scholarly journals Action-Guidance, Oppression, and Nonideal Theory

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa H Schwartzman
Keyword(s):  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
Moral Failure ◽  
Normative Issues ◽  
Action Guidance ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

Lisa Tessman’s Moral Failure: On the Impossible Demands of Morality raises important questions about ideal theory, oppression, and the role of action guidance in normative philosophy. After a brief overview of feminist and anti-racist philosophers’ critiques of ideal theory, I examine Tessman’s claim that nonideal oppression theorists focus too narrowly on action guidance and thereby obscure other important normative issues, such as the problem of moral failure. Although I agree with Tessman’s advocacy of a wider focus—and with her suggestion that situations of inevitable moral failure are particularly important to examine in contexts of oppression—I question whether nonideal oppression theorists actually emphasize action guidance to the exclusion of other concerns. I conclude with a brief examination of the way that ideal and nonideal theory have been defined and understood in debates about normative methodology, and I suggest that a move away from Rawls’s account of the ideal/nonideal distinction would benefit feminists and other oppression theorists.

Idealizing Morality

Hypatia ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Tessman
Keyword(s):  
Moral Agent ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
Moral Failure ◽  
Normative Expectations ◽  
Action Guidance

Implicit in feminist and other critiques of ideal theorizing is a particular view of what normative theory should be like. Although I agree with the rejection of ideal theorizing that oppression theorists (and other theorists of justice) have advocated, the proposed alternative of nonideal theorizing is also problematic. Nonideal theorizing permits one to address oppression by first describing (nonideal) oppressive conditions, and then prescribing the best action that is possible or feasible given the conditions. Borrowing an insight from the “moral dilemmas debate”—namely that moral wrongdoing or failure can be unavoidable—I suggest that offering (only) action-guidance under nonideal conditions obscures the presence and significance of unavoidable moral failure. An adequate normative theory should be able to issue a further, non-action-guiding evaluative claim, namely that the best that is possible under oppressive conditions is not good enough, and may constitute a moral failure. I find exclusively action-guiding nonideal theory to be both insufficiently nonidealizing (because it idealizes the moral agent by falsely characterizing the agent as always able to avoid moral wrongdoing) and meanwhile too strongly adapted to the nonideal (because normative expectations are lowered and detrimentally adapted to options that, while the best possible, are still unacceptable).

Against the Yuck Factor: On the Ideal Role of Disgust in Society

Utilitas ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL KELLY ◽  
NICOLAE MORAR
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Empirical Theory ◽  
Normative Issues ◽  
In Virtue Of ◽  
The Ideal

The view we defend is that in virtue of its nature, disgust is not fit to do any moral or social work whatsoever, and that there are no defensible uses for disgust in legal or political institutions. We first describe our favoured empirical theory of the nature of disgust. Turning from descriptive to normative issues, we address the best arguments in favour of granting disgust the power to justify certain judgements, and to serve as a social tool, respectively. Daniel Kahan advances a pair of theses that suggest disgust is indispensable (Moral Indispensability Thesis), and so has an important part to play in the functioning of a just, well-ordered society (Conservation Thesis). We develop responses and show how they rebut the arguments given in support of each thesis. We conclude that any society free of social disgust would be more just, reasonable and compassionate.

Rites of the God-King

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Geslani
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Account ◽  
Early Medieval ◽  
Hindu Tradition ◽  
Royal Power ◽  
History Of ◽  
Multiple Lives ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

Most accounts of Hinduism posit a radical difference between the aniconic fire sacrifice (yajña) and temple-based image worship (pūjā). The historical distinction between ancient Vedism and medieval Hinduism is often premised on this basic ritual opposition. Through an exacting study of ritual manuals, Rites of the God-King offers an alternative account of the formation of mainstream Hindu ritual through the history of śānti, or “appeasement,” a form of aspersion or bathing, developed in order to counteract inauspicious omens. This ritual, which originated at the nexus of the fourth and somewhat marginal Veda (Atharvaveda) and the emergent tradition of astronomy-astrology (Jyotiḥśāstra), would come to have far-reaching consequences on the ideal ritual life of the king in early medieval Brahmanical society—and on the ideal ritual life of images. The mantric substitutions involved in this history helped to produce a politicized ritual culture that could encompass both traditional Vedic and newer Hindu practices and performers. From astrological appeasement to gifting, coronation, and image worship, the author chronicles the multiple lives and afterlives of a single ritual mode, disclosing the always inventive work of priesthood to imagine and enrich royal power. Along the way, he reveals the surprising role of astrologers in Hindu history, elaborates concepts of sin and misfortune, and forges new connections between medieval texts and modern practice. Detailing forms of ritual that were dispersed widely across Asia, he concludes with a reflection on the nature of orthopraxy, ritual change, and the problem of presence in the Hindu tradition.

The Battles of God and King Richard

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Staunton
Keyword(s):  
Twelfth Century ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

This chapter looks at the representation of King Richard in war, particularly in the Holy Land and on the way there. English historians’ accounts of King Richard’s wars have usually been examined for the information they provide of military engagements, or for how they illustrate his image as the ideal knight-king. Here the emphasis is instead on the role of the divine. References to God’s role in battle are so obvious in medieval histories that they may easily be ignored, but, as shown here, there is much complexity in the presentation of such a role by these twelfth-century historians of Angevin England.

Education and the Arts in Plato's Republic

1996 ◽  
Vol 178 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-98
Author(s):  
J. David Blankenship
Keyword(s):  
Moral Education ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Average Person ◽  
Full Discussion ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

The education in ‘music’ described in Books II-III of the Republic combines the content and the manner of presentation of stories so that moral substance and formal beauty work together to inculcate the opinions and virtues required in the children who are to become guardians of the ideal city. The principles which underlie this section constitute a theory of the role of the arts in moral education that can be applied in others contexts. Plato's view of how such education works depends upon his view of the way in which imitation affects the soul, and can be understood thoroughly only after the parts of the soul have been distinguished and the epistemological and ontological groundwork has been laid for a full discussion of imitation. These requirements having been met in the course of Books IV through IX, Plato returns to imitation in Book X, using painting as a foil to mount ontological, epistemological, and psychological criticisms of imitative poetry, now focussing upon its effect on adults, not children. His attack tacitly exempts the kind of imitations exemplified by Socrates' own frequent image making and by the philosophical poetry of the Republic itself. Socrates imagines, but rejects, a certain defense of popular poetry, the very one which Aristotle developed in his doctrine of ‘catharsis.’ But that defense rests upon views of practical knowledge and of the psychological resources of the average person that Plato would be unlikely to have accepted.

scholarly journals Seeing and Hearing in the Laozi and Zhuangzi and the Question of Authority and Authenticity

Religions ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Andrej Fech
Keyword(s):  
Sense Experience ◽  
Dao 道 ◽  
The Senses ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

The present paper investigates the significance of visual and auditory metaphors as used in the main Daoist classics the Laozi 老子 and Zhuangzi 莊子. While both works disparage the role of the senses, they nonetheless employ a large number of metaphors related to the sense experience. It is the contention of the author that examining these metaphors against the backdrop of the main modern theories dealing with characteristics of vision and hearing is crucial for a better understanding of how the authors of both works envisioned the ideal relation between man and the Way (dao 道) as well as their views on authority and authenticity.

Let's Go to the Moon: Science Fiction in the North Korean Children's Magazine Adong Munhak, 1956–1965

2014 ◽  
Vol 73 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dafna Zur
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Political Discourses ◽  
The North ◽  
Science Technology ◽  
Bear Witness ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

Science fiction narratives appeared in the North Korean children's magazine Adong munhak between 1956 and 1965, and they bear witness to the significant Soviet influence in this formative period of the DPRK. Moving beyond questions of authenticity and imitation, however, this article locates the science fiction narrative within North Korean discourses on children's literature preoccupied with the role of fiction as both a reflection of the real and a projection of the imminent, utopian future. Through a close reading of science fiction narratives from this period, this article underscores the way in which science, technology, and the environment are implicated in North Korean political discourses of development, and points to the way in which these works resolve the inherent tension between the desirable and seemingly contradictory qualities of the ideal scientist—obedient servant of the collective and indefatigable questioner—to establish the child-scientist as the new protagonist of the DPRK.

scholarly journals NORMS, EVALUATIONS, AND IDEAL AND NONIDEAL THEORY

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 393-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Jubb
Keyword(s):  
Structural Models ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Bernard Williams ◽  
States Of Affairs ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
Political Agents ◽  
Action Guidance

Abstract:This essay discusses the relation between ideal theory and two forms of political moralism identified by Bernard Williams, structural and enactment views. It argues that ideal theory, at least in the sense Rawls used that term, only makes sense for structural forms of moralism. These theories see their task as describing the constraints that properly apply to political agents and institutions. As a result, they are primarily concerned with norms that govern action. In contrast, many critiques of ideal theory are structured and motivated by their commitment to an enactment model of political theorizing. This instead sees political agents and institutions as instruments for producing or promoting better states of affairs. Enactment models treat the evaluations that rank different states of affairs as justificatorily basic, rather than norms governing action on which structural models focus. This reveals an important feature of debates about ideal theory. Whether ideal theory is capable of appropriately guiding action will depend on what the criteria for appropriately guiding action are, about which different theorists have importantly different views. For example, some popular strategies for defending ideal theory fail, while it may be much less clear that some alternatives to ideal theory can provide action guidance than their advocates claim.

A PHILOSOPHER OF SCIENCE LOOKS AT IDEALIZATION IN POLITICAL THEORY

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 11-31
Author(s):  
Jenann Ismael
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Division Of Labor ◽  
Real World ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Nonideal Theory ◽  
The Real ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Ideal Part ◽  
Real World Problems ◽  
The Ideal

Abstract:Rawls ignited a debate in political theory when he introduced a division between the ideal and nonideal parts of a theory of justice. In the ideal part of the theory, one presents a positive conception of justice in a setting that assumes perfect compliance with the rules of justice. In the nonideal part, one addresses the question of what happens under departures from compliance. Critics of Rawls have attacked his focus on ideal theory as a form of utopianism, and have argued that political theory should be focused instead on providing solutions to the manifest injustices of the real world. In this essay, I offer a defense of the ideal/nonideal theory distinction according to which it amounts to nothing more than a division of labor, and explore some scientific analogies. Rawls’s own focus on the ideal part of the theory, I argue, stems from a felt need to clarify the foundations of justice, rather than a utopian neglect of real world problems.

Education and the Arts in Plato's Republic

1997 ◽  
Vol 179 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-98
Author(s):  
J. David Blankenship
Keyword(s):  
Moral Education ◽  
Practical Knowledge ◽  
Psychological Resources ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Average Person ◽  
Full Discussion ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Ideal ◽  
The Way

The education in ‘music’ described in Books II-III of the Republic combines the content and the manner of presentation of stories so that moral substance and formal beauty work together to inculcate the opinions and virtues required in the children who are to become guardians of the ideal city. The principles which underlie this section constitute a theory of the role of the arts in moral education that can be applied in others contexts. Plato's view of how such education works depends upon his view of the way in which imitation affects the soul, and can be understood thoroughly only after the parts of the soul have been distinguished and the epistemological and ontological groundwork has been laid for a full discussion of imitation. These requirements having been met in the course of Books IV through IX, Plato returns to imitation in Book X, using painting as a foil to mount ontological, epistemological, and psychological criticisms of imitative poetry, now focussing upon its effect on adults, not children. His attack tacitly exempts the kind of imitations exemplified by Socrates' own frequent image making and by the philosophical poetry of the Republic itself. Socrates imagines, but rejects, a certain defense of popular poetry, the very one which Aristotle developed in his doctrine of ‘catharsis.’ But that defense rests upon views of practical knowledge and of the psychological resources of the average person that Plato would be unlikely to have accepted.

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