Rainer Forst

Justification and Critique

Towards a Critical Theory of Politics

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Rainer Forst develops a critical theory capable of deciphering the deficits and potentials inherent in contemporary political reality. This calls for a perspective which is immanent to social and political practices and at the same time transcends them. Forst regards society as a whole as an 'order of justification' comprising complexes of different norms referring to institutions and corresponding practices of justification. The task of a 'critique of relations of justification', therefore, is to analyse such legitimations with regard to their validity and genesis and to explore the social and political asymmetries leading to inequalities in the 'justification power' which enables persons or groups to contest given justifications and to create new ones. Starting from the concept of justification as a basic social practice, Forst develops a theory of political and social justice, human rights and democracy, as well as of power and of critique itself. In so doing, he engages in a critique of a number of contemporary approaches in political philosophy and critical theory. Finally, he also addresses the question of the utopian horizon of social criticism.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Polity Press
• Seitenzahl: 240
• Erscheinungstermin: 4. November 2013
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 231mm x 155mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 590g
• ISBN-13: 9780745652283
• ISBN-10: 074565228X
• Artikelnr.: 39530379

Autorenporträt

Rainer Forst is Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, and director of the prestigious 'Cluster of Excellence' programme funded by the German Research Foundation.

Inhaltsangabe

* Sources
* Preface
* Introduction: On the Idea of a Critique of Relations ofJustification
* I.
* Radical Justice
* 1. Two Pictures of Justice
* 2. The Justification of Human Rights and the Basic Right toJustification: A Reflexive Approach
* 3. The Normative Order of Justice and Peace
* II.
* Justification, Recognition and Critique
* 4. The Ground of Critique: On the Concept of Human Dignity inSocial Orders of Justification
* 5. First Things First: Redistribution, Recognition andJustification
* 6. 'To Tolerate Means to Insult': Toleration,Recognition and Emancipation
* III.
* Beyond Justice
* 7. The Injustice of Justice: Normative Dialectics According toIbsen, Cavell and Adorno
* 8. Republicanism of Fear and of Redemption: On the Topicalityof Hannah Arendt's Political Theory
* 9. Utopia and Irony: On the Normativity of a PoliticalPhilosophy of 'No-where'
* Bibliography
* Index

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Sources
Preface
Introduction: On the Idea of a Critique of Relations of Justification
I.
Radical Justice
1. Two Pictures of Justice
2. The Justification of Human Rights and the Basic Right to Justification: A Reflexive Approach
3. The Normative Order of Justice and Peace
II.
Justification, Recognition and Critique
4. The Ground of Critique: On the Concept of Human Dignity in Social Orders of Justification
5. First Things First: Redistribution, Recognition and Justification
6. 'To Tolerate Means to Insult': Toleration, Recognition and Emancipation
III.
Beyond Justice
7. The Injustice of Justice: Normative Dialectics According to Ibsen, Cavell and Adorno
8. Republicanism of Fear and of Redemption: On the Topicality of Hannah Arendt's Political Theory
9. Utopia and Irony: On the Normativity of a Political Philosophy of 'No-where'
Bibliography
Index

Rezensionen

"In his ambitious masterpiece, Toleration in Conflict,Rainer Forst laid the groundwork for an innovative concept, theright to justification. Here, he has developed this prolific ideafurther in a systematic manner, establishing a compelling andoriginal political theory. Forst, a brilliant scholar, deserves hisreputation as one of the leading political philosophers of hisgeneration."
Jürgen Habermas

"In this inspiring book, Rainer Forst covers a wide range ofimportant problems in contemporary moral and political philosophy,including the relation between recognition and distribution, thenormative foundations of toleration and human rights, and the bestway to understand human dignity. His ambition is to resolve theseproblems in a unified way by reflecting on the conditions underwhich persons stand in relations of reciprocal and generaljustification to one another. Elegant and synoptic, this workexemplifies and advances the exciting confluence between Anglophoneand German political philosophy."
Thomas Pogge, Yale University

"Rainer Forst is one of the most penetrating social and politicaltheorists writing today. In these essays, he further elaborates histheory of 'reflexive justification' in relation to questions ofjust rule, legitimation, and domination. The essays sparkle withinsight and clarity."
Seyla Benhabib, Yale University