Democratic Philosophy and the Politics of Knowledge / / Richard T. Peterson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
• VerfasserIn: Peterson, Richard T.,
• Place / Publishing House: University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [1996]; ©1996
• Year of Publication: 1996
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (356 p.)

Debates over postmodernism, analyses of knowledge and power, and the recurring issue of Heidegger's Nazism have all deepened questions about the relation between philosophy and the social roles of intellectuals. Against such postmodernist rejections of philosophical theory as mounted by Rorty and Lyotard, Richard Peterson argues that precisely reflection on rationality, in appropriate social terms, is needed to confront urgent political issues about intellectuals. After presenting a conception of intellectual mediation set within the modern division of labor, he offers an account of postmodern politics within which postmodern arguments against critical reflection are themselves treated socially and politically.Engaging thinkers as diverse as Kant, Hegel, Marx, Habermas, Foucault, and Bahktin, Peterson argues that a democratic conception and practice of philosophy is inseparable from democracy generally. His arguments about modern philosophy are tied to claims about the relation between liberalism and epistemology, and these in turn inform an account of impasses confronting contemporary politics. Historical arguments about the connections between postmodernist thought and practice are illustrated by discussions of the postmodernist dimensions of recent politics.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Part One: The Idea of Democratic Philosophy -- 1. Philosophy and Politics -- 2. Political Impasse and Liberalism -- 3. Democratic Philosophy: Democratic Mediation? -- Part Two: Philosophy and the Division of Labor -- 4. Making Philosophical Use of the Idea of the Division of Labor -- 5. The Division of Labor and Its Critique -- 6. Thinking Philosophically with the Idea of the Division of Labor -- Part Three: Postmodernism in Philosophy and Politics -- Introduction -- 7. Postmodern Philosophy in the Division of Labor -- 8. Philosophical Criticism of Postmodern Politics -- Part Four: Democratic Philosophy -- Introduction -- 9. Historical Conditions for the Critique of the Division of Labor -- 10. Democratic Philosophical Mediation -- 11. Normative Justihcation in Historical Reflection -- 12. The Project of Democratic Philosophy -- Notes -- References -- Index