The Crisis of Social Democracy in Europe by Michael Keating And

bs_bs_banner POLITICAL STUDIES REVIEW: 2015 VOL 13, 560–631 Book Reviews Political Theory Existentialism: An Introduction by Kevin Aho. With the wide array of sources that he deploys, Aho Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014. 193pp., £15.99, ISBN is effective in his aim (p. xiv) to expand the discussion 978 0 7456 5142 2 beyond the ‘big four’ of existentialism – namely Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre. Existentialism as a philosophical outlook enjoyed a However, one theme – the tension of existentialism formidable presence in universities, literary circles and with Marxism – could have been addressed in more political associations in Europe for a good part of the detail. After all, this was the reason for the famous previous century before it was replaced by post- Sartre-Camus rift and, likewise, resolving the problems modernism and post-structuralism. Kevin Aho’s book between the two supposedly contradictory approaches is a commendable effort to show why existentialism is to society informed Sartre’s later project, culminating still relevant today as a tool of understanding what it in the mammoth two volumes of Critique of Dialectical means to be a human being in the world. Drawing Reason. Apart from this gap, Aho’s work provides a from the writings of the giants of existentialist lucid account of what needs to be known about exis- thought, the author makes a compelling argument for tentialism and its protagonists. the contemporary relevance of the philosophy and Karthick Ram Manoharan why it is useful as a critique of both the modern (University of Essex) individual and society. In this, Aho’s book is not just an introduction to existentialism, but also its Critical Theory and the Digital by David M. defence. Berry. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. 260pp., £65.00, While the general accusation against existentialism ISBN 978 1 4411 6639 5 has been that it is an amoral philosophy, Aho differs strongly. In a perspicuous chapter on ‘Ethics’, he The coming of the digital age has given rise to two argues that while existentialism rejects ‘the possibility contrasting genres of studies in social science in recent of moral absolutes because this puts universal principles times: one that celebrates the ever-increasing presence above the concrete needs of the individual’ (p. 111), it and emancipatory role of the digital in shaping our life offers in its place ‘a life that is free from self-deception, in the ‘smart’ world; and the other which critically that owns up to the finitude and vulnerability of the investigates its referents and the ways and means by human situation and accepts that our individual actions which it impacts not just on the way we act, but also, always impact the lives of others’ (p. 121). Thus, exis- more fundamentally, on the way we think. This book tentialism is not a rejection of morality, but proposes a falls into the second category. It combines conceptual- different approach to morality. While covering differ- theoretical and empirical richness in taking up a theme ent themes that form the core concerns of the phi- that admittedly generates agonising complexity for losophy, Aho, however, takes care to introduce to his researchers. readers the tensions between its proponents as crisply as The author clarifies at the outset that his task possible. He also demonstrates his familiarity with non- involves ‘questioning’ the digital/computal/computa- Eurocentric approaches to the philosophy in his dis- tional. His motive emerges out of a concern for cussions about critical race theorists and Buddhism. the changing relationship between knowledge and Students of continental philosophy, epistemology and freedom, which in turn changes the equation between identity politics are all likely to find sections in Exis- us and new digital technology – with a distinct priority tentialism that cater to their specific interests. and advantage for the latter. In developing the onto- © 2015 The Authors. Political Studies Review © 2015 Political Studies Association BOOK REVIEWS 561 logical and epistemological orientations the author psychology in order to re-evaluate the mainstream acknowledges his huge intellectual debt to the Frank- interpretations of his philosophy and, in particular, to furt School. The masters of the School (with the reassess the relationship between the soul and politics. exception of Habermas), despite not having experi- The book is divided into three parts, each devoted enced the digital grip of the latter-day world, could to one of the dialogues Phaedo, Republic and Laws. leave enough clues for those now existentially and According to Brill’s reading of Plato, the soul oscillates intellectually disturbed by the process of the compu- between timeless Being and mortal body. It is both tational colonisation of life. The chapters of the book, plastic – i.e. ‘subject to a wide variety of transforma- which explicate the trajectory from culture industry to tions with respect to its condition’ (p. 3) – and at the computational industry, the ‘softwarisation’ of society, same time unique because it sustains its entity through- and computational ontologies, aesthetics and critical out all fragmentation processes. Brill thinks that the praxis, bear testimony to the impact of the School, plasticity of the soul is the main challenge Plato has to along with due attention to Heidegger, Mannheim and address in his political theory. Analysing his iconogra- Foucault. However, in the challenging task of con- phy of the soul leads her to three theses: (1) the structing a critical theory of the digital the author plasticity of the soul is intertwined with the political offers new theoretical insights vis-à-vis the existing community; (2) the afterlife myths rectify the short- order of things. term perspective of everyday life and therefore ‘have a The crux of the matter is that transformative social prosthetic function’ (p. 7); and (3) given that philoso- change is inherently political, with human agency and phy requires certain attitudes and skills of the soul, an subjectivity as its foundational forces. The digital enquiry of the soul elucidates the conditions of phi- mediation can at best be a facilitator to this process, losophy itself. and any attempt to accord it primacy is fraught with Brill realises her ambitious programme in an able caution. The paradox, however, is that with the aston- and consistent manner. However, her argument is not ishing ascendance of new technology there is an entirely compelling. First, the way in which the city attempt to construct and promote a kind of techno- forms the soul receives insufficient attention. Brill con- rationality in which the ‘normal’ way to perceive and vincingly shows that the analysis of the tyrant in the interpret the social world is to do so through the digital Republic suggests the necessity of limiting psychic and computational lens. The most dangerous conse- excess. In her view, the laws and myths of the city quence of this perspective is the slow but steady nega- fulfil this prosthetic function, yet she barely speaks tion of political praxis and the appropriation of about education. Only four pages deal with philo- alternative visions by ‘techno-social reality’. With mil- sophical training (pp. 128–31). This is surprising as lennial capitalism facilitating such processes by legiti- laws and myths do not necessarily rely on the plasticity mating the accumulation of immaterial capital, it of the soul since they can be understood as mere would have been more gratifying if the author could external constraints. In contrast, education must assume have addressed the state-market ‘collaboration’ in this the malleability of the soul and therefore might call for regard. However, in demystifying the digital and prior investigation. Second, Brill’s attempt to take the bringing it into the realm of critical theory the book myths as part of the overall argument is innovative but remains a timely and important work. raises a question. She supposes that the four reasons for the immortality of the soul in Phaedo are incomplete. Dipankar Sinha (Calcutta University) But why would the philosopher revert to myths in order to remedy this deficiency? This claim seems unjustified as Socrates offers a rational way out (107 Plato on the Limits of Human Life by Sara Brill. b–c). This seeming aporia invites further research. Like Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2013. Brill’s challenging book, it promises to be ‘provocative 260pp., £22.99, ISBN 978 0 253 00887 9 and creative’ (p. 208). For the last three decades, ancient concepts of the soul have caught the attention of philosophical discourse. Vanessa Jansche Following this discussion, Sara Brill examines Plato’s (University of St Gallen) © 2015 The Authors. Political Studies Review © 2015 Political Studies Association Political Studies Review: 2015, 13(4) 562 POLITICAL THEORY Challenges to Democratic Participation: The last two essays divert readers’ attention to the Antipolitics, Deliberative Democracy and Plu- more immediate matter of engaging individuals in ralism by André Santos Campos and José Gomes public reasoning. However, their discussions of the André (eds). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. dilemma between patriotism and cosmopolitanism 137pp., £49.95, ISBN 978 0 7391 9151 4 and historical dialogical practices in India have, at most, a peripheral importance to the wider question Campos and André begin this edited collection by of engaging citizens in complex modern polities. In noting that political participation is conspicuous by its particular, the question of political elites, clearly iden- absence in much real-world democratic practice. tified in earlier essays, is left unaddressed. The Democracy therefore faces a set of theoretical crises, absence of a clear editorial line is evident here; if which, if left unaddressed, may materialise as real crises elites are the principal obstacle to participation, then of legitimacy. These crises are the subject of their the question democrats face is not whether ordinary collected essays.

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