Alle Publikationen
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2017
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(2017): To be or Not to be Authentic. In Defence of Authenticity as an Ethical Ideal. In: Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 20 (3), S. 567-580. DOI: 10.1007/s10677-017-9803-4
Abstract: It has recently been pointed out that the cloudiness of the concept of authenticity as well as inflated ideologies of the 'true self' provide good reasons to criticize theories and ideals of authenticity. Nevertheless, there are also good reasons to defend an ethical ideal of authenticity, not least because of its critical and oppositional force, which is directed against experiences of self-abandonment and self-alienation. I will argue for an elaborated ethical ideal of authenticity: the ambitious ideal of a continuous self-reflective process of 'self-authentication'. For this purpose, the ideal of being authentic in expressing and unfolding one's individual personality and characteristics will be combined with the ideal of being 'an authentic person' - whereby 'a person' is to be understood in a Kantian sense as an autonomous person who is (at least potentially) reasonable and morally responsible.
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(2017): Autonomie, Souveränität und Entfremdung. In: Philosophische Rundschau 64 (2), S. 122-133. DOI: 10.1628/003181517X15004614386196
Abstract: Der Entfremdungsbegriff ist als sozialwissenschaftliche Zeitdiagnose wieder zunehmend nachgefragt. Dabei werden allerdings sehr unterschiedliche Phänomene wie die Zunahme psychosomatischer Erkrankungen, die >Entfremdung< von Bevölkerung und Eliten oder der Strukturwandel der Arbeitswelt adressiert. Die Sammelrezension diskutiert vier aktuelle Beiträge zum Thema: Die beiden Einführungswerke von Christoph Henning sowie Peter V. Zima, ein Essay von Hartmut Rosa und eine Essaysammlung von Sean Sayers. Die Heterogenität dieser Werke zeigt die Schwierigkeit der analytisch scharfen Bestimmung der Entfremdungsdiagnose auf. Die geteilte Bedeutung des Begriffs betrifft grundlegende Fragen: Inwieweit stehen Menschen authentisch hinter dem, was sie tun? Sind sie in der Lage, ihre Freiheit produktiv selbst zu begrenzen und ihre allgemeinen menschlichen Potentiale durch sinnstiftende Tätigkeiten zu entwickeln? Der Beitrag zeigt, dass Entfremdung wesentlich der Entwicklung von Autonomie und Souveränität gegenübersteht. UTB. 212 S.
2016
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(2016): What (if Anything) Is Wrong with Capitalism?. Dysfunctionality, Exploitation and Alienation: Three Approaches to the Critique of Capitalism. In: The Southern Journal of Philosophy 54, S. 44-65. DOI: 10.1111/sjp.12188
Abstract: What is the problem with capitalism? Is it wrong, unjust, irrational, or bad? Is it evil or dumbor is it just not working? While critiques of capitalism have become commonplaceparticularly since the most recent global economic crisisit is often unclear what exactly is being condemned. Likewise, the normative presuppositions and criteria of such criticisms have been left unspecified. In this paper, I distinguish between three approaches to the critique of capitalism, distinguishing a functional, a moral, and an ethical argumentative strategy and paying special attention to the distinctive types of argumentation they mobilize. First, I consider the functional critique, typically directed against capitalism's straightforward dysfunctions or crises. We will find, however, that this sort of criticism presupposes a normative criterion that is frequently unarticulated, namely: the implied purpose of a well-functioning economic system. Second, I examine a common moral critique, that is, that capitalism is premised on exploitation. Yet, the concept of exploitation, too, introduces certain difficulties, since the kind of moral wrong associated with itunequal exchangeis hardly obvious to everyday observation and must be derived systematically. Third, I introduce and address the ethical critique, broadly, that capitalism constitutes a bad form-of-life. However, while I object to some of the forms this criticism has takenin particular, I argue that much alienation diagnosis is tainted by nostalgia and naiveteI nonetheless recommend developing a critique of capitalism as a form-of-life that would include ethical and functional criteria. I conclude with some remarks in this direction.
2014
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(2014): Book review. Karl Marx on Technology and Alienation, written by Amy E. Wendling. In: Historical Materialism 22 (3-4), S. 505-519. DOI: 10.1163/1569206X-12341362
Abstract: Amy Wendling contends in this book that Marx's concern with alienation is not restricted to his early, more explicitly Hegelian writings, and that it can be seen to evolve throughout his work in tandem with his interest in technology. This evolution, according to Wendling, is marked by his transition between two successive scientific paradigms, both of which pertain to the status of labour and machinery within society. Wendling claims that Marx uses the distinction between them as a means of conducting an immanent critique of capitalist ideology. Consequently, although it is primarily a work of intellectual history, this book offers an interesting contribution to the hermeneutics of Marx's Capital. In addition, it also bears relation to contemporary discussions concerning real subsumption and the abolition of labour. The book's general argument raises questions as to the degree to which a conception of alienation must rely upon notions of human essence, and upon an idea of a 'natural' and 'authentic' humanity. Wendling's responses to those questions are described as problematic within this review, but they are also acknowledged to be both pertinent and intriguing.
2013
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(2013): Alienation and empathy as mediators of the relation between Social Dominance Orientation, Right-Wing Authoritarianism and expressions of racism and sexism. In: Personality and Individual Differences 55 (3), S. 294-299. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2013.03.009
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2013.03.009 Abstract: Prior research has established a link between Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), empathy, and generalized measures of prejudice. Whether empathy functions as a mediator for more specific forms of prejudice has not been studied. Furthermore, alienation and its role in predicting prejudice have been given little attention in the literature. Our results found that empathy functioned as a mediator for SDO, but only for sexism, not racism. Alienation was found to act as a mediator between SDO and both racism and sexism. The relation between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and racism and sexism was not mediated by alienation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved) zitiert von 32
2011
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(2011): Pathologies of recognition. In: Philosophy & Social Criticism 37 (8), S. 851-887. DOI: 10.1177/0191453711413701
Abstract: Recognition is not only a response to social pathologies. It is also an unstable and often ambivalent relationship that has its own pathologies. Owing to the intertwining between recognition and power, certain forms of recognition turn out to be forms of alienation in or from the world. Such pathologies affect inter-individual recognition as well as the recognition between individuals and the socio-political institutions. The article proposes a joint reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and Philosophy of Right, which provide norms for identifying and dealing with these pathologies. The norm for inter-individual recognition is set out in the Phenomenology of Spirit, the norm for state/citizen recognition in the Philosophy of Right. The analysis envisages two other aspects of recognition: the interference of the 'I-Me' with the 'I-You' relationship and the incorporation of the 'I-We' into the 'We-Us' dimension of recognition. As regards the interpretation of Hegel's practical philosophy, the article analyses the link between Hegel's concept of recognition and his theory of action. In this view, the highest form of recognition has more to do with reconciliation - reconciliation between human beings, reconciliation with the 'finitude of action' - than with the problematic of individual and collective identity.
Keywords: alienation, alienation and recognition, Anerkennung, Anerkennung als menschliche Grundkategorie, Disziplin, Entfremdung, Entfremdung bei Hegel, finitude of action, Hegel, Hegels Begriff der Anerkennung, Menschsein als Voraussetznug für soziale Angemessenheit?, Philosophie, power relationships, RECOGNITION, Soziale Angemessenheit, Sozialphilosophie, universal freedom -
(2011): Power, alienation and performativity in capitalist societies. In: European Journal of Social Theory 14 (2), S. 161-179. DOI: 10.1177/1368431011403460
Abstract: The article presents a model of performative agency in capitalist societies. The first section reconsiders the problem of third-dimensional power as developed by Steven Lukes, focusing on the relationships between universal human needs and social forms. The second section uses the concepts of the 'self', 'I' and 'person' to characterize the relationships between human nature, affect, individual alienation, social institutions and personal judgement. Alienation is argued to be inherent in human agency, rather than being solely created by capitalism. The next section applies this analysis within an agonal theory of civil society that is driven by the individual's performative participation in associations that compete within institutional settings. Finally the article considers the political ramifications of this model, rejecting contemporary constitutionalist approaches in favour of a revised form of pluralist associationalism. Throughout, the article warns of the dangerous marginalization of emotions (or 'affect') by excessively self-conscious, rationalist approaches such as Mead's social theory, liberal universalism and even some performative theories.
2007
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(2007): A Concept of Social Integration. In: Philosophical Psychology 20 (5), S. 579-593. DOI: 10.1080/09515080701549314
Abstract: Clear definitions of alienation and solidarity are needed as a step toward an explicit theory of social integration. The idea of alienation has played a key role in the development of sociology, but it's meaning has never been clear. Both theories and empirical studies confound relational-dispositional, cognitive-emotional and/or interpersonal-societal components. This essay proposes definitions that follow from the work of Erving Goffman and others. Goffman's idea of "co-presence'' implies a model of solidarity as mutual awareness to the point of merging consciousness. It appears that this concept of solidarity could be the main component of shared context, consensus, genuine love and social facts. Two empirical approaches are described, one with moment by moment analysis of dialogue, the other using sample surveys. With the use of mathematical notation, the survey method might be used to analyze social facts. The model could also form the basis for an explicit and testable theory of social integration.
Keywords: alienation, Entfremdung, Erving Goffman, Gegenseitigkeit, Gemeinsamkeit, Goffman, Gruppenverhalten / Joint Action, INTEGRATION, Intentionalität, Joint Action / Collective Agency, kollektive Intentionalität, Modelle/Theorien, mutual awareness, social integration, Solidarität, solidarity, Soziale Integration, Soziologische Entfremdungstheorien, Theory of interaction (Goffman)
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