DOCSLIB.ORG

“The Social Imaginary in the Context of Social Discontents: a Conceptual Model of the Social Imaginary, and Its Application To

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
“The Social Imaginary in the Context of Social Discontents: a Conceptual Model of the Social Imaginary, and Its Application To “The Social Imaginary in the Context of Social Discontents: A Conceptual Model of the Social Imaginary, and its Application to the Amelioration of Civilizational Crises.” Samantha Earle SUBMISSION FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY PPL, UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA MAY 2020 "This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived therefrom must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution.” Abstract This thesis is premised on the idea that the manifold social discontents – including eco-climate collapse, the violent subjugation of non-human animals, and racial and gendered oppression – are all expressions of the current social imaginary. The concept of the social imaginary has the potential to help us understand the common pathology of these egregious social ills, and how the imaginary might be transformed. Although the field of social imaginaries has emerged in its own right over the last few years, there is as yet no conceptualisation of the social imaginary as a whole. I suggest that such an overarching model will be necessary if it is to be of ameliorative value to social ills. This thesis, therefore, seeks to present a model of social imaginaries that explains both their constitutive elements and their dynamics. It argues that each social imaginary possesses a unique character in virtue of which it coheres as a whole. The most important contributions of this thesis are: ● Positing the ‘keystone concept’, that is the ontological principle at the heart of each specific social imaginary in virtue of which that imaginary coheres and derives its unique character. ● Accounting for the twin dynamics of the social imaginary: the synthetic imagination that explains its reproduction; and the radical imagination that disrupts the synthetic imagination and creates opportunities for critical reflection and creative responses. ● Emphasising the responsibility of denizens in creating the imaginary world in which we live, and pointing to the ways in which this is most effectively done. ● Identifying the keystone concept of the current imaginary as entitlement; and suggesting that the most significant leverage point for the amelioration of social ills is veganism, because it directly rejects the most complete and salient expression of entitlement: taking the lives of others. 2 For my father, who I miss, and who I’m sorry is not here to see the completed work. 3 “It matters what worlds world worlds.” ~ Donna Haraway1 “The central social imaginary of our times...shapes our regime, its orientation, values, what is worth living and dying for, the thrust of society, even its affects, and the individuals who will make all that exist concretely.” ~ Cornelius Castoriadis2 1 (2016, 35) 2 (2007, 137) 4 Table of Contents Introduction: The Social Imaginary and its Discontents 7 The rationale behind choosing a Social Imaginaries framework 8 Thesis aims 12 Key themes 15 What is the “current social imaginary”? 19 Structure of the thesis 19 Chapter One: The Social Imaginary in Castoriadis and Ricoeur: Finding Common Ground 25 Non-congruence 27 Ricoeur 28 Castoriadis 35 The Function of Significations 37 Chapter Two: Applying Systems Thinking to Social Imaginaries 43 Imaginaries as systems 46 Coherence in systems and imaginaries 48 Responsibility in the system 57 Chapter Three: The Social Imaginary as a Complex of Articulations 62 What are the articulations? 63 Examples of articulations 65 Articulations as ‘carriers’ of meaning 69 Identity as identifiability 71 Understanding as salient knowledge and grasping 73 Responsibility and coherence in grasping 79 Chapter Four: A Systemic and Structural Analysis of the Keystone Structure 82 Haslanger’s account of structure 85 Systemic analysis 90 Schemas 93 Tenets 98 Keystone concept (core phenomenon) 100 Structural analysis 103 Coherence and responsibility 107 Chapter Five: The Synthetic and Radical Imagination as Positive and Negative Capability 108 The synthetic imagination 110 The dispositional schematic 115 The radical imagination 119 5 Critical faculty of the radical imagination 124 Creative imagination 127 Chapter Six: A Focal Analysis of Entitlement and Veganism as Leverage Point 133 Focal analysis 134 Reviewing entitlement 141 Leverage point 147 Schematic pathways 150 Veganism and the critical imagination 155 Veganism and the creative imagination 157 Chapter Seven: Concluding Reflections 160 Elements of the social imaginary system 161 Key areas of ameliorative application 165 Why this work matters 166 Future avenues of inquiry 167 Departing remarks 168 Appendix 1: Types of Articulations 170 Glossary of Key Terms 180 Acknowledgements 184 Bibliography of Works Cited and Consulted 185 6 INTRODUCTION: THE SOCIAL IMAGINARY AND ITS DISCONTENTS “We live in a time of capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.” ~Ursula K Le Guin3 “To imagine other forms of human existence is exactly the challenge that is posed by the climate crisis: for if there is any one thing that global warming has made perfectly clear it is that to think about the world only as it is amounts to a formula for suicide. We need, rather to envision what it might be.” ~ Amitav Ghosh4 We are living through a time of multiple crises: the collapse of ecosystems; the colonisation of humanity over the Earth; violent and structural oppression of women and non-whites; the holocaust of over 70 billion land animals each year; global malnutrition of the over and underfed; the health of humans held hostage by pharmaceutical and animal agriculture industries; the threat of immanent climate tipping points; the headlong dash to civilizational collapse; the pushing of the least culpable over the precipice first. Are these myriad discontents merely coincidental glitches of an otherwise functional system? Or rather, are they are all symptoms of an underlying pathology of contemporary society? This thesis takes seriously the idea that the overwhelming majority of social discontents are not glitches, but systemic features of the contemporary Western ‘social imaginary’ - the complex of meanings that supervene on the phenomena of everyday life of a given society, and provide denizens of a given social imaginary with the means to participate fully in the life of that imaginary with one another. Whether these discontents are malaises unto themselves or symptoms of a common malady matters, because the implications for remedial action are enormous. In my view the concept of the social imaginary can offer us invaluable insights into the task of redressing the manifold and urgent discontents that society faces. I do not seek to claim that the social imaginary is the only concept that can provide useful insights, or that the social imaginary is better than cognate concepts (such as social paradigm, culture, background, doxa, common sense, and lifeworld). Indeed, I take it that ‘social paradigm’ as used by Meadows (2008) and Pirages (1990), for example, and Geertz’s conception of culture (1973) are virtually 3 (2014) 4 (2016, 128) 7 synonymous with ‘social imaginary’. However, there are several reasons that commend the social imaginary as a worthy conceptual framework for the current project. In this introductory chapter, I turn first to explaining the three reasons that recommend the concept of the social imaginary for the present project. These are: that it is expressly ameliorative; that its links to the imagination help explain its dynamics; and that to date an overarching model of social imaginaries does not exist. I then discuss the two aims of the thesis: 1) the presentation of a model of social imaginaries as a whole that has 2) ameliorative application to actually existing discontents. I then introduce the two key themes of this work: responsibility and coherence. I then briefly consider what is meant by ‘the current social imaginary’ and the status quo, before moving on to an outline of the seven chapters that follow. THE RATIONALE BEHIND CHOOSING A SOCIAL IMAGINARIES FRAMEWORK Firstly, the concept of social imaginaries, since its earliest development by Cornelius Castoriadis, has been explicitly ameliorative in outlook. Castoriadis was above all motivated by the socialist, democratic “revolutionary project” (1987, 75) of creating autonomous societies. This is what he calls praxis: its object is “the organisation and orientation of society as they foster the autonomy of all its members and which recognises that this presupposes a radical transformation of society” (1987, 77). But it must be stressed that the autonomy that he has in mind is not the individualistic freedom of liberal capitalist democracies, most commonly expressed as (consumer) “choice”. Instead, autonomy can “only be conceived of as a social problem and a social relation” in which “others are always present as the otherness and as the self-ness of the subject” (1987, 108). Autonomy cannot be desired “without also wanting it for everyone and its realization cannot be conceived of in its full scope except as a collective enterprise” (1987, 107). The opposite of autonomy is alienation. The way I read Castoriadis’ intention here is as follows: autonomy is that which aims at meaningful participation in the co-creation of social meaning, and all the ensuing structures, institutions and trajectories. Alienation is not just alienation from the means of production, apparatus of justice, or distributional equity. Although these mechanisms of alienation are all present and ubiquitous in instituting and reproducing social oppression, there is yet another more fundamental level of alienation. This is alienation from the co-creation of social meaning. As such, the ultimate form of alienation for Castoriadis lies in heteronomous social systems: where the locus of power and therefore social control is removed from citizenry at large and concentrated elsewhere. Castoriadis believed that there have only been two genuinely autonomous societies in history. The ancient Greek polis, and modern liberal democracy.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Method of Wittgenstein's Tractatus
    The Method of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus: Toward a New Interpretation Nikolay Milkov, University of Paderborn, Germany Abstract This paper introduces a novel interpretation of Wittgenstein‘s Tractatus, a work widely held to be one of the most intricate in the philosophical canon. It maintains that the Tractatus does not develop a theory but rather advances an original logical symbolism, a new instrument that enables one to ―recognize the formal properties of propositions by mere inspection of propositions themselves‖ (6.122). Moreover, the Tractarian conceptual notation offers to instruct us on how better to follow the logic of language, and by that token stands to enhance our ability to think. Upon acquiring the thinking skills that one can develop by working with the new symbolism, one may move on and discard the notation—―throw away the ladder‖ (6.54), as Wittgenstein put it. 1. The New Wittgensteinians This paper introduces a novel interpretation of Wittgenstein‘s Tractatus. In the process, it takes issue with the New Wittgensteinians, in particular Cora Diamond and James Conant,1 who some twenty-five years ago fielded a comprehensive, essentially skeptical interpretation of the entire body of the Tractatus. Diamond and Conant argued that the core propositions of the Tractatus are literally nonsense, gibberish equivalent to phrases like ―piggly wiggle tiggle‖ (Diamond, 2000, p. 151). To be more explicit, Diamond and Conant defended their view that the book‘s core content is philosophically vacuous by arguing (i) that the Tractatus is divided into a body and a frame; (ii) that the Preface, 3.32–3.326, 4–4.003, 4.111–2 and 6.53–6.54 compose the frame (Conant 2001, p.
    [Show full text]
  • “Nothing Is Shown”: a 'Resolute' Response
    Philosophical Investigations 26:3 July 2003 ISSN 0190-0536 “Nothing is Shown”: A ‘Resolute’ Response to Mounce, Emiliani, Koethe and Vilhauer Rupert Read and Rob Deans, University of East Anglia Part 1: On Mounce on Wittgenstein (Early and Late) on ‘Saying and Showing’ H. O. Mounce published in this journal two years ago now a Criti- cal Notice of the The New Wittgenstein,1 an anthology (edited by Alice Crary and Rupert Read) which is evenly divided between work on Wittgenstein’s early and later writings. The bulk of Mounce’s article was devoted to those contributions primarily con- cerned with the Tractatus.2 There is a straightforward sense in which this selective focus is natural. The pertinent contributions – most conspicuously those by Cora Diamond and James Conant – describe a strikingly un- orthodox interpretation of Wittgenstein’s early book on which it is depicted as having an anti-metaphysical aim. Mounce takes an inter- est in this interpretation because he believes that, in characterizing the Tractatus in anti-metaphysical terms, it misrepresents the central Tractarian doctrine of ‘saying and showing’ – a doctrine which he understands in terms of the idea that “metaphysical truths, though they cannot be stated, may nevertheless be shown”(186). Mounce argues that Diamond and Conant et al. fail to treat this doctrine as “one that Wittgenstein himself advances,” and he claims that they therefore make Wittgenstein’s thought “less original than one might otherwise suppose” (186) by implying that it is “indistinguishable from positivism” in the sense of “not even attempt[ing] to provide positive knowledge [and] confin[ing] itself to removing the confu- 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Reason, Causation and Compatibility with the Phenomena
    Reason, causation and compatibility with the phenomena Basil Evangelidis Series in Philosophy Copyright © 2020 Vernon Press, an imprint of Vernon Art and Science Inc, on behalf of the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Vernon Art and Science Inc. www.vernonpress.com In the Americas: In the rest of the world: Vernon Press Vernon Press 1000 N West Street, C/Sancti Espiritu 17, Suite 1200, Wilmington, Malaga, 29006 Delaware 19801 Spain United States Series in Philosophy Library of Congress Control Number: 2019942259 ISBN: 978-1-62273-755-0 Cover design by Vernon Press. Cover image by Garik Barseghyan from Pixabay. Product and company names mentioned in this work are the trademarks of their respective owners. While every care has been taken in preparing this work, neither the authors nor Vernon Art and Science Inc. may be held responsible for any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. Table of contents Abbreviations vii Preface ix Introduction xi Chapter 1 Causation, determinism and the universe 1 1. Natural principles and the rise of free-will 1 1.1. “The most exact of the sciences” 2 1.2.
    [Show full text]
  • Roger-White-Tractatus-Wars.Pdf
    BEYOND THE TRACTATUS WARS The New Wittgenstein Debate Edited by Rupert Read and Matthew A. Lavery First published 2011 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Editorial matter © 2011 Taylor & Francis; individual chapters, respective contributors The right of the Editors and Contributors to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Beyond the Tractatus wars: the new Wittgenstein debate / edited by Rupert Read and Matthew A. Lavery. p. cm. 1. Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889–1951. Tractatus logico-philosophicus. I. Read, Rupert J., 1966– II. Lavery, Matthew A. B3376.W563T732158 2011 192—dc22 2010047956 ISBN: 978–0–415–87439–7 (hbk) ISBN: 978–0–415–87440–3 (pbk) ISBN: 978–0–203–81605–9 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Keystroke, Station Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-free paper by Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, MA CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Notes on Contributors ix Note on Translations xi Introduction 1 Matthew A.
    [Show full text]
  • The Precautionary Principle Under Fire Rupert Read and Tim O'riordan
    The precautionary principle under fire Rupert Read and Tim O’Riordan The precautionary principle carries great significance for ‘sustainability science’. It provides a powerful framework for improving the quality, decency and reliability of decisions over technology, science, ecological and human health, and improved regulation of risk- burdened human affairs. It asks us to pause and to review before leaping headlong into innovations that might prove disastrous. Such a call does not sit well with a ‘deregulatory’ (i.e. environmentally-non-protecting) policy setting, nor with the expectation by corporates of maintaining profit in an economic climate where competition is yelping and recession is barking at the door. Because of this, the precautionary principle is now under fire. Looking across the world, we find a paradox. The precautionary principle is entrenched in government and legal systems in various places, but most strikingly in the European Union (EU). It has a presence in the patterns and processes of environmental management right across the EU. It is therefore especially alarming that the precautionary principle is under considerable threat in the EU. Specifically, it may be at risk in trade treaties currently being negotiated (https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/media-room/eu-referendum/ttip-and-eu ); it is being challenged by the rival so-called Innovation Principle (http://esharp.eu/debates/innovation/the-innovation- principle ); and it may be at severe risk in the U.K. as part of the Brexit process (see e.g. http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Food-Safety/Food-safety-precautionary-principle-must- continue-post-Brexit). This issue of Environment both reaffirms the need for and asserts the changing nature of the precautionary principle.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics2021
    politics 2021 new and recent titles I polity Page 7 Page 13 Page 13 Page 3 Page 11 Page 7 Page 51 Page 2 Page 6 CONTENTS Ordering details General Politics ............................................ 2 Books can be ordered through our website www.politybooks.com or via: Customer Care Center, John Wiley & Sons Inc. Introductory Texts ....................................... 16 9200 KEYSTONE Crossing STE 800 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46209-4087 Toll-Free: (877) 762-2974 Fax: (877) 597-3299 Global and Comparative Politics .................. 18 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. European Distribution Centre, New Era Estate, Oldlands Way, Environmental Politics ................................. 19 Bognor Regis, WEST SUSSEX. PO22 9NQ, UK Freephone (UK only): 0800 243407 Overseas callers: +44 1243 843291 Political Economy ....................................... 22 Fax: +44 (0) 1243 843302 Email: [email protected] For Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein: War and International Security ..................... 28 Phone: +49 6201 606152 Fax: +49 6201 606184 Email: [email protected] Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding .......... 29 For Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands: Toll-free within Australia: 1800 777 474 Toll-free with New Zealand: 0800 448 200 Phone: +61 7 33548455 Development and and Human Rights ............ 30 UK and European Politics ............................ 31 Inspection Copies Most paperback editions featured in this catalogue are Russian Politics ........................................... 32 available for inspection. A maximum of three books may be considered for relevant courses with at least 12 students. A reply form must be returned to this effect. Middle Eastern Politics ................................ 33 Phone (US & Canada): (800) 225-5945 Email: ccopy@wiley,com Freephone (UK only): 0800 243407 Email: [email protected] Phone (Rest of World): +44 1243 843294 Asian Politics .............................................
    [Show full text]
  • One Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: Necessity and Normativity Gregory P
    Macalester College DigitalCommons@Macalester College Philosophy Honors Projects Philosophy Department June 2007 One Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: Necessity and Normativity Gregory P. Taylor Macalester College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/phil_honors Recommended Citation Taylor, Gregory P., "One Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: Necessity and Normativity" (2007). Philosophy Honors Projects. Paper 1. http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/phil_honors/1 This Honors Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy Department at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. One Tractatus Logico-philosophicus: Necessity and Normativity Greg Taylor Honors Thesis Macalester College 2007 Committee: Janet Folina (advisor), Joy Laine, Jeffrey Johnson This thesis is dedicated to Janet Folina, a friend who – more than anyone else – has helped me think. I would also like to thank the Macalester Philosophy faculty and the members of Mac Thought for their frequent stimulation and support. Abstract This thesis sketches an interpretation of Wittgenstein’s Tractatus centering on his treatment of necessity and normativity. The purpose is to unite Wittgenstein’s account of logic and language with his brief remarks on ethics by stressing the transcendental nature of each. Wittgenstein believes that both logic and ethics give necessary preconditions for the existence of language and the world, and because these conditions are necessary, neither logic nor ethics can be normative. I conclude by erasing the standard line drawn between his philosophy and his ethics, and redrawing it between the philosophical and artistic presentations of his thought, the latter being what remains after the nonsensical status of the work is recognized.
    [Show full text]
  • Jon Spooner: 00:00:02 Hello and Welcome to Live from the Space Shed, a Podcast All About Space and Science Hosted by Me, Jon Spooner, and Me
    Jon Spooner: 00:00:02 Hello and welcome to Live from The Space Shed, a podcast all about space and science hosted by me, Jon Spooner, and me Mini Jon: 00:00:10 You mean me Jon Spooner: 00:00:12 Sorry. Yes, I mean you. Mini Jon: 00:00:14 Mini Jon! Jon Spooner: 00:00:16 Mini Jon! Long story short, a few years ago, I accidentally set up my own space agency based out of the shed at the bottom of my garden. Turns out that if you go around telling people you're the Director of Human Space Flight Operations for the Unlimited Space Agency, wearing an orange space suit, more people than you might think want to play along. And now the British astronaut with Tim Peake is our patron and he took me with him to space. Mini Jon: 00:00:37 He took *me* with him to space Jon Spooner: 00:00:39 Yeah, yeah alright, he took you with him to space. So Mini Jon became UNSA's first astronaut. Mini Jon: 00:00:45 Woohoo! Jon Spooner: 00:00:47 Since then we've been touring in UNSA's mobile headquarters The Space Shed to festivals like Latitude and Blue Dot, telling stories, talking to some super cool space and science people, and we've recorded our chats so you can find out about their amazing work as well. So the thing is that at the time of recording, it's nearly the end of the summer 2019 and in the UK we've just recorded the hottest temperature ever for a bank holiday weekend, which sounds great, right? Except it isn't, because at the same time in South America, huge sections of the Amazon rain forest are being destroyed by raging fires.
    [Show full text]
  • CV September 2015
    !1 Rupert Read Department of Philosophy, School of Philosophy, Politics and Languages University of East Anglia Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK Tel.: 01603 219294 (h.) / 592079 (w.) / 07946 459066 (mobile) [email protected] www.rupertread.net https://www.uea.ac.uk/philosophy/people/profile/r-read www.greenhousethinktank.org http://rupertsread.blogspot.co.uk/ www.thinkingfilmcollective.blogspot.co.uk AREAS OF SPECIALISATION • Ecological and Political Philosophy (including critiques of Rawlsian liberalism) • Philosophy of Language (Special focus on Wittgenstein) • Philosophy of the Sciences (including philosophy of the environmental sciences, of the ‘social sciences’, and philosophy of mental health/illness.) • Philosophy and Film (especially film and literature as philosophy) EDUCATION Advanced Certificate of Higher Education Practice, University of East Anglia (UEA), Norwich 1998-1999. Ph.D in Philosophy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 1988-95. Practices without Foundations?: Sceptical readings of Wittgenstein and Goodman. Rutgers University, NJ. Supervisor: Barry Loewer. Successful thesis defence: Ap. 27 '95; Degree awarded Oct. 2 '95. First Class B.A. Honours in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, Oxford University, Balliol College, 1984-87. HONOURS/ AWARDS • Visiting Fellowship for the Spring and Summer terms of 1991 at the European University Institute, Fiesole, Italy. • Admission with S.C.T. Tuition Grant to Summer School of Criticism and Theory, Dartmouth Coll., NH, 1992. • Excellence Fellowship, Rutgers Univ., 1988-91, 1992-93. • U.K. Director, Society for Philosophy and Geography, 1995-8. • Associate Editor, Philosophy and Geography, 1995-2005. • Co-organiser of the annual Mind and Society Seminars at Manchester and Cambridge, since 1997 (funded by the British Academy since 2000 (and also by the Mind Association in 2003)).
    [Show full text]
  • WP25-XR Report Final
    REPORT BY CLARE SAUNDERS BRIAN DOHERTY GRAEME HAYES A NEW CLIMATE MOVEMENT? EXTINCTION REBELLION’S ACTIVISTS IN PROFILE CUSP WORKING PAPER | NO 25 | JULY 2020 | WWW. CUSP.AC.UK CUSP An ESRC Research Centre Working Paper Series ISSN: 2397-8341 The Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity is funded by the UK‘s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The overall research question is: What can prosperity possibly mean in a world of environmental, social and economic limits?—We work with people, policy and business to address this question, developing pragmatic steps towards a shared and lasting prosperity. For more information, please visit: cusp.ac.uk. Publication Saunders C, Doherty B and G Hayes 2020. A New Climate Movement? Extinction Rebellion’s Activists in Profile. CUSP Working Paper No 25. Guildford: Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity. Online at: www.cusp.ac.uk/publications. The Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity is funded by the UK‘s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The overall research question is: What can Acknowledgementsprosperity possibly mean in a world of environmental, social and economic limits?—We work with people, policy and business to address this question, developing pragmatic steps towards TPublicationhe authors would like to thank the following researchers for their contribution to this research. Lily a shared and lasting prosperity. For more information, please visit: cusp.ac.uk. McAuley and Marc Hudson for research assistance; for help with surveying Clare Cummings, Carys Names 2020. Title. CUSP Working Paper No. Guildford: Centre for the Understanding of Hughes, Alice Swift, Emily Westwell (April); Joost de Moor, Emily Marsay, Joyce Liang, Molly Bond, Sustainable Prosperity.
    [Show full text]
  • Language and World
    Language and World Papers of the 32nd International Wittgenstein Symposium August 9 – 15, 2009 Kirchberg am Wechsel Volume XVII Editors Volker A. Munz Klaus Puhl Joseph Wang Printed in cooperation with the Department for Culture and Science of the Province of Lower Austria Kirchberg am Wechsel, 2009 Austrian Ludwig Wittgenstein Society Is the Resolute Reading Really Inconsistent?: Trying to Get Clear on Hacker vs. Diamond/Conant Michael Maurer, Vienna, Austria [email protected] For over two decades the Resolute Reading of the Trac- straightforward, garden variety, completely incomprehen- tatus has attempted to create an awareness of the fact that sible gibberish.” (Conant, 1989, 253) Therefore they have readings which traditionally focus on the topic of ineffability a completely different picture of the philosophical activity to are methodologically inconsistent and do not truly reveal which the author of the Tractatus was profoundly commit- the dialectical movement of Wittgenstein’s early master- ted in his work: his aim is not to show inexpressible deep piece. In what follows my intention is to shed light on the truths that represent the metaphysical features of reality, question of whether the Resolute Reading is methodologi- but to free the philosophically inclined reader from the cally inconsistent in itself, as is held by Peter Hacker, the illusory meaningfulness of such obsessive pictures. Throw- most influential opponent of this position. ing away the Tractarian ladder – after having undergone the dialectical process of climbing it – means to have fully dissolved the philosophical problems produced by the logic Two Paradigms for Reading the Tractatus of our language from within.
    [Show full text]
  • GOOD SOCIETY / GREEN SOCIETY? the Red–Green Debate
    GOOD SOCIETY / GREEN SOCIETY? The red–green DEBATE Southbank House, Black Prince Road, London SE1 7SJ T: +44 (0) 20 7463 0632 | [email protected] www.compassonline.org.uk GOOD SOCIETY / GREEN SOCIETY? The red–green DEBATE 1 | www.compassonline.org.uk Acknowledgements: Compass would like to thank Victor Anderson who used his vast knowledge and contacts to bring this publication together. Victor convenes the Compass Sustainability Panel and can be emailed at [email protected]. We would also like to thank all those that contributed to this publication including the writers and copyeditor Susannah Wight. Published by Compass − Direction for the Democratic Left Ltd Southbank House, Black Prince Road, London SE1 7SJ t: +44 (0) 207 463 0632 e: [email protected] www.compassonline.org.uk Designed by Soapbox, www.soapbox.co.uk Contents 1. Foreword, Caroline Lucas and Neal Lawson 4 2. Introduction: red–green dialogues, Victor Anderson 6 3. The question of growth, Victor Anderson 9 4. A little more conversation: why greens and reds should start by changing the way that they talk – a feminist perspective, Deborah Doane and Ruth Potts 11 5. Values for a red–green politics, Guy Shrubsole 15 6. The left and its problem with sustainability: why less is more, Neal Lawson 19 7. What has been the experience of red–green coalitions?, John Hare 23 8. No red without green: why any socialism must be an eco-socialism, Rupert Read 29 9. Why being ‘anti-cuts’ is not enough: the need to embrace a new green economic paradigm, Rupert Read 32 10.
    [Show full text]