M.A. (Philosophy) / In this essay, I draw attention to the negative political effects of contemporary political theory's flight from particularity, and suggest a way of reducing these problems. My argument is structured as follows. Firstly, I draw attention to the increasing tendency to neglect the intermediary role of political theory, and trace this to the influence of positivist philosophies of science, and more particularly to the ways in which this influence has found expression' in the abstract, systematic structure and disengaged orientation of the conception of theory which predominates in contemporary political theory. I argue further, that two negative political effects are encouraged by these structural features of theory: firstly, the abstraction and system of theory encourages an exaggeration of the systematic character of political situations, which in turn results in a diminution of options for change and critique; secondly, the disengaged stance and privileged cognitive status of theory tends to encourage a manipulative political practice. Thus, where political theory's goal is to inform and inspire transformative action, its form or structure tends to undermine this aim. In the second section of this essay, I qualify and specify the above thesis concerning the alienation of contemporary political theory, by assessing the value of Bruce Ackerman's theory of justice as a guide to political action. In the final section, I propose a deliberate retrieval of the narrative dimension of. political theory as a useful way of reducing the alienation of contemporary political theory, showing firstly, how narrative can be related to theory, and secondly, how it can moderate theory's abstract and systematic tendencies without losing critical force.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:13418 |
| Date | 03 March 2015 |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
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