Politics of Nature

Politics of Nature
Author: Bruno Latour
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0674039963

A major work by one of the more innovative thinkers of our time, Politics of Nature does nothing less than establish the conceptual context for political ecology—transplanting the terms of ecology into more fertile philosophical soil than its proponents have thus far envisioned. Bruno Latour announces his project dramatically: “Political ecology has nothing whatsoever to do with nature, this jumble of Greek philosophy, French Cartesianism and American parks.” Nature, he asserts, far from being an obvious domain of reality, is a way of assembling political order without due process. Thus, his book proposes an end to the old dichotomy between nature and society—and the constitution, in its place, of a collective, a community incorporating humans and nonhumans and building on the experiences of the sciences as they are actually practiced. In a critique of the distinction between fact and value, Latour suggests a redescription of the type of political philosophy implicated in such a “commonsense” division—which here reveals itself as distinctly uncommonsensical and in fact fatal to democracy and to a healthy development of the sciences. Moving beyond the modernist institutions of “mononaturalism” and “multiculturalism,” Latour develops the idea of “multinaturalism,” a complex collectivity determined not by outside experts claiming absolute reason but by “diplomats” who are flexible and open to experimentation.

Governing Diversities

Governing Diversities
Author: Joanne Paul
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2012-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1443843571

The question of how to govern diverse populations has been at the core of political thought from ancient times to the present. The contributors to this volume address this fundamental issue by engaging with the history of ideas regarding democracy, diversity and human nature, from the political thought of Xenophon in ancient Greece to practices of Zapatista governance in modern-day Mexico. Drawn from papers originally presented at the first two meetings of the London Graduate Conference in the History of Political Thought, this volume brings together the innovative contributions of graduate students in the history of political thought and political theory with commentary provided by the fields’ leading scholars to consider this essential question.

Non-Human Nature in World Politics

Non-Human Nature in World Politics
Author: Joana Castro Pereira
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2020-08-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3030494969

This book explores the interconnections between world politics and non-human nature to overcome the anthropocentric boundaries that characterize the field of international relations. By gathering contributions from various perspectives, ranging from post-humanism and ecological modernization, to new materialism and post-colonialism, it conceptualizes the embeddedness of world politics in non-human nature, and proposes a reorientation of political practice to better address the challenges posed by climate change and the deterioration of the Earth’s ecosystems. The book is divided into two main parts, the first of which addresses new ways of theoretically conceiving the relationship between non-human nature and world politics. In turn, the second presents empirical investigations into specific case studies, including studies on state actors and international organizations and bodies. Given its scope and the new perspectives it shares, this edited volume represents a uniquely valuable contribution to the field.

Democracy and the Claims of Nature

Democracy and the Claims of Nature
Author: Ben A. Minteer
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2002
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780742515239

In Democracy and the Claims of Nature, the leading thinkers in the fields of environmental, political, and social theory come together to discuss the tensions and sympathies of democratic ideals and environmental values. The prominent contributors reflect upon where we stand in our understanding of the relationship between democracy and the claims of nature. Democracy and the Claims of Nature bridges the gap between the often competing ideals of the two fields, leading to a greater understanding of each for the other.

Human Nature in Politics

Human Nature in Politics
Author: Graham Wallas
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1920
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781412825696

If he had been pressed, Macaulay would probably have admitted that there are cases in which human acts and impulses to act occur independently of any idea of an end to be gained by them. If I have a piece of grit in my eye and ask some one to take it out with the corner of his handkerchief, I generally close the eye as soon as the handkerchief comes near, and always feel a strong impulse to do so. Nobody supposes that I close my eye because, after due consideration, I think it my interest to do so.

Human Nature vs. Democracy

Human Nature vs. Democracy
Author: Ludwig M. Auer
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
Total Pages: 502
Release: 2019-05-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 3752887516

Modern liberal democracy is praised in a universalistic Western view as the best political system and a quasi-prerequisite for full acceptance by the community of traditional hegemonial States. However, democracy is fully developed in only less than five percent of States globally, and in decline in most Western countries. In this book, democracy is presented as a political system in danger due to its intrinsic flaws and tendency to self-destruction. The major flaw is that “human nature” is not adequately considered in democracy’s conception: its citizens, “We, the people”, as individuals and as crowds, are liberated into a dangerous ideology prioritizing “freedom from society” over “membership in society” and thereby causing decline in libertinism, hedonism and polarization in divided and finally broken societies. Proposals to resolve the rapidly growing crisis include education of citizens into the ethics of reciprocal altruism, grounded in evidence from biological sciences and humanities, professionalization of politics, and a fundamental change of politics towards evidence-based decision-making, thus ending politicking, politicians' personality affairs, and the cold war of political parties, the representative of class warfare in the sheep-skin of “interest-group pluralism”. The author uses his background in human biology and psychology to discuss the relevance of philosophical and politological issues around democracy raised in past and recent literature, and to highlight the prospects of using scientific knowledge for evidence-based socialization of the "human factor".

What's Left of Human Nature?

What's Left of Human Nature?
Author: Maria Kronfeldner
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 335
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0262347970

A philosophical account of human nature that defends the concept against dehumanization, Darwinian, and developmentalist challenges. Human nature has always been a foundational issue for philosophy. What does it mean to have a human nature? Is the concept the relic of a bygone age? What is the use of such a concept? What are the epistemic and ontological commitments people make when they use the concept? In What's Left of Human Nature? Maria Kronfeldner offers a philosophical account of human nature that defends the concept against contemporary criticism. In particular, she takes on challenges related to social misuse of the concept that dehumanizes those regarded as lacking human nature (the dehumanization challenge); the conflict between Darwinian thinking and essentialist concepts of human nature (the Darwinian challenge); and the consensus that evolution, heredity, and ontogenetic development result from nurture and nature. After answering each of these challenges, Kronfeldner presents a revisionist account of human nature that minimizes dehumanization and does not fall back on outdated biological ideas. Her account is post-essentialist because it eliminates the concept of an essence of being human; pluralist in that it argues that there are different things in the world that correspond to three different post-essentialist concepts of human nature; and interactive because it understands nature and nurture as interacting at the developmental, epigenetic, and evolutionary levels. On the basis of this, she introduces a dialectical concept of an ever-changing and “looping” human nature. Finally, noting the essentially contested character of the concept and the ambiguity and redundancy of the terminology, she wonders if we should simply eliminate the term “human nature” altogether.

The Jefferson Rule

The Jefferson Rule
Author: David Sehat
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2015-05-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1476779791

In The Jefferson Rule, historian David Sehat describes how everyone from liberals to conservatives, secessionists to unionists have sought out the Founding Fathers to defend their policies. Beginning with the debate between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over the future of the nation, and continuing throughout our history—the Civil War, the World Wars, the New Deal, the Reagan Revolution, and Obama and the Tea Party—many politicos have asked, “What would the Founders do?” instead of “What is the common good today?” Both the Right and the Left have used the Founders to sort through such issues as voting rights, campaign finance, free speech, war and peace, gun control, and taxes, though those Fathers were a querulous and divided group who rarely agreed. In this “sobering, informative study” (Publisher’s Weekly), Sehat shows why coming to terms with the past would be the start of a productive debate. The result is, simply put, “required reading for those desperate for sane, intelligent political arguments” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). The Jefferson Rule “takes the reader through an engaging and insightful survey course in American history” (The Christian Science Monitor).

Leviathan

Leviathan
Author: Thomas Hobbes
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2012-10-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 048612214X

Written during a moment in English history when the political and social structures were in flux and open to interpretation, Leviathan played an essential role in the development of the modern world.

Defending Human Rights and Democracy in the Era of Globalization

Defending Human Rights and Democracy in the Era of Globalization
Author: Akrivopoulou, Christina
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2016-09-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1522507248

The era of technology in which we reside has ushered in a more globalized and connected world. While many benefits are gained from this connectivity, possible disadvantages to issues of human rights are developed as well. Defending Human Rights and Democracy in the Era of Globalization is a pivotal resource for the latest research on the effects of a globalized society regarding issues relating to social ethics and civil rights. Highlighting relevant concepts on political autonomy, migration, and asylum, this book is ideally designed for academicians, professionals, practitioners, and upper-level students interested in the ongoing concerns of human rights.