement and active response to the necessity of a wide interdisciplinary work of research. By sketching hypothesis, collecting questions and indicating problematic cruxes, this paper tries to discuss the possible contribution of philosophy (which is prevalently identified with critical hermeneutics), and the ideal interdisciplinary set-up (which is essentially defined considering a possible connection between social psychology, sociology, political science, philosophy, communication theory and new media).

The series of notes gathered in this paper mirrors the complexity of populism: from the tendency to have a negative use of the concept to its semantic and rhetoric-communicative vagueness; from an undetermined historical-theoretical integration of the concept to a theoretical-practical, cultural and ideological differentiation (which invites us to discuss 'populisms' instead of 'populism'); from the problem of the classification of different forms of populism to the study of new expressions of it (which, prevalently, is an effect of the vast circulation and use of new social technologies); and from the opportunity to deepen fundamental mechanisms that are the bases in formation of the populist representational discourse, movement and active response to the necessity of a wide interdisciplinary work of research. By sketching hypothesis, collecting questions and indicating problematic cruxes, this paper tries to discuss the possible contribution of philosophy (which is prevalently identified with critical hermeneutics), and the ideal interdisciplinary set-up (which is essentially defined considering a possible connection between social psychology, sociology, political science, philosophy, communication theory and new media).