Ernst Wolff Between Daily Routine and Violent Protest Ernst Wolff Between Daily Routine and Violent Protest Interpreting the Technicity of Action The publication of both paper and OA versions of this book was made possible by Internal Funds from the KU Leuven. ISBN 978-3-11-072497-4 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-072504-9 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-072514-8 DOI https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110724974 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Library of Congress Control Number: 2021905145 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2021 Ernst Wolff, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston The book is published open access at www.degruyter.com. Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com Preface Most human action has atechnical dimension. This book is afirst consolidation of my research into this simple fact.Onthe one hand it required an examination of the twoconstituents of the technicity of action:acquired capabilities and the means of action. On the other,Ihad to examine the interrelation between the technicity of action and how it is activated, givenits tension with normative con- siderations. Ihavefollowed the intuition thatthe technicity of actionstretches as far as human action itself, includingspheres of interaction wherethere are good reasons to fear atechnicistreduction of action, namely ethics and politics. Con- sequently, my studycovers the entire gamut of human action between the ex- tremes of dailyroutine and violent protest. Although it is clearlyimpossible to discuss every kind of human action, the chapters of this book cover asubstantial and representative selection of major forms of action. Moreover,the interdisciplinary cast of the book is aimed at ren- dering what can be considered corefeatures of action in all human beings, while giving us the means by which to remain attentive to the socio-historical partic- ularities of action as it plays out in different contexts. Hermeneutics (understood as the philosophical inquiry into the human phenomena of meaning,under- standing and interpretation) and social science (as the studyofall human af- fairs) represent the two main disciplinary orientations of this book. There are manybooks of philosophyand of social theory in which hermeneutics is simply understood as synonymous with the name of Hans-GeorgGadamer. In the Intro- duction Iexplain whyIhave instead chosen Paul Ricœur as my principal herme- neutic interlocutor for the purposes of this book. Previous versions of some of the chapters have been published elsewhere. I thank the journals and publishersfor permission to includetranslated, reworked and expandedversions of these texts here: “Transmettre et interpreter,” Médium 6(January-March 2006): 30 –47 / “Mediologie en hermeneutiek,” Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe 47,no. 1(March 2007): 81–94; “Habitus – means – worldli- ness. Technics and the formation of ‘civilisations’,” in OliverKozlarek, Jörn Rüsen and Ernst Wolff, eds., Shaping aHumane World – Civilizations, Axial Times, Modernities,Humanisms (Bielefeld: Transcript,2012), 25–53; “Compéten- ces et moyens de l’homme capable àlalumièredel’incapacité,” Études Ricœuri- ennes /Ricœur Studies 4, no. 2(2013), 50 –63; “Ricœur et Giddens: l’herméneu- tique de l’homme capable et la théorie de structuration,” Études Ricœuriennes /Ricœur Studies 5, no. 2(2014), 105–127; “Of what is ‘Ricœur’ the name?Or, phi- losophising at the edge,” LeuvenPhilosophyNewsletter 26 (2018–2019), 7–22; and “Justice despite institutions. Strugglingfor agood life from the destitute OpenAccess. ©2021ErnstWolff, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110725049-001 VI Preface edge of society,” in Geoffrey Dierckxsens,ed., TheAmbiguity of Justice. New Per- spectives on Paul Ricœur’sApproach to Justice (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 97– 127. Over manyyears of ruminating on this project,Ihavehad the benefit of hos- pitality and funding for which Iwould like to express my gratitude. Iwas gener- ouslyreceivedbyJörn Rüsen (Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut in Essen), avisit partiallyfunded by the Mercator Stiftung,AxelHonneth (Goethe University in Frankfurt), supported by the Alexander vonHumboldt Stiftung,and Olivier Abel and Laurent Thévenot (in the framework of the Fonds Ricœur and the EHESS, Paris), wheretwo research visits werepartiallyfundedbythe National ResearchFoundation of South Africa at atime when Iwas still employed at the University of Pretoria. Iwould liketothank IdetteNoomé very warmlyfor her indefatigable work in editing the final manuscript.Rachel Mahlanguand her colleagues at the library of the University of Pretoria, and Stefan Derouck and his colleagues at the library of the KU Leuven deservemygrateful recognition for their servicestomeinthis project.Christoph Schirmer,MaraWeber,FlorianRuppenstein and their collea- gues at De Gruyter have accompanied me through the publication phase of this book in amost professional way. Finally, Iwould like to expressmydeepest gratitude to my wife and children for their patience and support. Ernst Wolff KU Leuven, May2020 Contents Introduction The Technical Dimension of Action 3 Basic Orientation: Approaching the Composition of Action 3 Ricœur and Social Theory 5 Ethics and Means in Ricœur.APreliminaryExploration 9 . Efficacy,without Abandoning Ethics 9 . An Ethics of LimitedViolence 12 . With and Against Ricœur 15 AContribution to Interpretive Social Theory 15 . Part 1: The Technicity of Action: Capabilities and Means 17 The Heat of Action 21 . Part 2: Finding Compromises in Practice 24 IntermediaryReflexion and Conclusion: Towards an Integrated Theoryof the Technicity of Action 27 Part : The Technicity of Action: Capabilities and Means Chapter 1: TheEffectiveness of Symbols: Mediologyand Hermeneutics 33 Introduction 33 Enter Mediology 34 The Technical Milieu and the World of Technology 36 . Transmission and Communication 37 . Transmission in the Mnemosphere 38 . Clothes: Transmission and Understanding 41 . No Mediologywithout Hermeneutics. No Milieu without a World 42 Autonomy and Appropriation 45 . Discourse as Action 46 . Autonomy and the Effectiveness of Symbols 47 . On Reception: Reading Texts and Artefacts 50 Vigilance and Politics 53 Conclusion 55 VIII Contents Chapter 2: Habitus – Means – Worldliness 58 Introduction: “Civilizing Processes” as Processes of Hominization 58 Human Technicity and the Civilizing Processes 63 Technics and Narrativity 66 . Prefiguration 67 . Configuration 70 . Refiguration 74 Conclusions 77 Chapter 3: Human Capabilities in the Light of Incapabilities 83 Introduction: AHypothesis on the Technicity of Capabilities 83 The Capable Human is the Incapable Human 86 . FiveFigures of Incapability 87 . Incapability as aPractical Horizon of Action. (In)capability as aMark of Uncertainty 91 . The Capable Human is the Finite Human 93 The Capable-Incapable Human Discloses the Technical Human 94 . Misrecognition of Incapability,Practical Horizon and Primary Technicity 95 . Reflection, Level of Competence and Secondary Technicity 95 Social Theoretical Horizon 97 Conclusion: The Technical Paradoxand its Political Relevance 100 Chapter 4: Organized Action: Agency, (In)capabilities and Means 103 Organized Action as Part of the Technicity of Action 103 Organized Action and the Agency of Organizations 105 . Entities of ParticipatoryBelonging andInstitutions 106 . Practices and the Example of AdvisoryBodies 112 . Social Capabilities 114 . Scales of Organized Action, its Capabilities and Means 116 Capabilities andIncapabilities of Organizations 119 Conclusion. Paradoxes, Risks, and Political Implications of Organized Action 124 . The ParadoxofOrganized Action 125 . Organized Action in the Social Sciences 126 Chapter 5: TheHermeneutics of Human Capabilities and the Theory of Structuration 128 Introduction 128 Contents IX Ricœur: Individuals and Society in the Hermeneutics of the Capable Human 131 . First Approach: Ricœur on Institutions 132 . Second Approach: Practices Between “Basic Actions” (Danto) and “Narrative UnityofHuman Life” (MacIntyre) 140 Giddens: Individual and Society in Structuration Theory 144 . Giddens: Action, the Original SociologicalProblem 144 . Giddens: Action and Duality of Structure – Some Specifications 147 Conclusion: Contributions of Structuration Theorytothe Hermeneuticsof the Capable Human 154 IntermediateReflection:Tools for Critique 159 Something Is at Stake 159 On Critique 160 Towards the Intricate Relations betweenTechnicity and Ethics 162 Working in Anticipation 163 Part : Finding Compromises in Practice Chapter 6: Of What Is “Ricœur” the Name?Or, Philosophising at the Edge 167 What’sinaName? 167 “The Colonial Question” 168 Ricœur’sAnticipation of GlobalPoliticsafter Independence 171 Ricœur’sView on the Philosophical and Cultural Critical Consequences of Decolonization 173 . Interim Conclusion: Disillusioned Modernity and the Task of Hermeneutics 177 Okolo –“Praxis Triggers the Hermeneutical Process and Gives it an Orientation” 180 . Taking Stock: Engagement without Promises 186 Conclusion: Philosophising at the Edge 188 Chapter 7: Acts of ViolenceasPolitical