DAOISM AS CRITICAL THEORY

Classical philosophical Daoism as it is expressed in the Dao-De-Jing and the Zhuang-Zi is often interpreted as lacking a capacity for critique and resistance. Since these capacities are taken to be central components of Enlightenment reason and action, it would follow that Daoism is incompatible with Enlightenment. This interpretation is being refuted by way of developing a constructive dialogue between the enlightenment traditions of critical theory and recent philosophy of action from a Daoist perspective. Daoism\u27s normative naturalism does neither rest on a primitivist call for a return to the past, nor does it suggest future-directed activism. By way of reconstructing its descriptive, explanatory and emancipatory dimensions, it is shown that Daoism constitutes an alternative form of critical theory. In contrast to future-directed purposive action or blind rule-following, Daoism\u27s key normative concept of wu-wei emphasizes effortless non-calculative responsiveness in the present. Drawing on recent insights in the philosophy of action, a reconstruction of wu-wei allows to conceive of a promising form of emancipatory agency

Review of Martin Seel, Aesthetics of Appearing, trans. John Farrell.

Martin Seel, Aesthetics of Appearing, trans. John Farrell. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005. 283 pp. ISBN 0804743819

Kant and Daoism on Nothingness

The essay examines the conceptions of nothingness developed by Kant and classical Daoism. It emphasizes original nothingness as the basis for their conception of freedom and normative agency

Review of Martin Seel, Aesthetics of Appearing, trans. John Farrell.

Martin Seel, Aesthetics of Appearing, trans. John Farrell. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005. 283 pp. ISBN 0804743819

Justification in critical theory

This study is a critical examination of the role of justification in Critical Theory. In particular I will raise the question in what way Critical Theory can be confirmed or disconfirmed, which is important in order for Critical Theory to be more than a moralizing theory without any objective basis. Special emphasis is placed on Jürgen Habermas's attempt to ground normative social criticism in terms of a theory of communicative action. I show that his argument concerning an ideal speech situation is circular and that his foundationalist assumption of speech as being oriented towards consensus faces serious difficulties. By comparing Habermas's defence of deliberative democracy to that of John Rawls's construction of a just society, I challenge the view that democratic liberalism, a position that both Rawls and Habermas share, can be seen as a "freestanding" or "autonomous" conception. Given the importance of problems concerning value pluralism and growing nihilism in modern societies, I argue that Critical Theory should adopt a concern for meaning complementing its concern for justice. Radical self-reflective normative theory, as we paradigmatically find it in the work of Theodor W. Adorno, I conclude, have to take an ambivalent stance towards the possibility of justifying a conception of justice in positive terms

Hut Existence or Urban Dwelling?

Heidegger’s “Creative Landscapes: Why do we remain in the provinces?” and “Dialogue on Language” reveal the importance of rootedness for his existentialism. The article engages with the provinciality of Heidegger’s thought by juxtaposing his solitary “hut existence” to Buddhist compassion and the urban aesthetics of Kuki Shūzō. Turning to the East allows for a deprovincialization of Heideggerian themes. The rich philosophical legacy of reflecting on intercultural modernization and urbanization processes in East Asian philosophical traditions presents a genuine opportunity to rethink what it means to dwell today