Critical theory and the future of humanity: A reply to Asger Sørensen

The article entails a critical discussion of the book Capitalism, Alienation and Critique by Asger Sørensen. Like Sørensen’s book, it stresses the importance of the first generation of critical theory – especially Horkheimer and Adorno – although Sørensen is at the same time critized for neglecting the insights of Horkheimer and Adornos work from the mid-1940s and onwards. In arguing for the actuality of especially the late Horkheimer, the article emphasizes the following topics: (1) The problems of education and ‘Bildung’, (2) The historical transformation of the critique of Capitalism after the Second World War and (3) The drawbacks of classical humanism when it comes to grasping the current political and ecological crisis.

Unity lost. Negotiating the ancient roots of Pedagogy in Sweden, 1865–1971

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to investigate attempts to safeguard classical humanism in secondary schools by appealing to a cultural-historical link with Antiquity, voiced in the face of educational reforms in Sweden between 1865 and 1971.Design/methodology/approachBy focusing on the content of the pedagogical journal Pedagogisk Tidskrift, the article highlights a number of examples of how an ancient historical lineage was evoked and how historical knowledge was mobilized and contested in various ways.FindingsThe article argues that the enduring negotiation over the educational need to maintain a strong link with the ancient past was strained due to increasing scholarly specialization and thus entangled in competing views on reform and what was deemed “traditional” or “modern”.Originality/valueFrom a larger perspective, the conflict over the role of Antiquity in Swedish secondary schools reveals a trajectory for the history of education as part of and later apart from a general history of the humanities. Classical history originally served as a common past from which Swedish culture and education developed, but later lost this integrating function within the burgeoning discipline of Pedagogy. The findings demonstrate the value of bringing the newly (re)formed history of humanities and history of education closer together.

The Evolution Within Human. Francesca Ferrando, Philosophical Posthumanism. (Theory in the New Humanities)

Philosophical Posthumanism is a unique intellectual proposition – one in which Francesca Ferrando not only presents and expands but also celebrates posthumanist thought. The monograph is an open invitation to explore new horizons by de-familiarizing classical humanist thought embedded within the Western civilization. Explicitly deconstructing classical humanism, Ferrando offers her readership a versatile insight into the complexity of the polyphony of new voices including, but not limited to, Posthumanism, Transhumanism, and Antihumanism – contributing to the discourse, which, as the author affirms, is tantamount to the “philosophy of our time.”

Young Milton’s Pauline Temper

This chapter attempts to look at young Milton’s formative negotiation of Pauline theology, idiom, and authorial self-representation in his early poetry and anti-prelatical political writings. Specifically, the chapter argues that the classical-Christian tension so often commented on in Milton’s early poetry and prose is not an abstract productive tension between classical humanism and Protestant theology but instead a specific authorial tension between Milton’s competing admiration above all for his two favourite writers—Ovid and Paul. In channelling and synthesizing the erotic creativity of the former with the spiritual teachings on sin and redemption of the latter, Milton slowly developed a unique poetic-spiritual stance that in time formed the basis of his future mature work, as an exploration of ‘peculiar grace’ always struggling in the world for poetically creative inward liberty.

POST-TRUTH AND NEOLIBERALISM AS FACTORS OF THE CRISIS OF THE HUMANISTIC TRADITION AND EDUCATION: SOME DISCURSIVE ASPECTS OF MODERN THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS

The article analyzes the results of the latest theoretical discussions in Western political theory, whose participants explore the specific features of the formation of the neoliberal discourse of “post-truth” that destroys the traditions of rational politics and the foundations of the humanistic paradigm of education that emerged during the European Renaissance and Enlightenment. In the modern world, classical humanism contrasts sharply with political realities and ideas prevailing in social discourses, including in the field of social sciences. Nowadays, many intellectuals, politicians and scientists consider it an almost immutable fact that we have all finally transitioned to the world of “post-truth” and “post-humanism”. Therefore, we must come to terms with endless streams of lies, manipulations, meaningless propaganda that significantly primitivize the prevailing ideas about democratic norms and institutions and try to develop a conceptual apparatus that reflects the new reality. At the same time, modern concepts of post-truth in many of their aspects develop ideas that arose at the turn of the 1960s-1970s, when the contours of the “postmodern turn” were only outlined in Western political discourse. Moreover, the historical origins of the modern phenomenon of post-humanism go back to counter-revolutionary ideology and philosophical controversy with the legacy of the French Revolution and the Enlightenment, which was initiated at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries in the works of the “founding fathers” of modern conservatism - Joseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald. After World War II, an intellectual assault on humanism became one of the hallmarks of French structuralism and subsequent more radical post-structuralist doctrines. The article substantiates in detail the thesis that today the topic of discourse claims to be a kind of “hegemon”, often dictating to the participants in discussions the nature and direction of the argumentation. Scientists’ disputes on various aspects of political dominance, political communication and education are no exception in this regard. In the process of dispersing this trend, it became obvious that a necessary prerequisite for analyzing the language of politics is an understanding of the specifics of its various levels - from “high” political theory to personal, subjective characteristics.

Relektüren des klassisch-islamischen Erbes für eine Gerechtigkeitsgrammatik der Gegenwart

This essay examines Fatima Mernissi’s and Mohammed Arkoun’s strategies of rereading central texts of the classical Islamic tradition in order to develop a contemporary normative grammar of critique. Mernissi reconsiders marginalized intellectuals and theoretical schools of Islamic history and derives immanent principles of justice. From a feminist perspective, she criticizes the dominantly patriarchal interpretations of Islamic foundational texts. Taking the classical humanism of Miskawayh as a point of departure, Arkoun carves out his conception of justice. Based on both Islamic religious ethics and antique Greek philosophy, he develops a transcultural humanism. Methodologically, Arkoun suggests a deconstructive examination of the classical Islamic texts to free Islamic thought from orthodox strictures. By way of conclusion, the article suggests that Mernissi’s and Arkoun’s progressive interpretation of the classical Islamic heritage may help to overcome the narrow, identitarian understanding of Islamic thought prevalent in both Muslim and Western societies.

Patron Saints: (3) Theological Foundations of Ordo and Religious Traces

This chapter examines the role of religion and theological debate in conservative liberalism and Ordo-liberalism. It looks at the ethical and strategic roles of religion: for Walter Eucken, Lutheran faith should act as a guide; for Friedrich Hayek, an agnostic, religion had instrumental value in gathering support. The central reference point of Ordo-liberalism was in Lutheran thought and Reformed Protestantism; their cross-national reach; the ascetic and austere moral seriousness they imparted to debates about civic virtue and the just economic order; and the effect on their attitudes to John Maynard Keynes and Joseph Schumpeter. The chapter shows how this link played a key role in the Freiburg resistance circles to the Third Reich; the work by Franz Böhm, Eucken, and others on the Bonhoeffer Memorandum; and the secularized Calvinism of James Buchanan and Frank Knight. The chapter also explores the complex and difficult relationship to Roman Catholic Scholastic thought, notably the concept of Ordo; to Catholic social thought as it evolved from the late nineteenth century, notably about social solidarity; and to Classical humanism, as represented by Stoicism; and the relatively late development of Lutheran social ethics. The challenge of building bridges to Catholicism has been a persistent concern, notably in the writings of Wilhelm Röpke. The chapter also looks at Catholic theologians who have engaged with Ordo-liberalism; the appeal of ‘thinking in orders’ within Catholicism; and successive relevant papal encyclicals. The chapter closes with reflections on the contemporary relevance of religion and its role in upholding the values of conservative liberalism and Ordo-liberalism.