The family as the foundation of political rule in western philosophy: a comparative analysis of Aristotle's politics and Hegel's philosophy of right

For both Aristotle and Hegel, the family is the foundation in which the universalized rule of law is validated according to the political structure of the 'Polis' or 'State' itself. This composite whole or structure of society (Ancient Polis/Modern State) is the political end of humanity for both philosophers, which in turn finds its primordial beginning in the family. For Aristotle, it is in the kingly rule of the household that the property-based distinction of citizenship is set for the rule of his ideal Polis. For Hegel, it is in the love affirmed through caring affection within the nuclear family that the dialectical framework for the freedom of civil society, and the rational unity of a congregational 'spirit' in the State, finds its foundation. For both thinkers, the family sets the base for a political theory that defines citizenship in a manner that transcends the particularities of kin bonds.     

精神分析学说与后现代主义

此文是作者在“国际精神分析学说研讨会”(四川成都 ,2 0 0 2年 4月1 5— 1 8日 )上的发言稿。作者彼得·洛温伯格 (PeterLoewenberg)是加利福尼亚(洛杉矶 )大学的历史和政治心理学教授、南加利福尼亚精神分析学院的教务长。此外他还是高级心理咨询师。此文将西方的精神分析学说和后现代主义思潮联系起来 ,扼要地论述了它们之间的共通之处 ,这种视角和观点不仅在我们国内是前所未见 ,在国外也是颇为新颖的。因此它为我们加深对后现代主义和精神分析的了解提供了新的线索和启发。专就史学领域来说 ,此文涉及了后现代主义拒斥“大叙述”而偏爱“微观叙述”等问题 ,对我们了解后现代主义如何影响当代西方史学 ,或有助益。     

The Postmodern Problem

Abstract

Mormon political theology must reconcile two distinct projects: the care for the Church's concrete, temporal existence in the World, and the welcoming of the future Kingdom of God on earth. Because of this duality, political theology finds itself highlighting the distinction between the World and the Kingdom of God and at the same time pointing out common ground and attempting to establish peace between the Church and the World. The alleged contradictions of Mormon political thought are, according to this conception, to be understood not as confrontations between idealism and brute reality (or “utopianism” and “assimilation”), but rather as the bringing together of the two goals of Mormon political reflection, pursued by two sides of political theology. These two sides, apologetic and prophetic political theology, are distinguished not by their political content, but rather by their particular kinds of political rhetoric.     

Rumour and politics

This article contends that rumour—the circulation of unverified information —is an important form of political communication which deserves more attention from political scientists. To illustrate this claim a study is made of the part played by rumour in the ‘destabilisation’ of Malcolm Fraser's position as leader of the Liberal Party in August to October 1981. Health is a natural subject of rumour, and rumours about Mr. Fraser's health were used as the basis for speculation about a possible leadership challenge by Mr. Andrew Peacock. The collective character of parliamentary party politics, the artificial nature of media ‘facts’ and the predominance of certain types of news value in the media all encourage such rumours to flourish. The rumours had the effect of destabilising Mr. Fraser's position by creating and then enlarging a climate of uncertainty and anxiety within the Liberal Party and the electorate. Mr. Peacock was thereby enabled to test the strength of his potential support without being obliged to risk an open challenge. The author concludes that the most apt model of rumour to this case is that of ‘milling’, on the analogy of a ‘milling crowd’.     

Intellectuals and politics

ABSTRACT. By imagining their audiences, intellectuals invented and constructed the collective identities of nations and transnational communities like Europe or humankind. Four ideal types of intellectuals are outlined by describing them in their relation to politics: the intellectual as cosmopolitan ascetic; the intellectual as enlightened legislator; the intellectual as revolutionary; and the intellectual as the voice of a traumatic memory. These ideal types change over time in response to their focus of attention and their mode of communication. Because of changes in their media (from handwritten to printed books) and changes in their written language (from Latin to French and Italian, and further to vernacular languages), intellectuals were able to change views on past, present and future times. Today, they are involved in (civic) resistance but rarely in politics per se. By renewing the tension of the sacred and profane – the so‐called axial‐age revolution – contemporary intellectuals in Eastern Europe are decoupled from direct political power.     

Patrons and politics

Arnold Strickon and Sidney Greenfield, eds. Structure and Process in Latin America: Patronage, Clientage, and Power Systems. A School of American Research Book. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973. vii + 256 pp. Figures, tables, references, and index. $10.00.     

Children and politics

R. W. Connell, The Child's Construction of Politics, Melbourne University Press, 1971, pp. 251, $3.75.     

Postmodern patriotism: Canadian reflections

Canada is an evolving human geography that has nurtured difference and made a unitary state impossible. In this short essay I allude to the historical-geographical construction of Canada and the type of confederation it encouraged. I show how deeply different identities are ingrained in the fabric of this country. As the state cannot provide equally for all these identities, I consider the special claims of Native peoples and French speakers, particularly in relation to those of multiculturalism, and argue that the country has a particular responsibility to those societies that were here before the Canadian state, and found it superimposed upon them. Overall, I try to show that Canadian patriotism, based less on an overriding meta-narrative (which the country had never found) than on an appreciation of difference and the responsibilities of citizenship, provides a welcome alternative to either an exclusionary ethnic nationalism or a borderless electronic postmodernity.     

A Postmodern Reply to Perez Zagorin

This article engages with the arguments forwarded by Perez Zagorin against the possible consequences of postmodernism for history as it is currently conceived of particularly in its “proper” professional/academic form (“History, the Referent, and Narrative: Reflections on Postmodernism Now,”History and Theory 38 [1999], 1‐24). In an overtly positioned response which issues from a close reading of Zagorin's text, I argue that his all‐too‐typical misunderstandings of postmodernism need to be “corrected”—not, however, to make postmodernism less of a threat to “history as we have known it,” or to facilitate the assimilation of its useful elements while exorcising its “extremes.” My “corrections” instead forward the claim that, understood positively and integrated into those conditions of postmodernity which postmodernism variously articulates at the level of theory, such theory signals the possible “end of history,” not only in its metanarrative styles (which are already becoming increasingly implausible) but also in that particular and peculiar professional genre Zagorin takes as equivalent to history per se. And I want to argue that if this theory is understood in ways which choose not to give up (as Derrida urges us not to give up) the “discourse of emancipation” after the failure of its first attempt in the “experiment of modernity,” then this ending can be considered “a good thing.”     

伊壁鸠鲁的快乐哲学

本文从快乐的定义、获得快乐的具体方法等角度探讨了古希腊哲学家伊壁鸠鲁的快乐哲学,并对他的哲学从正反两个方面给予了评价。     

Australian politics

David Black (ed.), The House on the Hill: A History of the Parliament of Western Australia 1832–1990 (Perth: Parliament of Western Australia, 1991) pp.558. $n.p. ISBN 0 7309 3983 9.

D.H. Borchardt, Commissions of Inquiry in Australia: A Brief Surrey (Melbourne: La Trobe University Press, 1991) pp.107. $24.95 ISBN 1 86324 011X.

John Connell and Richard Howitt (eds), Mining and Indigenous Peoples in Australasia (Sydney: Sydney University Press in association with Oxford University Press, 1991) pp.204. $22.95 ISBN 0 424 00177 2.

Mark Considine, The Polities of Reform: Workers’ Compensation from Woodhouse to WorkCare (Geelong: Centre for Applied Social Research, Deakin University, 1991) pp.118. $17.50 ISBN 0 7300 1472 X.

D.C. Corbett, C. Selby Smith and R.F.I. Smith (eds), Public Sector Personnel Policies for the 1990's (Melbourne: Public Sector Management Institute, Monash University, 1989) pp.329. $20.00 ISBN 0 7326 0146 0.

Brian Costar and Scott Prasser (eds), Amalgamate or Perish?: The Future of Non‐Labor Parties in Australia (Toowoomba: University College of Southern Queensland) pp.121. $9.95 ISBN 0 909756 04 X.

David Neal, The Rule of Law in a Penal Colony: Law and Power in Early New South Wales (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $39.95 ISBN 0 521 37274 X.

Michael Pusey, Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation‐Building State Changes Its Mind (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.310. $n.p. ISBN 0 521 33661 9.

Randal G. Stewart and Ian Ward, Politics One (Melbourne: Macmillan, 1992) pp.243. $24.95 ISBN 0 7329 0247 9.

John Uhr (ed.), Decision‐Making in Australian Government: Program Evaluation (Canberra: Federalism Research Centre ANU, 1991) pp.170. $np. ISBN 0 7315 1129 8.

Comparative and international politics

Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier: Départements et territoires d'outre‐mer (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.357. $49.95 ISBN 0 521 39061 3.

Article 19, International Centre on Censorship, Information Freedom and Censorship, World Report 1991 (London: Library Association Publishing Ltd, 1991) pp.471. £22.50 ISBN 1 85604 021 6.

Carl Bridge (ed.), Munich to Vietnam: Australia's Relations with Britain and the United States since the 1930s (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1991) pp.237 $24.95 ISBN 0 522 84436 7.

Charles Carstairs and Richard Ware (eds), Parliament and International Relations (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1991) pp.195. $35.00 ISBN 0 335 09698 0.

Tun‐jen Cheng and Stephen Haggard (eds), Political Change in Taiwan (Boulder and London: Lynne Rienner, 1992 ) pp.269. $US35.00 ISBN 1 55587 275 1.

Robert O. Freedman, Moscow and the Middle East: Soviet Policy Since the Invasion of Afghanistan (Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.426. $49.95. ISBN 0 521 35976 7.

David S.G. Goodman and Gerald Segal (eds), China in the Nineties: Crisis Management and Beyond (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991) pp. 226. $24.95 ISBN 0 19 827363 0.

Larry B. Hill (ed.), The State of Public Bureaucracy (Armonk, New York, and London: M.E. Sharpe, 1992) pp.234 $US42.50 ISBN 1 56324007 6.

Christopher Hood and Michael Jackson, Administrative Argument (Aldersbot: Dartmouth, 1991) pp.221. £30.00 ISBN 1 85521 023 1.

Mary Kaldor (ed.), Europe From Below: An East‐West Dialogue (New York: Verso, 1991) $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 522 0.

Colin Mackerras and Amanda Yorke (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Contemporary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.266. $25.00 ISBN 0 521 38755 8420.

Geraint Parry, George Moyser and Neil Day, Political Participation and Democracy in Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992) pp.509. $57.50 ISBN 0 521 33602 3.

Marcus G. Raskin, Essays of a Citizen: From National Security State to Democracy (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991) pp321. $US27.50 ISBN 0 87332 764 0.

Emir Sader and Ken Silverstein, Without Fear of Being Happy: Lula, The Workers Party, and Brazil (London: Verso, 1991) pp.177. $34.95 ISBN 0 86091 523 9.

Haim Shemesh, Soviet‐Iraqi Relations, 1968–1988: In the Shadow of the Iraq‐Iran Conflict (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1992) pp.28. $US42.00 ISBN 1 5587 293 X.

Wayne S. Smith (ed.), Toward Resolution? The Falklands/Malvinas Dispute (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.159. $US25.00 ISBN 1 55587 265 4.

Ramesh Thakur and Carlyle A. Thayer, Soviet Relations with India and Vietnam (Houndmills Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992) pp.315. £35.00 ISBN 0 333 43751 9.

Joseph S. Tulchin (ed.), Economic Development & Environmental Protection in Latin America (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1991) pp.143. $US9.95 ISBN 1 55587 288 3.

Yaacov Y.I. Vertzberger, The World in Their Minds: Information Processing, Cognition, and Perception in Foreign Policy Decision‐making (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990) pp.447. $US42.50 ISBN 0 8047 1688 9.

Robert M. Worcester, British Public Opinion: Guide to the History and Methodology of Political Opinion Polling (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.231. $29.95 ISBN 0 631 17059 6.

Leslie Zines, Constitutional Change in the Commonwealth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991) pp.118. $35.00 ISBN 0 521 40039 2.

Political theory and methodology

Michèle Barrett, The Politics of Truth: From Marx to Foucault (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991) pp.288. $32.95 ISBN 0 7456 0503 6.

Peter Beilharz (ed.), Social Theory: A Guide to Central Thinkers (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1991) pp.242. $22.95 ISBN 1 86373 163 6.

Robin Blackburn (ed.), After the Fall: The Failure of Communism and the Future of Socialism (London: Verso, 1991) pp.327. $29.95 ISBN 0 86091 540 9.

Tom Bottomore (ed.), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought, second edn (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1991) pp.647, $45.00 ISBN 0 631 16481 2.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Noberto Bobbio, Which Socialism?: Marxism, Socialism and Democracy (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990) pp.242. $27.95 ISBN 0 7456 0128 6.

Stewart R. Clegg, Frameworks of Power (London: Sage Publications, 1989) pp.297. $n.p. ISBN 0 8039 8161 9.

Wendy Donner, The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill's Moral and Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991) pp.229. $US12.95 ISBN 0 8014 9987 9.

Ian Forbes, Marx and the New Individual (London: Unwin Hyman, 1990) pp.247. $n.p. ISBN 0 04 445432 5.

Alan Hamlin and Philip Pettit (eds), The Good Polity: Normative Analysis of the State (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991) pp.207. $39.95 ISBN 0 63118088 5.

Oskar Kurer, John Stuart Mill: The Politics of Progress (New York and London: Garland Publishing, 1991) pp.224. $US52.00 ISBN 0 8153 0135 9

Howard Williams, International Relations in Political Theory (Milton Keynes and Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992) pp.143. $34.95 ISBN 0 335 15627 4.     

史学研究中的后现代取向——从几部论著看后现代理论在史学研究中的利弊

后现代主义自90年代初开始成为中国学者比较关注的话题，1993年在北京召开“后现代主义文化与中国文学国际研讨会”，1994年在西安召开“后现代主义在当代中国研讨会”，1996年又在澳门召开“后现代与中国文化建设研讨会”，其声势可见一斑。在这些沸沸扬扬的论争之中，其核心问题其实是后现代是否适合中国国情，然而理论界一次次为后现代的合法性争得不可开交玄语叠出，这除了让人更进一步感到“后学”神秘莫测远如天人以至望。