En tant qu’introduction à son sujet, l’ouvrage est cependant un modèle de clarté et de concision. L’auteur retrace d’abord l’histoire des idées libérales et démocratiques: il présente la querelle des anciens et des modernes au sujet de la liberté, évalue l’impact de la révolution des droits de l’homme et résume les contributions de Mill et de Tocqueville au débat. Dans les derniers chapitres du livre, Bobbio discute les rapports que le libéralisme et la démocratie ont établis avec l’utilitarisme, l’individualisme, l’organicisme (...) et le socialisme. Considéré comme un travail d’introduction, le seul point faible du livre est de ne pas être à jour. (shrink)

David Miller est un intellectuel de gauche britannique bien connu pour ses nombreuses et importantes publications en philosophie politique et son dernier ouvrage, Principles of Social Justice, était attendu avec impatienceDans cet ouvrage, Miller propose des principes généraux de justice sociale devant guider l’organisation des principales institutions de la société ainsi qu’une justification élaborée de ces principes. C’est ce qu’on peut appeler, à l’instar de Miller, une théorie de la justice sociale. La théorie est ambitieuse, traite des principaux aspects de (...) l’organisation de la société et contient des remarques intéressantes sur les difficultés du maintien des services sociaux et des paiements de transfert dans le contexte de la mondialisation et du multiculturalisme. L’auteur prétend que ce qui caractérise sa théorie est un plus grand souci du contexte d’application de la justice ainsi qu’une considération plus systématique des opinions des gens ordinaires. (shrink)

The history of democracy is increasingly understood as not only the recovery of its practices and conceptualisations but also of its signifiers. In order to grasp the transition of the word “democracy” from a reviled to a revered term in Britain, this article focuses on socialist uses of the democratic idiom during the 1880s. Across a study of socialist publications, speeches and newspapers, three different uses of “democracy” emerge. First, the word could mean a political ideal to be materialised, through (...) universal suffrage but more widely by means of popular and direct control of Parliament. Second, the term was seen as a dangerous illusion that cast a veil over capitalist oppression. Third, “democracy” could denote a political reality already present in Britain, which needed to be reflected in the economic sphere. Although sometimes diverging, these uses can be linked to three important socialist organisations: the Social Democratic Federation (S.D.F.), the Socialist League (S.L.) and the Fabian Society (F.S.). Recovering these distinctive uses illuminates the relationship between “democracy” and “socialism” and offers a key with which to understand our current political landscape. (shrink)

Il faut d’emblée signaler que l’ouvrage dont il s’agit est la traduction d’un livre publié pour la première fois en italien en 1989 sous le titre Etica e politica. Étant donné qu’il s’est passé beaucoup de choses depuis cette date en philosophie politique et en politique, il est difficile d’évaluer l’intérêt de l’ouvrage et de lui rendre entièrement justice. Idéalement il faudrait le comparer aux ouvrages de son époque et tenir compte du contexte politique et intellectuel italien, ce qui n’est (...) pas toujours facile. Cela dit, mon opinion est que le sujet traité a évolué trop rapidement et que l’ouvrage ne présente plus beaucoup d’intérêt pour le spécialiste. Compte tenu du niveau d’abstraction et des nombreuses références aux auteurs contemporains, le non-spécialiste n’en retirera pas beaucoup non plus. Après avoir résumé schématiquement les idées de Veca, je les commenterai point par point en les mettant en relation avec les développements récents en philosophie politique. (shrink)

RÉSUMÉ Dans de récents travaux, Charles Taylor distingue deux types de libéralisme, qu'il associe respectivement au Canada et au Québec. Le premier se caractérise par l'adhésion à la règle de neutralité de I'État, tandis que le second impose moins de limites à l'intervention de l'État. Parce qu'il serait moins « homogénéisant », Taylor se prononce en faveur du second type. Plusieurs éléments de l'analyse de Taylor me semblent faux ou erronés. Premièrement, la distinction entre les deux types de libéralisme n'est (...) pas toujours claire. Deuxièmement, le type de libéralisme que Taylor favorise n'est pas du tout acceptable. Troisièmement, je ne crois pas que le Canada et le Québec adhèrent à des types différents de libéralisme. ABSTRACT In his recent works, Charles Taylor distinguishes between two forms of liberalism, which are respectively associated with Canada and Québec. The first one is characterized by its support for the neutrality of the State, while the second imposes almost no restriction to the intervention of the State. Because it is less "homogenizing", Taylor favors the second form. Many parts of Taylor's analysis seems to me to be false or erroneous. First, the distinction between the two liberalisms is not at all clear. Second, the liberalism that Taylor favors is not acceptable. Third, it is not true that Québec and Canada adhere to different forms ofliberalism. (shrink)

L’ouvrage de M. Pestieau, intéressant et substantiel, s’articule autour de trois thèmes on ne peut plus actuels: la fragmentation des nations, la mondialisation de l’économie et l’impact de ces deux phénomènes sur la souveraineté de l’État et la santé des institutions démocratiques. Concernant le premier thème, l’auteur aborde entre autres les questions du nationalisme, du multiculturalisme et du droit de sécession. Au sujet du second, l’auteur traite des effets de la mondialisation sur l’emploi et la répartition des richesses, de l’aide (...) au développement, de la pertinence des interventions économiques de l’État, de la constitution de grands blocs économiques, etc. Enfin, considérant les défis soulevés par les deux thèmes précédents, l’auteur fait le point sur la démocratisation des institutions et associations internationales, le fédéralisme, le patriotisme constitutionnel et le nationalisme culturel. Sur toutes ces questions, le propos se veut général et universel, mais les cas du Canada et du Québec servent souvent d’exemples. Accompagne cette ambitieuse table des matières, une bibliographie considérable que l’auteur semble tout à fait maîtriser. (shrink)

This provocative study revives a classical idea about rationality by developing analogies between the structure of personality and the structure of society in the context of contemporary work in the philosophy of mind, ehtics, decision theory, and social choice theory.

Conceptions of autonomy in western philosophy and ethics have often centred on self-governance and self-determination. However, a growing bulk of literature also questions such conceptions, including the understanding of the autonomous self as a self-governing independent individual that chooses, acts, and lives in accordance with her or his own values, norms, or sense of self. This article contributes to the critical interrogation of selfhood, autonomy, and autonomous decision making by combining a feminist focus on relational dimensions of selfhood and autonomy (...) with phenomenological philosophy of the embodied self as being-in-the-world. It offers a philosophical investigation of different dimensions of bodily relational autonomy by turning to phenomenological accounts of the lived body as self-reflexive. When so doing, we hope to contribute to bridging the gap that sometimes exists between discussions of autonomy in analytic moral philosophy and of freedom and facticity in phenomenological philosophy. We see this gap as unfortunate, and hold that a nuanced understanding of autonomy and autonomous decision making can be reached if these strands of philosophy are brought into dialogue. (shrink)

jild-i 1. Āzādī va marzʹhāyash -- jild-i 2. Istiqlāl (farhangī).

This book presents three of the works of Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the founder of the Bahá'i Faith, dealing with social and political issues.00In 'The Secret of Divine Civilization' (1875) Abdu'l-Bahá supports the administrative and broader social reforms of Mirzá Hosayn Khán, but looks mainly for organic reform through the efforts of Iranian intellectuals to waken and educate the masses. In this work, Abdu'l-Bahá gives virtuous and progressive Islamic clerics a leading role among these intellectuals, indeed most of his appeals are (...) directed specifically to them. 'A Traveller's Narrative' (1889/90) is an authoritative statement of the broad lines of Bahá'i social and political thinking. 'The Art of Governance' (1892/93) was written as Iran entered a pre-revolutionary phase, and ideas that we recognise today as the precursors of political Islam were spreading. It sets out the principles underlying the ideal relationship between religion and politics and between the government and the people.00In addition to presenting the first parallel text translations of these works, the Persian texts incorporate notes on variants in the early published sources. An introduction outlines the intellectual and political landscape from which Abdu'l-Bahá wrote, and in which his expected readers lived. (shrink)

In these skeptical and disillusioned times, there are still groups of people scattered throughout the world who are trying to live out utopian dreams. These communities challenge the inevitability and morality of dominant political and economic models. By putting utopian religious ethics into practice, they attest to the real possibility of social alternatives. In Seeds of the Kingdom, Anna L. Peterson reflects on the experiences of two very different communities, one inhabited by impoverished former refugees in the mountains of El (...) Salvador and the other by Amish farmers in the Midwestern U.S. What makes these groups stand out among advocates of environmental protection, political justice, and sustainable development is their religious orientation. They aim, without apology, to embody the reign of God on earth. The Salvadoran community is grounded in Roman Catholic social thought, while the Amish adhere to Anabaptist tradition. Peterson offers a detailed portrait of these communities' history, social organization, religious life, environmental values, and agricultural practices. She discovers both practical and ideological commonalities in these two comparatively successful and sustainable communities, including a strong collective identity, deep attachment to local landscapes, a desire to preserve non-human as well as human lives, and, perhaps unexpectedly, a utopian horizon that provides both goals and the hope of reaching them. By examining the process by which people struggle to live according to a transcendent value system, she sheds light on both the actual and the potential place of religion in public life. Peterson argues that the Amish and Salvadoran communities, geographically and culturally removed from the industrialized West, have relevance for the political and environmental problems of the developed world. These communities have succeeded in the face of significant internal and external challenges, offering important practical and theoretical lessons on how to achieve ecological sustainability and social justice in the wider world. (shrink)

In addition to the transmission of the science of hadith from the Eastern Islamic world to the west, particularly to Andalusia, a rich literature also developed in Andalusia. Therefore, the development of the science of hadith and hadith methodology in the Andalusian region and the impact of scholars from that region on these sciences is an important issue that deserves attention. This article examines how the intellectual atmosphere of Andalusia was enriched by the hadith works that came from the East (...) and the scholarly activity these works generated. It also addresses the hadith methodology literature that emerged in the Andalusian region and the reflections of this literature in the hadith methodology works of the From this perspective, the study first briefly highlights the hadith and hadith methodology literature that reached Andalusia from the Mashriq region, followed by the works written by Andalusian scholars that contributed to the hadith methodology literature. Subsequently, the influence of hadith methodology works by hadith scholars from the Eastern Islamic world on Andalusian literature is examined. Furthermore, the study evaluates how Andalusian scholars were referenced in the Mashriq hadith methodology literature and their influence on these works. Through this analysis, the interaction between the Mashriq and Andalusian regions within the context of hadith methodology is demonstrated. The contribution of Andalusian scholars to the hadith literature by enriching the knowledge and expertise they received from the East with their interpretations and original works increased the importance of the region in the Islamic world. Additionally, the influence of the hadith methodology works written in Andalusia on Eastern literature reveals the reciprocal nature of cultural interaction. (shrink)