Chantal Mouffe is one of the most influential political theorists at work today. Her work has influenced political parties across Europe and continues to inform the direction of left politics. In this work, Mouffe argues that liberal democracy misunderstands the problems of ethnic, religious and nationalist conflicts because of its inadequate conception of politics.

Revisiting the generally accepted notion of psycho-physical parallelism in Spinoza, Chantal Jaquet offers a new analysis of the relation between body and mind. Looking at a range of Spinoza's texts, and using an original methodology, she analyses their unity in action through affects, actions and passions.

Since September 11th, we frequently hear that political differences should be put aside: the real struggle is between good and evil. What does this mean for political and social life? Is there a 'Third Way' beyond left and right, and if so, should we fear or welcome it? This thought-provoking book by Chantal Mouffe, a globally recognized political author, presents a timely account of the current state of democracy, affording readers the most relevant and up-to-date information. Arguing that liberal (...) 'third way thinking' ignores fundamental, conflicting aspects of human nature, Mouffe states that, far from expanding democracy, globalization is undermining the combative and radical heart of democratic life. Going back first to Aristotle, she identifies the historical origins of the political and reflects on the Enlightenment, and the social contract, arguing that in spite of its good intentions, it levelled the radical core of political life. Contemporary examples, including the Iraq war, racism and the rise of the far right, are used to illustrate and support her theory that far from combating extremism, the quest for consensus politics undermines the ability to challenge it. These case studies are also highly effective points of reference for student revision. _On the Political _is a stimulating argument about the future of politics and addresses the most fundamental aspects of democracy that will aid further study. (shrink)

Chantal Mouffe, in her contribution “Which world order: Cosmopolitan or multipolar?”, argues that the universality of democracy and human rights, as we understand them, is all too often taken for granted. Western politicians and political thinkers alike see it as an all-or-nothing matter: democracy and human rights are to be literally adopted, in the very same way as they are known in Western Europe or North America. All deviations from this model are by definition morally suspect. They thereby overlook (...) the fact that other societies might have developed institutions that are dissimilar to the ones we know, but that are similar in the degree to which they respect human dignity and create social justice. In other words, they fail to imagine that the “good regime” might come in different forms and versions. (shrink)

Deconstruction and pragmatism constitute two of the major intellectual influences on the contemporary theoretical scene; influences personified in the work of Jacques Derrida and Richard Rorty. Both Rortian pragmatism, which draws the consequences of post-war developments in Anglo-American philosophy, and Derridian deconstruction, which extends and troubles the phonomenological and Heideggerian influence on the Continental tradition, have hitherto generally been viewed as mutually exclusive philosophical language games. The purpose of this volume is to bring deconstruction and pragmatism into critical confrontation with (...) one another through staging a debate between Derrida and Rorty, itself based on discussions that took place at the _College International de Philosophie_ in Paris in 1993. The ground for this debate is layed out in introductory papers by Simon Critchley and Ernesto Laclau, and the remainder of the volume records Derrida's and Rorty's responses to each other's work. Chantal Mouffe gives an overview of the stakes of this debate in a helpful preface. (shrink)

This book familiarizes the English-speaking reader with the debate on the originality of Gramsci’s thought and its importance for the development of Marxist theory. The contributors present the principal viewpoints regarding Gramsci’s theoretical contribution to Marxism, focussing in particular on his advances in the study of the superstructures, and discussing his relation to Marx and Lenin and his influence in Eurocommunism. Different interpretations are put forward concerning the elucidation of Gramsci’s key concepts, namely: hegemony, integral state, war of position and (...) passive revolution. (shrink)

This paper is part of a larger project defending of the foundations of microeconomics against recent criticisms by philosophers. Here, we undermine one source of these criticisms, arising from philosophers' disappointment with the performance of microeconomic tools, in particular game theory, when these are applied to normative decision theory. Hollis and Sugden have recently articulated such disappointment in a sophisticated way, and have argued on the basis of it that the economic conception of rationality is inadequate. We argue, however, that (...) their claim rests upon a misunderstanding of the concept of a game as it is used in microeconomics. (shrink)

Entretien réalisé par Chantale Mailhot avec Madeleine Akrich, ingénieure et sociologue, créatrice du cours « Controverses environnementales », et avec Liliana Doganova, chargée de recherche, cofondatrice – avec Brice Laurent, également chargé de recherche et ingénieur au corps des mines – de l’option « Affaires publiques et Innovation » à l’École des Mines de Paris.

I agree with the critique of rationalism proposed by Spinosa, Flores, and Dreyfus in ?Disclosing New Worlds?. Today the defence of democracy requires us to understand that allegiance to democratic institutions can only rest on identification with the practices, the language?games, and the discourses which are constitutive of the democratic ?form of life?, and that it is not a question of providing them with a rational justification. My comments are developed in two directions. First, as a development of their thesis (...) concerning the centrality of practices, I suggest that in order to grasp the present crisis of democratic forms of individuality we can learn a lot from Nietzsche's analysis of ?nihilism?. Second, I point to a dimension which I consider to be missing in the perspective put forward in the article. It fails to take account of the fact that the constitution of a ?we? always requires the determination of a ?them?. This, in my view, has important consequences for the relation between solidarity and politics. I conclude by arguing for the need to introduce an agonistic element in the view of solidarity, and for the crucial role of the category of the adversary in a pluralist democracy whose aim is to transform antagonism into agonism. (shrink)

It would be difficult to find a more perceptive description of Western man and the world he now inhabits than that provided by Chantal Delsol in Icarus Fallen: The Search for Meaning in an Uncertain World . With style and lucidity, Delsol likens contemporary Western man to the mythical figure Icarus, fallen back to earth after trying to reach the sun, alive but badly shaken and confused. During the twentieth century, Delsol argues, man flew too closely to the sun (...) of utopian ideology. Having been burned, he is now groping for a way to orient himself. But the ideas he once held so dear--inevitable progress, the possibility of limitless social and self-transformation--are no longer believable, and he has, for the most part, long since rejected the religious tradition that might now have provided an anchor. Delsol's portrait is engrossing. She explains how we have come simultaneously to embrace the "good" but reject the "true"; how we have sacralized rights and democracy; and how we have lost our sense of the tragic and embraced the idea of "zero risk." Already a well-known political thinker in her native France, this is Delsol's first book to appear in English. Icarus Fallen should establish her as one of the most insightful social and cultural writers working on either side of the Atlantic. "This is simply the best book about the problems of modern man since Christopher Lasch's Culture of Narcissism . It is so crammed with truth and insight that, as someone once said of Chesterton, every line deserves a review." -- The American Conservative "An extensive evaluation of the pitfalls of modern times and the strict limits on human virtues, Icarus Fallen , is strongly recommended reading for students of 20th Century Philosophy, Politics, and History." -- Wisconsin Bookwatch. (shrink)

One of the main reasons that liberal democratic societies are not ill-prepared to confront the present challenge presented by disaffection with democratic institutions, is that the type of political theory currently in vogue is dominated by an individualistic, universalistic, and rationalistic framework. This erases the dimension of the political and impedes envisaging in an adequate manner the nature of a pluralistic democratic public sphere. This paper examines the most recent paradigm of liberal democracy: 'deliberative democracy', in order to bring to (...) the fore its shortcomings. Then, the authos puts forward some element for the elaboration of an alternative model that she proposes to call 'agonistic pluralism'. (shrink)

A significant part of Wittgenstein's later writings deal with psychological phenomena. Again and again he tries to show that thoughts, feelings, etc., cannot be understoodas objects or processes in some private inner realm. According to Wittgenstein the souldoes not reside inside of us, but should rather be located in between of us. Thus offering a new way of portraying several dichotomies (such as those between the inner and the outer, the public and the private, and the self and the other), (...) Wittgenstein can be said to rethink our concept of the subject. Or should we rather say that he proposes to reduce the soul to the body, the personal to the communal — in other words, that he in fact tries to 'unthink' subjectivity? To answer this question, this article confronts Wittgenstein's 'psychology' with his 'theology'. For contrary to what he writes on the psyche, Wittgenstein stresses in his writings on religion the individual instead of the collective and the private instead of the public. By showing that Wittgenstein's theology is actually compatible with his psychology, it is argued that Wittgenstein cannot besaid to proclaim the 'death' of the subject. (shrink)

Nous sommes des êtres de chair, mais cette évidence s'obscurcit dès qu'il est question de déterminer l'étendue des aptitudes du corps et la nature de ses rapports avec l'esprit. Que peut au juste le corps? Telle est l'interrogation qui sous-tend depuis longtemps la réflexion philosophique et qui rend nécessaire aujourd'hui encore l'élaboration d'un " Connais-toi toi-même " corporel. Il importe alors d'examiner le corps à l'œuvre et d'explorer les diverses facettes de la corporéité pour en montrer la prodigieuse puissance. A (...) cet effet, il convient d'abord de cerner l'essence et la sphère d'extension de ce concept en épousant le mouvement qui, de l'inerte au vivant, des corps bruts au corps humain, préside à la constitution des multiples formes corporelles. Il s'agit ensuite de mesurer la puissance du corps à l'aune de ses capacités pratiques : puissance technique du corps en travail et au travail, puissance artistique et éthique du corps promoteur de valeurs, puissance sexuelle enfin qui nous enseigne de manière problématique aussi bien la différence entre nous et nous-mêmes - tant nous ne sommes pas ce que nous croyons être - que la différence entre le masculin et le féminin. Cet ouvrage est tout autant une méditation et une synthèse philosophiques qu'un hymne à la joie du corps. (shrink)

El dialeteísmo es la posición que afirma que hay contradicciones verdaderas. Este artículo versará sobre esa posición. En la primera sección, mencionaré los principales aportes que, en mi perspectiva, el dialeteísmo ha hecho a la lógica filosófica. En la segunda sección, analizaré el principal problema del dialeteísmo. En la tercera sección, mostraré que los argumentos a favor del dialeteísmo no llegan a establecer la verdad de esta posición. Finalmente, explicaré cuál es el tipo de paraconsistencia que considero adecuada y la (...) compararé con la posición dialeteísta. Dialetheism is the position which claims that there are true contradictions. This paper deals with this position. In the first section, I will mention the main contributions that, in my perspective, dialetheism has made to philosophical logic. In the second section, I will analyze the main problem of dialetheism. In the third section, I will show that the arguments in favor of dialetheism are not conclusive. Finally, I will explain which kind of paraconsistency I consider adequate, and I will compare it with the dialetheist position. (shrink)

In this reflection on the debates that surrounded gay marriage in Europe and North-America , Chantal Nadeau wonders what are the costs and benefits for the queer and the Nation-State when blood-as-sex is traded for blood-as-status, within a legal apparatus that is pro-family and pro-nation, working as a vector of social cohesiveness. Queer sexuality is no longer imagined as an aberration or as a misalliance, but rather as a machine of inclusion and erosion of difference, producing a new emblematic (...) figure : the queer family man. In its obsession with filiation, blood-as-status resurrects a community within which the alliance between the queer and the State guarantees the protection of the “ordinary” citizen: the normal, reasonable, patriotic citizen, whose sexuality no longer carries any dynamics of differentiation. (shrink)

Marie Chantal | : Cet article fait le point sur les travaux récents abordant le problème de l’utilisation des catégories modernes dans l’étude des traditions judéennes de l’Antiquité. La dernière décennie a en effet été marquée par la publication d’une série de recherches abordant d’abord le problème du concept moderne de « judaïsme » pour décrire une réalité antique portée par le grec Ioudaismos et se questionnant ensuite sur la façon juste de traduire Ioudaios pour respecter l’ethnicité du peuple (...) se réclamant de cette appellation. | : This paper provides a picture of the recent publications concerned with the problem of using modern categories for the study of ancient traditions from the Antiquity. In the last decade, many papers have been published first addressing the problem of the modern concept “Judaism” as a way to describe the Ancient reality related to the Greek term Ioudaismos, and second raising the question of the correct way to translate Ioudaios in respect with the ethnicity of the people related to this Greek term. (shrink)

Political conflict in our society is inevitable, and the results are often far from negative. How then should we deal with the intractable differences arising from complex modern culture? Developing her groundbreaking political philosophy of agnostics--the search for a radical and plural democracy--Chantal Mouffe examines international relations, strategies for radical politics, the future of Europe and the politics of artistic practices. She shows that in many circumstances where no alternatives seem possible, agonistics offers a new road map for change. (...) Engaging with cosmopolitanism, post-operaism, and theories of multiple modernities she argues in favor of a multipolar world with a real cultural and political pluralism. -- Publisher's website. (shrink)

The themes of citizenship and community are today at the center of a fierce debate as both left and right try to mobilize them for their cause. For the left such notions are crucial in all the current attempts to redefine political struggle through extending and deepening democracy. But, argue the contributors to this volume, these concepts need to be made compatible with the pluralism that marks modern democracy. Rather than reject the liberal tradition, they argue, the aim should be (...) to radicalize it. These essays set out to examine what types of “citizen” and “community” might be required by such a radical and plural democracy. From a range of disciplines and a fruitful diversity of theoretical perspectives, the contributors help us to address the following challenge: how to defend the greatest possible pluralism without destroying the very framework of the democratic political community. Despite their differences, a vision emerges from these essays which is sharply at odds both with the universalistic and rationalistic conception to be found in the work of Habermas, and with postmodern celebrations of absolute heterogeneity. For this book is an exploration of politics—of a politics where power, conflict and antagonism will always play a central role. (shrink)

Depuis une dizaine d'années, des centaines des millions d'internautes ont donné naissance à des édifices informationnels novateurs. Ces dispositifs dits Web 2.0 constituent de nouveaux modèles éditoriaux. Ces changements,qui s'inscrivent dans la continuité de l'histoire des techniques et des usages, accélèrent considérablement les processus historiques en cours. Par la métaphore des frontières, cet article analyse les profondes mutations intervenues dans le domaine des savoirs : question de l'accès, enjeux de la mémoire collective, transformation de la nature des savoirs.

Wikipedia est devenue en quelques années un outil de diffusion d'informations scientifiques de premier plan, utilisé par élèves, professeurs et chercheurs (parmi ces derniers, un sur dix reconnaît y contribuer). Malgré un système d'édition relativement complexe, le ' wiki de la connaissance ' a gagné en popularité (15 millions d'articles, 270 langues, 100 000 contributeurs bénévoles). On en sait davantage sur son fonctionnement : son taux d'erreur factuel est relativement similaire à celui de l'encyclopédie payante Britannica ; les articles sont (...) souvent rédigés par un petit nombre de contributeurs (5 % des contributeurs sont à l'origine de 90 % du contenu) ; une série d'' administrateurs ' jouent les pompiers ou les gendarmes, non sans s'attirer les foudres d'une partie des contributeurs ; dynamique communautaire et positionnement identitaire sont les deux motivations principales pour contribuer ; les sources scientifiques sont d'autant plus citées dans Wikipedia qu'elles le sont déjà dans le monde scientifique (le ' facteur d'impact ' est involontairement reproduit)... Comparée à ses concurrents, Citizendium et Knol, l'encyclopédie contributive se démarque par son développement insolent, mais l'éventualité d'une stabilisation du nombre d'articles (on assiste aujourd'hui à une sorte de plafonnement) laisse imaginer qu'à l'avenir les contributeurs se concentreront davantage sur la qualité des articles. (shrink)

Although Wittgenstein is famously skeptical about the possibility of making substantial philosophical claims, he can be said to offer significant insights into the difference between inner and outer as well as the difference between self and other.1 He consistently reminds us that inner and outer are intimately connected instead of only causally related, as well as that the self—far from being a wholly independent entity—always already finds itself constituted by its relationships with others. In thus contesting the Cartesian view on (...) subjectivity, however, Wittgenstein may appear to simply reduce the inner to the outer and the self to the other.. (shrink)