Political Subjectivity Theories Analysis

Political subjectivity Theories AnalysisPower, Freedom, Justice Explorations in Political SubjectivityReflective LogsThe take aim of this paper is to reflect on how the future(a) thinkers studied in the mental faculty engaged with Kants imageion of subjectivity. I bequeath address the following thinkers and topic in my reflective logs Arendt, Berlin, Fanon, Marcuse, Foucault, Habermas, Rawis, MacIntyre, Rorty, and New materialism.Immanuel Kant Sapere Aude come across 21st January 2014Kant in his spurt What is discretion? argues that Enlightenment is mans release from his self-incurred tutelage (Kant, 1784). He means that virtuoso pot still become tyro when they keep an eye on the courage to think/reason with erupt the help of new(prenominal)wises.Hannah Arendt Vita ActivaDate 22nd January 2014Hannah Arendt is truly one of the most significant thinkers of the 20th century, and one of the most influential to me in political subjectivity. The German born thinker introd uces the termination vita activa into political subjectivity. She differentiates amidst three basic human activities labour, work, action (Arendt, 2000 p 167-181). These conditions atomic number 18 inf tout ensembleible for a human being in farming to live a life on earth. Labour is delimit as the biological implement of the body, and it is a significant necessity of life. Work maintains a world that is dyed (Arendt, 2000), which is highly differentiated from every days environment. Action is defined by her as the ongoing activity that is non interfered by other things, and she connects this to the plurality of the human position.Arendt suggests that labour is repetitive, which is never ending, period work has an true(a) beginning and an end. fleck action is ongoing as revealing who we argon has a beginning tho no end. Because of this reasoning Action becomes fadeless in her view. Arendt moves forward from the view of Kant as she develops thought to action while Kants view is establish on reflective reasoning.Isaiah Berlin Negative and positive tier FreedomDate 5th February 2014Berlins biggest contribution to political subjectivity was his paper on the differentiation of 2 concepts of liberty. He distinguishes between positive license and shun granting immunity. He defines negative freedom as freedom from (Berlin, 1969 p.2), which implies the absence of jam put on a human being by others. He describes positive freedom on two ways Firstly, as freedom to (Berlin, 1969, p.8.) to be able to reach and seek ones wished goals. Secondly, as being independent, and ruling ones self without depending on other beings the freedom which consists in being ones own insure (Berlin, 1969, p. 8.) Even though, the basic notion of distinguishing different freedoms goes back to the condemnation of Kant, Berlin provided develops these notions, and he became the first to outline the ongoing debate. Berlin also contradicts the views of Arendts, even though he also believes that it is important that a line to be move between the argona of head-to-head life and that of world authority (Berlin, 2002171). While Arendt is a supporter of the freedom in the public athletic field, Berlins freedom is based on the privy sphere, as for him being free is to the degree which no man or body of men interferes with my activity (Berlin, 2002169).Maurice Merleau-Ponty EmbodimentDate twelfth February 2014Maurice Merleau-Ponty argues that a human being cannot isolate himself/herself from the public realm and from the perceptions of the world. He suggests that the actions of an man-to-man are guided by experiences, and subjectivity is established done the body and life experiences of a human being. Merleau-Ponty does not agree with the concept that thinking subject can absorb into its thinking or take over without remainder the object of its thought, and that our being can be brought see to our knowledge (Merleau-Ponty, 196272). For him freedom i s a state of consciousness where personal actions and responsibilities can be chosen from a variety of possibilities. For him freedom is every time provided within a field of possibilities. He suggests that freedom is always an alternative for the being in every situation, unless we give up ourselves and our belonging to the situation. He also goes against the views and arguments of Kant and Descartes who detached the subject, or consciousness, by showing that I could not possibly apprehend anything as existing unless I first of all experienced myself as existing (Merleau-Ponty, 1962x). It is because to Merleau-Ponty it is only through and through the body that he understand other bulk, secure as it is through my body that I perceive things (Merleau-Ponty, 1962216).Herbert Marcuse Agency and StructureDate 19th February 2014Marcuse in his print One-Dimensional military personnel offers a different approach to political subjectivity. In his post-Marxist view he criticise the moder n world and its contemporary capitalism. He addresses the industrial friendship, and he blames this capitalist industrialised civilisation for the going of freedom. Reasonable democratic unfreedom prevails in advanced industrial civilisation (Marcuse, 19641). He suggests that the capitalist world produced a reality with created needs which eventually turned human beings into consumers and producers. This is shaped through the media, the management of consumption and contemporary modes of thought regarding what to consume (Marcuse, 1964). He argues that this results in the loss of the freedom of the individual and the loss of critical thought and the loss of oppositional behaviour. He also worries about the working class as they contain into capitalist world, hence about the disappearance of the revolutionary Marxist society who fights capitalism and the capitalist West.Michel Foucault Subject and PowerDate 26th February 2014The main focus for Foucault has been on the connection between the subject and power. He argues that by power people are turned into subjects (Foucault, 1982777). For Foucault subjectivity is viewed as a way to accomplishment power above others. This is demonstrated through the idea of the Panopticon where in the designed prison, prisoners would not be able to tell whether they are being watched or not. Therefore, they assume that they are being ob be fool hence they act otherwise while under the assumption of observation. He acknowledges the component of fairly enlightened changes in the way of imprisonment, however he argues that these new method of penalisation evolves into the new way in which society is controlled to punish less, perhaps but certainly to punish better (Foucault, 1977109). Schools, hospitals and other central significant buildings are being based on the following model. Therefore, he argues that this relationship enters the private by escalating from the public, and turning individuals into subjects. Foucault als o tries to question and shape the values and elements of Kants Enlightenment via a discussion which should be used as a diverseness of practice, and as motivation to change the way individuals think and act today.Jrgen Habermas Communicative FreedomDate 5th shew 2014Habermas takes the centre of the vigilance to language and to forms of communication. His term for this is lifeworld communications (Habermas, 1987, p.297). He suggests that this communicative sphere has a vital exploit on ones private and public self. Unlike Foucault for Habermas reason must be acknowledged as social. While Foucaults subjectivity is the production of forces of power, Habermas believes that communication in the context of discussion enables individuals to demonstrate their positions in a mutual way. Habermas powerfully believes that language and communication can alter the world, subjectivity and also freedom. A man from his private sphere can communicate their choices to the public sphere through t he tools of communication and speech, while they also listen to the preferences of other private individuals. Habermas has been influence by Kant and Kants ethics, however he argues that his ethical concept is the ameliorate version of the Kantian one. He does not agree with every breaker point of Kant, such as the dual framework of his ethics. For Habermas, righteouss emerge from discussions which are fundamental due to their logic, instead of their freedom.John Rawls Social JusticeDate 12th prove 2014John Rawls is one of the thinkers who has been most influenced by Immanuel Kant. He proposes that a just society is the society that could be fair to all individuals universally. He created a new concept on justice. He mixes the elements of the philosophy of Kant and Utilitarianism in order to create a new method for the judgement of private and public institutions. Rawls proposes the idea of the usage a veil of ignorance (Rawls, 199911). Behind this veil, every individual is inc apable of knowing anything about themselves, resulting in rational, free and equal individuals. He then argues that these rational individuals would create a society where mostly two rationales would be most significant and fundamental formula of Liberty and Principle of Difference. Principle of Liberty is mainly Kantian in the sense that it offers main(a) and commons respect to every individual as the minimum principle for every just establishments. The other one promotes inequality and believes that it will serve every individual for the better.Alasdair MacIntyre Justice in Plural SocietiesDate 19th March 2014MacIntyre has been one of the major critics of Kant and those who are basing their theories on the Kantian model. He believes that the moral views and theses of Kant, Rawls and other thinkers are condemned to fail as they used the old chimerical dialects of morality. These thinkers are doomed to decline as they share certain characteristics that are deriving from their eminently distinct historical background (MacIntyre, 1985). He claims that the surmisal of Rawls that is based on the individual and was influenced by the Kantian model does not realise the significance of the confederation as such. He suggest that the community has a major impact on the life of the individual and it is only possible to create a just society in the public sphere. As he puts it a society is composed of individuals, each with his or her own interest, who then have to come together and formulate common rules of life (MacIntyre, 1981 232-233). He completely refuses to accept the Rawls-Kantian notion where society is middle-level and the individual is primary. He reaffirms that the relationship between me, my social identity, and my good will preclude re-evaluation (MacIntyre, 1982664).Richard Rorty Justice as a Larger Loyalty Date 26th March 2014Rorty is quiet alike MacIntyre, in the sense that individuals have different identities which pose an influence on the be haviour and actions of the individual. Although his thesis is based on the behaviour of public loyalty to certain companies. He realises the limitations of Kants seatalist theory. He suggest that these theories are like mythological stories where the human reason as such was limited. He believes that it is wise to get rid of the respite rationalism that we inherit from the Enlightenment (Rorty, 2001235). His main reason for this is that the elimination of rationalistic rhetoric would allow Western countries to purse the Non-Western areas in the role of soul with an instructive story to tell, rather than in the role of someone purporting to be making better use of a universal human efficiency (Rorty, 2001 235). Finally, he argues that most of the philosophical debates are unnecessary and the centre of attention should not lay on the truth but rather on the betterment of humans.New Materialism Date 2nd April 2014New Materialism and the writer of the article, William Connolly dra ws upon some self-organizing preservation which provide assistance in the foundation of our world. These relating biological, geological and climate systems are seriously undervalued in todays neoliberal economic markets. The reading engages with many influential thinkers and philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Deacon, Foucault and Hayek. New-materialism reinvents and rethinks the ideology of freedom. Connolly in the reading encourages the left to take back the state and not to relinquish it.Conclusion Date 2nd April 2014To conclude, political subjectivity has been a very interesting module to attend in the hold out semester of my studies. I realised by the end of this tasks that each week my arrangement of the different thinkers have developed significantly through the material provided by the module leader. I have discovered new thinkers in the module and broadened my vision of political subjectivity. It raised some serious questions and discussions which seems to be a never-end ing position while individuals have their own ideas.BibliographyAlasdair MacIntyre (1985) After Virtue, chapter 15, Duckworth, pp. 205-225Arendt, H. (1958) The human race Condition, University of Chicago Press.Arendt, H. (1970) On Violence, Harvest Books.Arendt, H. (2007) Introduction into Politics. In The phone of Politics, ed. Kohn, J. Schocken BooksHerbert Marcuse (1964) One-Dimensional Man, RoutledgeImmanuel Kant (1784) What is Enlightenment?Isaiah Berlin (1969) Two Concepts of Liberty. In Four Essays on Liberty, Oxford University Press OxfordJohn Rawls (2004) On Justice as Fairness. In Clayton and Williams (eds) Social Justice, Blackwell, pps. 49-84, extracts from (1999) Theory of Justice, (revised edition), Harvard University Press (pps. 6-9, 10-19, 52-58, 61-73, 130-39)Jrgen Habermas (1987) An alternative Way out of the Philosophy of the Subject Communicative versus Subject-Centred Reason. In The Philosophical discourse of Modernity, MIT Press (pps. 294-326)Maurice Merleau -Ponty (1958 reprinted 2003) Freedom. In Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge, pp. 504-530Michel Foucault (1977) Panopticism. In Discipline and Punish The stimulate of the PrisonsRichard Rorty (2001) Justice as a Larger Loyalty. In Festenstein, M.Thompson, S. (eds.), Richard Rorty captious Dialogues, Polity Press, pps. 223-237William Connolly (2013) The New Materialism and the Fragility of Things, Millennium Journal of world-wide Studies, Vol. 41, I. 3, pp. 399-412.