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Lecture notes 1-6 Political philosophy and organization studies (431014-B-6)
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Complete summary of lectures 1-6 from PPOS, which should be known for the midterm.
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HC Political Philosophy and Organ.Studies - PART 1
1. Why Organize? 1
2. Rawls' Principles of Justice 3
3. Feminism 6
4. The Racial Contract 10
5. Justice in a risk society 14
6. Justice at work 17
, HC Political Philosophy and Organ. Studies - PART 1, Emma Hamm 2078889
1. Why Organize?
WHAT DO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHERS DO?
1) Political philosophy
“All activities associated with determining the governance of a particular group of people”
Any activity that determines the rules by which a group is government
(bv; elections used to determine WHO gets to govern us)
→ Politics versus the political system
→ what do we do in politics? 2 views; Strive to Consensus / strive to conflict
→ Organization is politic (bv; who becomes the CEO, explains the rules)
(organizing people = political
2) Political philosophy
“Radical and critical reflection on the fundamentals of reality and human existence”
Radical – comes from Radix (= roots). A tree; how it appears to us. But in the roots, deeper
reality we want to access!
Going to the deeper reality by asking psychological questions
Art philosophy: what is seen as ugly or beautiful?
Moral philosophy: what is the difference between good and evil?
Two (personal) slogans of philosophy
1 - Socrates : “I know that I know nothing”
Philosophy looks for truth, and therefore we need to overcome opinions/
need to break with the first observations, since they are false → to the roots
of things
2 - Newton : “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”
If I have contributed to scientific progress, not because I’m smart, but because I
stand on the shoulders of predecessors. How have other people in the past
already thought of those subjects? (=starting point. From there dig deeper
→ Looking for a productive form of not-knowing
Even today, philosophers still ask questions like what is love
Major divide: normative theory (1) VS critical theory (2)
1) Normative theory 2) Critical theory
What is the good way of governing society?
- Political philosophy as a branch of social philosophy
- Political philosophy as a branch of moral theory - Philosopher as cartographer *
→ norms come first, than look at actual society * projectie en ontwerpt de kaart
- Philosopher as legislator and judge → far more descriptive. Start from what is the case. First
→ As a philosopher you are going outside the circle look at society. Are within society, cannot judge but you
of society and see how the society SHOULD be can map it out how society looks like from your position
organized. Forget how reality is really organized - Michel Foucault
- John Rawls
OVERVIEW LECTURES
OVERVIEW LECTURES 7) Michel Foucault on power
1) Why organize? 8) Disciplinary power
2) Rawls’s principles of justice 9) Neoliberalism
3) Feminist critiques of Rawls 10) Expulsion
1
, HC Political Philosophy and Organ. Studies - PART 1, Emma Hamm 2078889
4) Communitarian critiques of Rawls
5) The racial contract 11) Post-Fordism
6) The political and radical democracy 12) Econocracy
13) Platform capitalism
WHY DO PEOPLE ORGANIZE?
“One could test all theories of state and political ideas according to their anthropology and thereby
classify these as to whether they consciously or unconsciously presuppose man to be by nature evil
or by nature good. […] The problematic or unproblematic conception of man is decisive for the
presupposition of every further political consideration, the answer to the question whether man is a
dangerous being or not, a risky or a harmless creature.” – Carl Schmitt, The Concept of the Political
→ if we organize people (if we do politics), we have to make basic assumptions about other people.
Are other people trustworthy or not?
“Man is evil” → Thomas Hobbes
● 17th-century English philosopher
● State of nature: war of all against all. If there were no government/organization/law/..; war!
No state, no protection. You have to be caution
● Need for a strong State (to impose the law) (comes from humans inability to cooperate. State
needed to enforce cooperation)
● An absolutist State to withhold the slippage into civil war
We need someone who is responsible for enforcing the law.
→ Organization as the outcome of humankind’s inability to cooperate - need the state to enforce
cooperation.
Illustrations: The pandemic and toilet paper (law with maximum you can get), ethnic civil war
“Man is good” → Benedictus Spinoza
● 17th-century Dutch philosopher
● State of nature: spontaneous cooperation. Not in order to do so
● No need for a strong State
● The ‘multitude’ spontaneously and directly governs itself
Multitude = the mass of ordinary people without power or influence / a large number of people
or things.
→ Organization as the outcome of individuals’ spontaneous cooperation
Illustrations: The pandemic and mutual aid, Social movements (e.g. Occupy Wall Street,
climate protests)
Is man evil or good? → philosopher: I DON’T KNOW!
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