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Problems with Richard Rorty's pragmatist understanding of liberalism, especially in relation to defining social justice, are considered. It is contended that Rorty's identification as a postmodern is fundamentally ironic since he considers himself a Hegelian yet rejects certain metanarratives (eg, history). Rorty's contention that certain Enlightenment & post-Enlightenment philosophies are inappropriate for modern society since they rely on metaphysical understandings of social & political practices is reviewed. It is subsequently contended that Rorty's understanding of liberalism as providing a paradigm for social justice is itself based on a metaphysical metanarrative. Consequently, a social scientific approach to determining social justice that relies on certain truth-claims to evaluate political practices is advocated. 17 References. J. W. Parker

Problems with Richard Rorty's pragmatist understanding of liberalism, especially in relation to defining social justice, are considered. It is contended that Rorty's identification as a postmodern is fundamentally ironic since he considers himself a Hegelian yet rejects certain metanarratives (eg, history). Rorty's contention that certain Enlightenment & post-Enlightenment philosophies are inappropriate for modern society since they rely on metaphysical understandings of social & political practices is reviewed. It is subsequently contended that Rorty's understanding of liberalism as providing a paradigm for social justice is itself based on a metaphysical metanarrative. Consequently, a social scientific approach to determining social justice that relies on certain truth-claims to evaluate political practices is advocated. 17 References. J. W. Parker

Argues that Michel Foucault's genealogical method intends to reconfigure the relation between intellectual & political life &, thus, to displace four conventional approaches to these issues: (1) historical approaches that conceive of history in terms of progress or a panoply of alternatives to the present; (2) philosophical approaches bound to metaphysics; (3) policy advocacy that offers specific reforms or legislative proposals; & (4) political position taking on various conflicts, events, & policies. These approaches are described as modernist in that they seek to examine systems & point out their contradictions. Foucault's genealogical method pursues another avenue by asking how logics of power have produced the present, which opens a new political space in which it is possible to call the present into question. This space is to be distinguished from Foucault's particular political dispositions in that it has no necessary political entailments, but rather, simply affords a particular kind of discursive space for political thought & judgment. D. Ryfe

Examines tensions between critical, polemical, & messianic threads in Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri's Empire (2000) in light of prior arguments deviating from orthodox historical materialism. Hardt & Negri's move from a deconstructive-critical to an ethnopolitical methodological approach is addressed before considering the place of Gilles Deleuze & Felix Guattari's work in their postmodernism, highlighting the notion of "deterritorialization." Understanding their polemical divergence from critical or deconstructive approaches when such polemic does little to impel or describe the leftist struggle is difficult; ie, their prophecy is problematized when their metaphysics offers no empirical course or conclusion, & this raises questions for the organization of their notion of multitude. Attention turns to comparing their thought to Georges Sorel's anarchist variation on orthodox Leninism; specifically, multitude is likened to his "General Strike," with the Hardt & Negri's idea constituting what Sorel would call a political myth. The value of such a myth for social movements operating in the context of Empire is questioned. J. Zendejas

An autobiographical narrative draws on Maria Lugones's (1992) notion of a "new mestiza consciousness" to describe the experiences of a woman who considers herself neither completely inside, nor completely outside, conventional mainstream categories. The focus is on being a person of mixed heritage who occupies the "in-between" space of both a professional philosopher & embryologist, as well as the unique space of a semiprofessional artist & ballroom dancer. It is contended that being trained as both a philosopher & scientist, coupled with having the experiences of an artist, have permitted bypassing many disciplinary, intellectual, & institutional boundaries, while also integrating pragmatic issues concerning gender & science into the practice of teaching & research. The incorporation of scientific materials like the evolving nature of Darwinism into an introductory philosophy class is described, along with how both science & art can be integrated into epistemology & metaphysics; & how tensions stemming from being an insider-outsider serve to empower the reworking of professional, institutional, gendered, & racial borders. 12 References. J. Lindroth

Considers the Marxist project in terms of a set of foundational myths similar to those propounded by its major nemesis, Christianity. In G. W. F. Hegel, the original Christian metaphysics undergoes a historicist revision such that the divine will evolve not in heaven, but in human history. Karl Marx turned this mythology on its head by translating it into social terms. In Marxism, social being came to replace being, absolute freedom was theorized as a process of social revolution, & heaven was replaced by a scheme of political organization -- communism. This mythology appealed to the European working classes because it offered them a radical & final release from their situation. It was disseminated through Leninist philosophy, which constructed a new set of social hierarchies on the basis of values that referred to a mythical future. The transition from an eschatology-oriented society in Eastern Europe toward a one-dimension liberal reality has consisted precisely in replacing the Marxist mythology with the institutions of the market & law. 10 References. D. Ryfe

Considers how the modern bureaucratic Canadian state assimilates the grievances of minority groups into its dominant legal discourse, drawing on several examples illustrating the conflict between the language of the aggrieved as Other & legal language. Included in these examples are discrimination suits filed against Seneca Coll & government treatment of aboriginal peoples. It is shown that the legal discourse of the state involved special cognate doctrines that render invisible the complaints of minority groups as they are experienced. Minority groups must therefore rely on lawyers to represent their interests, in the process transforming themselves into recognized, juridical persons. This juridical person is far removed from the embodied experienced of the aggrieved & is disconnected from the language that minority groups might employ to express their grievances. The objective & neutral positioning of the lawyer in legal discourse is achieved at the cost of perpetuating a metaphysics that leaves no room for the experiences or languages of minority groups. 21 References. D. M. Smith

Considers three current interpretations of Karl Marx's theory of social justice, labeled young Hegelian cryptonormativism; scientific antinormativism; & life-liberal cryptonormativism, respectively. In the first interpretation, Marx explicitly repudiates distributive notions of justice, yet appears to retain a belief in some notion of justice. This paradox is explained as a consequence of Marx's faith in a young Hegelian metaphysical philosophy in which justice is defined as the recovery of an unalienated species-being. In the second interpretation, it is argued that Marx rejects notions of distributive justice, not because he is a young Hegelian metaphysic, but because of his scientific analysis of capitalist exploitation. The third interpretation sees in Marx's paradoxical views on justice an ethical vision representative of a liberal-humanist quest for substantive freedom & individual self-realization. It is concluded that, while there is much to recommend in these three interpretations, several issues remain unresolved in their debates: the value of Marx's Hegel, the usefulness of Marx's theory of human nature; & Marx's conception of the relation between labor & freedom. 110 References. D. Ryfe

Discusses four contexts or "moments" wherein cosmopolitanism took purchase to expose the limits & potential of some currently relevant cosmopolitan ideas/ideals & practices. Detailed are Zeno's moment in antiquity, Kant's moment circa the French Revolution, Arendt's moment in light of Nazism & Stalinism & the notion of crimes against humanity, & Nussbaum's moment related to educational reform & as exemplary of late North American thought. Following their explication, brief comments are offered. In connection to Zeno's moment, issues of political community are touched on. For Kant's moment, three related problems of his philosophy of history & metaphysics of justice are addressed. A sense of disembodiment is apparent in Arendt's moment & her treatment of cosmopolitan law in relation to crimes against humanity. In Nussbaum's moment, the paradox that states, via the educational system, employed strong ideologies of assimilation & integration with immigrants is recognized. In this light, it is suggested that cosmopolitanism cannot provide the one solution to problems related to nationalism, racism, ethnic conflict, or religious fundamentalism; however, in reflecting on these moments, the moral requirement for a cosmopolitanism is evident & a call is made for cautious advance. J. Zendejas

Discusses four contexts or "moments" wherein cosmopolitanism took purchase to expose the limits & potential of some currently relevant cosmopolitan ideas/ideals & practices. Detailed are Zeno's moment in antiquity, Kant's moment circa the French Revolution, Arendt's moment in light of Nazism & Stalinism & the notion of crimes against humanity, & Nussbaum's moment related to educational reform & as exemplary of late North American thought. Following their explication, brief comments are offered. In connection to Zeno's moment, issues of political community are touched on. For Kant's moment, three related problems of his philosophy of history & metaphysics of justice are addressed. A sense of disembodiment is apparent in Arendt's moment & her treatment of cosmopolitan law in relation to crimes against humanity. In Nussbaum's moment, the paradox that states, via the educational system, employed strong ideologies of assimilation & integration with immigrants is recognized. In this light, it is suggested that cosmopolitanism cannot provide the one solution to problems related to nationalism, racism, ethnic conflict, or religious fundamentalism; however, in reflecting on these moments, the moral requirement for a cosmopolitanism is evident & a call is made for cautious advance. J. Zendejas

A critique of Jacques Derrida's Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning, and the New International (1993) focuses on the relation between the progressive construction of deconstruction & the object it transforms, specifically the specters of capital. The ontological importance of Karl Marx's spectral reading of ideology as applied to capital/society is examined, maintaining that a specter is the "movement of an abstraction that is materialized & becomes powerful." To Marx, the phenomenology of capitalist production, via this spectral movement, demonstrates capital's metaphysics & the autonomy of its power. The contributions of deconstruction to an updated critique of capitalism are discussed, claiming that irreversible transformations of postmodern labor & relations in production affirm the inadequacy of Marxian critiques of value & create a new spectral reality in which no measure is perceptible. The specter of communism & Derrida's avoidance of the word "exploitation" are explored, suggesting that, although Marx's ontological description of exploitation is out of date, the mechanisms that produce it are even more powerful in the era of postindustrial capitalism. Suggestions are made for a radical new form of Marxism. J. Lindroth