Abstract In Justice as Fairness, Rawls presents a case for property-owning democracy (POD) which heavily depends on a favourable comparison with welfare state capitalism (WSC). He argues that WSC, but not POD, fails to realise 'all the main political values expressed by the two principles of justice'. This article argues that Rawls's case for POD is incomplete. He does not show that POD is superior to other conceivable forms of WSC. In order to present a serious contender, I sketch what I call a realistically utopian welfare state (RUWS) that (a) guarantees the fair equality of political liberties and opportunity and that (b) maximises the situation of the worst.-off via a kind of participation income. The main aim of the article is to give credibility to the claim that RUWS is not obviously worse than POD by Rawlsian standards and therefore deserves a fair hearing in further research.
Political philosophy, which in the past century was marginalized by positivism to the category of pseudoscience, seems to have recovered its status. The publication of A Theory of Justice by John Rawls in 1971 was the reason why we claim that political philosophy has resurrected or, at least, has not completely die. This paper makes a general presentation of that kind of political philosophy proposed by Rawls, which we call normative or realistically utopian. We try to define the method of this kind of philosophy, its object, the type of arguments it uses, the meaning of the terms "realistic" and "utopian" and the practical functions it performs. Our intention with this paper is not to exclude other forms of philosophizing, but to expose peacefully the way that we consider to be the most desirable one of doing political philosophy. ; La filosofía política, que estuvo marginada por el positivismo a la categoría de las pseudociencias durante el siglo pasado, parece haber recuperado su estatus. La publicación en 1971 de Teoría de la justicia de John Rawls fue el motivo por el cual podemos decir que la filosofía política resucitó o, al menos, no murió completamente. En este trabajo realizaremos una presentación general de esa forma de hacer filosofía política propuesta por Rawls que llamamos normativa o realistamente utópica. Para este objetivo tratamos de delimitar el método de esta forma de filosofar, su objeto, el tipo de argumentos que utiliza, el sentido de los términos "realista" y "utópico" y las funciones prácticas que cumple. Nuestra intención con este trabajo no es excluir otras formas de filosofar, sino exponer pacíficamente la manera que consideramos más deseable de hacer filosofía política.
While many people all over the world become conscious about serious defects and inefficiencies of the prevailing political systems based on representative democracy, alternative solutions for more just and inclusive systems of governance continue developing. Alternative forms of democracy based on the idea of civic participation and deliberation have more and more followers, who are willing to implement innovative participatory and collective decision making practices in various areas and at various organizational levels. However, the strife for greater self-governance, reinforcement of citizens role in political decision-making processes and establishment of bottom-up control over public expenditures is often considered as a merely utopian project, especially by those who benefit most from the current status quo. In this article, I examine the fundamental ideological challenges for the new egalitarian approaches and argue that instead of making dichotomous distinction between utopianism and realism, realistically utopian approach is the most desirable.
This article offers some theoretical reflections on how to categorize or type 1960s radicalism — termed as the 'Movement' here — in the USA and Britain. Particular reference is made to the work of Karl Mannheim, notably to his use of the concepts of 'generation' and 'utopia' and related terms. The article concludes that the radical 'generational unit' or student movement of the 1960s, despite weaknesses, was in certain respects 'societally' or 'realistically utopian' rather than manifestly 'unrealistic' as some critics have argued. References supportive of the main argument are made to Mills and Marcuse's understanding of 1960s radicalism and to data based on interviews with a number of British and American activists. It is argued that the strong cultural theme of 1960s radicalism is highly characteristic of its realistically transcendent utopian character.
Abstract This commentary challenges Michael Scliefczyk's proposal for a realistically utopian welfare state (RUWS). As it stands, RUWS says too little about the concrete measures it will offer to avoid political domination and harmful inequalities. Moreover, RUWS follows Rawlsian Property-Owning Democracy (POD) by being silent on crucial issues such as banking regulation, the governance of investments and the issue of actual control over capital. Ultimately, it therefore seems that RUWS does not present an attractive alternative to POD since it suffers from very similar problems and shortcomings as POD.
This article outlines the contribution Rawls's 'well-ordered society' makes to the ongoing discourse of intergenerational justice. Can Rawls's 'realistically utopian' vision of a well-ordered society, a society comprising just institutions that embody the goods of liberty and individual self-authorship of the good life, secure justice between the generations? By considering the totality of the Rawlsian project rather than specific sections of his work such as his 'just savings principle', it is possible to assess the ability of ideal liberal theory to guarantee the rights of future citizens while simultaneously addressing pressing environmental crises, the most notable of which being climate change. Adapted from the source document.
This article outlines the contribution Rawls's 'well-ordered society' makes to the ongoing discourse of intergenerational justice. Can Rawls's 'realistically utopian' vision of a well-ordered society, a society comprising just institutions that embody the goods of liberty and individual self-authorship of the good life, secure justice between the generations? By considering the totality of the Rawlsian project rather than specific sections of his work such as his 'just savings principle', it is possible to assess the ability of ideal liberal theory to guarantee the rights of future citizens while simultaneously addressing pressing environmental crises, the most notable of which being climate change.
In a recent article, Benjamin McKean defends utopian political theorising by means of an internal critique of realism, construed as essentially anti-utopian, in order to defend human rights against realist objections thereto. I challenge that argument in three steps, focusing on the realism of Raymond Geuss. First, I show that the realism of Raymond Geuss is not incompatible with utopianism, that Geuss never opposes realism to utopianism and that he frequently argues that political theory should be both more realistic and more utopian. Second, I show that McKean misconstrues Geuss' opposition to human rights as anti-utopian. Neither Geuss' opposition to ethics-first political theory nor his objections to human rights can accurately be explicated in terms of McKean's 'utopianism'. Finally, I show how this misconstruing of Geuss' realism renders McKean's critique of Geuss ineffective, as a result of which his defence of human rights against Geuss' realist objections fails. I conclude with some reflections on the importance of this for methodological debates in political theory, the value of realistically utopian theorising and the ideological power of contemporary ethics-first approaches to political theory.
Immigration is one of the most polarizing issues in contemporary politics. It raises questions about identity, economic well-being, the legitimacy of state power, and the boundaries of membership and justice. How should we think about immigration and what policies should democratic societies pursue? Some contend that borders should generally be open and people should be free to migrate in search of better lives. Others insist that governments have the right to unilaterally close their borders and should do so. In Immigration and Democracy, Sarah Song develops an intermediate ethical position that takes seriously both the claims of receiving countries and the claims of prospective migrants. She argues that political membership is morally significant, even if morally arbitrary. Political membership grounds particular rights and obligations, and a government may show some partiality toward the interests of its members. Yet, we also have universal obligations to those outside our orders. Where prospective migrants have urgent reasons to move, as in the case of refugees, their interests may trump the less weighty interests of members. What is required is not open or closed borders but open doors. An accessible ethical framework that clarifies and deepens the ideas with which members of democratic societies can debate immigration, Immigration and Democracy considers the implications of a realistically utopian theory for immigration law and policy.
International audience ; Political philosophy is realistically utopian when it pushes back what ordinary reflection conceives of as the limits of practical political possibilities. 2 Summary: In the history of Rousseau's philosophical uses, John Rawls unquestionably deserves privileged treatment. The author of the Theory of Justice assumes the heritage of Rousseau, even if the influence of this thinker remains less, in his work, than that of Kant. Resolutely turning his back on the anti-totalitarian reading of the Social Contract, Rawls fully reintegrates Rousseau into the history of liberal thought and makes the general will one of the pillars of the "well-ordered society". Rousseau not only makes it possible to think about justice based on the contract, but also the question of the "stability" of a society: the contractualist theory exposed in the Social Contract serves to specify the stakes of the concept of equality, in its articulation with freedom ; it envisages the mechanism of the general will, the object of which is to create the social conditions of justice, thanks to the basic institutions which ensure its foundation; finally, it wonders about the best way to create the "social spirit" or the motivations which will allow these institutions to be perpetuated. Far from being the precursor of totalitarianism and the gravedigger of freedom, Rousseau thus appears as the supporter of a just and stable society where only true freedom can be achieved. ; La philosophie politique est utopiste de façon réaliste lorsqu'elle fait reculer ce que la réflexion ordinaire conçoit comme les limites des possibilités politiques pratiques 2. Résumé : Dans l'histoire des usages philosophiques de Rousseau, John Rawls mérite sans conteste un traitement privilégié. L'auteur de la Théorie de la justice assume l'héritage de Rousseau-même si l'influence de ce penseur reste moindre, dans son oeuvre, que celle de Kant. Tournant résolument le dos à la lecture anti-totalitaire du Contrat social, Rawls réintègre pleinement Rousseau à ...
International audience ; Political philosophy is realistically utopian when it pushes back what ordinary reflection conceives of as the limits of practical political possibilities. 2 Summary: In the history of Rousseau's philosophical uses, John Rawls unquestionably deserves privileged treatment. The author of the Theory of Justice assumes the heritage of Rousseau, even if the influence of this thinker remains less, in his work, than that of Kant. Resolutely turning his back on the anti-totalitarian reading of the Social Contract, Rawls fully reintegrates Rousseau into the history of liberal thought and makes the general will one of the pillars of the "well-ordered society". Rousseau not only makes it possible to think about justice based on the contract, but also the question of the "stability" of a society: the contractualist theory exposed in the Social Contract serves to specify the stakes of the concept of equality, in its articulation with freedom ; it envisages the mechanism of the general will, the object of which is to create the social conditions of justice, thanks to the basic institutions which ensure its foundation; finally, it wonders about the best way to create the "social spirit" or the motivations which will allow these institutions to be perpetuated. Far from being the precursor of totalitarianism and the gravedigger of freedom, Rousseau thus appears as the supporter of a just and stable society where only true freedom can be achieved. ; La philosophie politique est utopiste de façon réaliste lorsqu'elle fait reculer ce que la réflexion ordinaire conçoit comme les limites des possibilités politiques pratiques 2. Résumé : Dans l'histoire des usages philosophiques de Rousseau, John Rawls mérite sans conteste un traitement privilégié. L'auteur de la Théorie de la justice assume l'héritage de Rousseau-même si l'influence de ce penseur reste moindre, dans son oeuvre, que celle de Kant. Tournant résolument le dos à la lecture anti-totalitaire du Contrat social, Rawls réintègre pleinement Rousseau à ...
International audience ; Political philosophy is realistically utopian when it pushes back what ordinary reflection conceives of as the limits of practical political possibilities. 2 Summary: In the history of Rousseau's philosophical uses, John Rawls unquestionably deserves privileged treatment. The author of the Theory of Justice assumes the heritage of Rousseau, even if the influence of this thinker remains less, in his work, than that of Kant. Resolutely turning his back on the anti-totalitarian reading of the Social Contract, Rawls fully reintegrates Rousseau into the history of liberal thought and makes the general will one of the pillars of the "well-ordered society". Rousseau not only makes it possible to think about justice based on the contract, but also the question of the "stability" of a society: the contractualist theory exposed in the Social Contract serves to specify the stakes of the concept of equality, in its articulation with freedom ; it envisages the mechanism of the general will, the object of which is to create the social conditions of justice, thanks to the basic institutions which ensure its foundation; finally, it wonders about the best way to create the "social spirit" or the motivations which will allow these institutions to be perpetuated. Far from being the precursor of totalitarianism and the gravedigger of freedom, Rousseau thus appears as the supporter of a just and stable society where only true freedom can be achieved. ; La philosophie politique est utopiste de façon réaliste lorsqu'elle fait reculer ce que la réflexion ordinaire conçoit comme les limites des possibilités politiques pratiques 2. Résumé : Dans l'histoire des usages philosophiques de Rousseau, John Rawls mérite sans conteste un traitement privilégié. L'auteur de la Théorie de la justice assume l'héritage de Rousseau-même si l'influence de ce penseur reste moindre, dans son oeuvre, que celle de Kant. Tournant résolument le dos à la lecture anti-totalitaire du Contrat social, Rawls réintègre pleinement Rousseau à ...
To form expectations about the future, one must ask what has been happening and what will continue. Economic growth, technological development and the idea of material progress are many centuries old; they will not be reversed within a few decades, unless extraordinarily com pelling new forces emerge. Neo-Malthusian arguments, pos tulating imminent "overshoot" of limits—environmental, agri cultural and resource—are unpersuasive. Nevertheless, there is an urgent need to improve feedback mechanisms, so that appropriate and timely adjustments can be made before such limits are approached. The controversy over the future of economic activity will probably rage on, although both the unlimited growth and equilibrium scenarios, currently being debated, are utopian. More realistically, competent manage ment of a world increasingly affluent and reliant on technology may bring about limited but tangible progress, while misman agement or misfortune may result in disasters.
It is widely accepted that rigorous rehabilitation exercises after a stroke can help restore some functionality. However for many patients, this means exercises at home with minimal, if any, clinician support. Technologies that help motivate and promote good exercises offer significant potential but need to be designed to realistically take account of real homes and real lives of the people who have had a stroke. As part of the Motivating Mobility project, we carried out a series of visits to homes of people living with stroke and photographed their homes. In contrast to many utopian smart home scenarios, the elderly of today live in homes that were built as homes fit for heroes' but have been evolved and adapted over time and present significant challenges for the design of in‐home rehabilitation technologies. These challenges include the uses and repurposing of use of rooms, attitudes to and uses of existing technologies, space available in the home, feelings about different spaces within homes and individual preferences and interests. The findings provide a set of sensitivities that will help shape and frame ongoing design work for the successful deployment of rehabilitation technologies in real homes.
The aim of my paper is to analyse Aldous Huxley's utopian novel Island (1962) comparing it to the ideas expounded in his essays Science, Liberty and Peace (1946) The Human Situation (1959), The Politics of Ecology-The Question of Survival (1963) and An Encyclopaedia of Pacifism (1972). As we shall see, Huxley, in accordance with the "green movement" of the seventies and eighties (S.F. Schumacher, 1974; H. Daly, 1977; D.W. Pearce, R.K. Turner, 1990) discusses several important issues that are still, today, at the very core of the environmental debate. Aldous Huxley is an interesting example of an intellectual who managed to unite the two cultures, scientific and humanistic, and who dedicated his life to the search of new perspectives and yet unexplored horizons. His motto "I keep learning" brilliantly exemplifies his lucidly critical attitude towards the reality surrounding him and his observation of nature. His critical thought is, as we shall see, a complex combination of rationality and creativity, of scepticism and mysticism that finds its synthesis in the philosophical principle of being "realistically idealist". In this sense the Utopian island of Pala in Island positions itself as the symbol of Huxley's spiritual and cultural research, because in it he strives to combine and harmonise the results of natural science and cultural technology with eastern thought. In this work he prospects a new model for civilisation in which mysticism and rationalism manage to blend. In Island he criticises progress as the cause of consumerism and the exploitation of nature, and traditional science and medicine as having been slaves of capitalistic society, politics for its cynicism, as well as for having manipulated and conditioned people; he then concludes by hypothesising a society where a perfect balance between the mind and the body, nature and man exists. ; Lo scopo del mio saggio é di analizzare il romanzo utopico di Aldous Huxley Island (1962) mettendolo a confronto con le idee che lo scrittore espone nei suoi saggi Science, Liberty and Peace (1946), The Human Situation (1959), The Politics of Ecology-The Question of Survival (1963) and An Encyclopaedia of Pacifism (1972). Inoltre si metterà in luce quanto Huxley fosse in sintonia con "il movimento dei verdi" in America negli anni 70 e 80 (S.F. Schumacher, 1974; H. Daly, 1977; D.W. Pearce, R.K. Turner, 1990) su alcune importanti questioni che sono ancora al centro del dibattito ecologico sull'ambiente. Aldous Huxley è un interessante esempio di un intellettuale che si sforzò di unire le due culture, la scientifica e l'umanistica, e che dedicò tutta la vita a ricercare nuove prospettive ed orizzonti ancora inesplorati. Il suo motto "Continuo ad apprendere" esemplifica magnificamente il suo atteggiamento critico e lucido nei confronti della realtà e la sua osservazione della natura. Il suo pensiero critico è una combinazione complessa di razionalità e creatività, di scetticismo e misticismo, che trova la sua sintesi nel principio filosofico di essere " un idealista realistico". In questo senso l'isola utopica di Pala in Island esemplifica la ricerca spirituale e culturale di Huxley, perché egli si sforza di unire e armonizzare i risultati della scienza naturale e della cultura tecnologica con il pensiero orientale. In questo romanzo egli prospetta un nuovo modello di civiltà in cui misticismo e razionalismo si mescolano. In Island egli critica il progresso perché è la causa del consumismo e dello sfruttamento della natura, la scienza tradizionale e la medicina poiché sono state asservite alla società capitalista, la politica sia per il suo cinismo che per aver manipolato e condizionato la gente. In sintesi Huxley ipotizza una società in cui vi sia un equilibrio perfetto tra mente e corpo, tra natura e uomo.
