Review Article: Democratization as Cultural History, or: When is (West) German Democracy Fulfilled?

This review article seeks to advance the notion of democracyas action as a concept for the study of (West) German democracy.It suggests that it would be preferable to define democracyas practical rather than speculative so as to show how democraticculture, far from being merely an object of reverence, emergedin the form of serious disputes and equally serious displacements.Because democracy is the régime within which the strugglefor democracy finds legitimacy, the study of democracy meansexamining how men and women invoked democracy in the strugglefor what they believed were democratic goals and aspirations.Among the books under review, three in particular seem bestto anticipate future research in the area, in that they examinepost-1945 German democratization in an anti-teleological vein,mindful of conflict and the competition for power.     

Spinoza on art and the cultivation of a disposition toward joyful living

ABSTRACT

This paper forms part of a larger project which seeks to derive a theory of art from a close reading of Spinoza's work. It focuses on the importance of the aligned terms of ingenium and dispositio, which are both used to discuss the central importance of “dispostion” to our capacity to live well. While it is not possible to avoid affects, it is possible to order them in such a way that their negative impacts are lessened and their positive impacts are enhanced. We begin by underlining the importance of disposition to opening the way to understanding. We connect this to Spinoza's acknowledgement of the importance of art in helping to provide a plan for living. We turn to readings of ingenium in the work of Moreau and Balibar to further explore how the concept of disposition helps us to recognise the capacities of works of art to affect their audiences.