•  104
    Habermas and gauchet on religion in postsecular society. A critical assessment
    Continental Philosophy Review 42 (3): 279-296. 2009.
    This article seeks to demonstrate that in his recent reading of the role of religion in the postsecular public realm, Habermas overlooks a most fundamental dimension of religion: its power to symbolically institute communities. For his part, Gauchet starts from a vision of religion in which this fundamental dimension is central. In his evaluation of the role of religion in postsecular society, he therefore arrives at results which are very different from those of Habermas. However, I believe tha…Read more
  •  91
    Niklas Luhmann's systems theoretical redescription of the inclusion/exclusion debate
    Philosophy and Social Criticism 32 (1): 65-88. 2006.
    Relying on Niklas Luhmann's systems theoretical redescription of modern society, this article aims at questioning the basic theoretical notions of the ongoing inclusion/exclusion debate. The most remarkable aspect of Luhmann's reassessment of the inclusion/exclusion relationship within functionally differentiated societies is that individuals are basically situated within the exclusion domain of society, and thus cannot but partially be included within society's function systems and organization…Read more
  •  62
    Kant’s essay An answer to the question: What is Enlightenment? has developed into the representative text of philosophical Enlightenment in the course of the past two hundred years. Yet most interpretations tend to assign to it a univocal meaning that is incompatible with its apparent polysemy. While taking the latter into account, the author closely investigates Kant’s essay and offers a balanced interpretation of its meaning. On the basis of this reading, it becomes apparent that we should und…Read more
  •  58
    Kant's famous essay Beantwortung der Frage. Was ist Aufklärung? has developed into the representative text of philosophical Enlightenment in the course of the past two hundred years. Yet most interpretations tend to assign a univocal meaning to Kant's text that is incompatible with its apparent polysemy. While taking the latter into account, this article wishes to closely investigate Kant's essay and offer a plausible interpretation if its meaning. On the basis of this reading, it becomes appare…Read more
  •  56
    According to Gauchet we are living in a `society of individuals'. But a central term is missing from that formula, and not by any accident, for contemporary society has lost it from view: the term of the political. In sum, thus reads Gauchet's diagnosis, society today is haunted by a kind of individualism out of which no society can be conceived, as it obfuscates its political dimension. The aim of this article is to elaborate this diagnosis, and more specifically the idea that there is no socie…Read more
  •  55
    From the Work of Art to Absolute Reason
    Review of Metaphysics 57 (3): 551-569. 2004.
    ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING EPISODES in Schelling’s philosophical development is the transition from the System des transzendentalen Idealismus to the Darstellung meines Systems der Philosophie, the starting point of the identity system. Looking back on that latter text, Schelling in 1805 declares that “then to me the light went on in philosophy.” This sounds as if the preceding years of philosophical investigation, including the System des transzendentalen Idealismus that was written one year ea…Read more
  •  46
    This article sets up a dialogue between Lefort’s view on the relationship between state and modern society and Foucault’s thesis of a governmental turn in the modern power regime. Whereas Lefort’s political ontology leaves room for divergent agencies from which the symbolic institution of the social may unfold, his preoccupation with democracy leads him to link the symbolic institution of modern society inseparably with the functioning of the modern state. By contrast, Foucault’s history of gove…Read more
  •  46
    This essay sets up a dialogue between Lefort’s view on the relationship between the state and modern society and Foucault’s thesis of a governmental turn in the modern power regime, whereby the relations between state and society are thoroughly redrawn. What are the main results? 1) Whereas Lefort’s political ontology leaves room for divergent agencies from which the symbolic institution of the social may unfold, his preoccupation with democracy leans him to inseparably link the symbolic institu…Read more
  •  45
    status: published.
  •  45
    RÉSUMÉ : Dans sa lecture du rôle de la religion dans l’espace public, Habermas fait abstraction du pouvoir de la religion d’instituer symboliquement les communautés. Gauchet part d’une vision de la religion dans laquelle cette dimension est centrale. Je considère toutefois que Gauchet sous-estime également la mesure dans laquelle la religion a conservé ce pouvoir au sein de la société post-séculière. ABSTRACT: This article seeks to demonstrate that in his reading of the role of religion in the p…Read more
  •  40
    The theory of reflexive modernization plausibly advocates postnational cosmopolitanism. As the nation state is eroding today, we are becoming citizens of a ‘global risk society’ whose unity and cohesion is generated by the risk that is threatening us world-wide. By the same token, this world risk society is no longer unified in any political sense. There is no world state; its very idea is even rejected. In this sense, the cosmopolitanism argued for in the theory of reflexive modernization prove…Read more
  •  39
    De symbolisering van de gemeenschap. Over wat politiek (ook altijd) doet
    Wijsgerig Perspectief 48 (2): 39-50. 2008.
    Symbolen, zo luidt de gemeenplaats, zijn een zaak van taal en kunst – van literatuur en plastische kunst, en ook wel van religie en spiritualiteit –, maar niet van politiek. Nochtans is de band tussen politiek en symboliek niet vreemd. Iedereen kent wel politieke symbolen of heeft het wel eens over symbooldossiers in de politiek. In wat volgt wil ik duidelijk maken dat dit te maken heeft met wat de politiek doet: het symboliseren van de gemeenschap
  •  37
    Boekbesprekingen
    with P. C. Beentjes, W. G. Tillmans, Kitty Mul, J. Lambrecht, ThC de Kruijf, Marc Schneiders, Hans Goddijn, Henk J. M. Schoot, Jan Lambrecht, J. Y. H. A. Jacobs, G. Rouwhorst, F. J. Theunis, D. J. Leys, Drs Jlm Vis, Drs J. L. M. Vis, A. Pavert, A. van de Pavert, E. Dirven, Joan Hemels, and Joh G. Hahn
    Bijdragen 51 (4): 440-463. 1990.
  •  35
    Naar een reflexieve verlichting in veelvoud?
    Wijsgerig Perspectief 46 (2): 39-50. 2006.
    Wij zijn de erfgenamen van de verlichting, maar toch kunnen we vandaag niet langer verlicht zijn zoals de achttiende-eeuwers dat waren. Daarvoor hebben vooral geschiedenis, maar ook de actuele processen van multiculturalisme en mondialisering de idealen van de verlichting te zeer ‘onttoverd’. Maar misschien zitten er nog mogelijkheden in een reflexieve verlichting: een verlichting die zich bewust is van haar eigen grenzen, en precies daarom ook accepteert te kunnen verschijnen in een veelheid va…Read more
  •  35
    The ‘Co‐Originality’ of Constituent Power and Representation
    with Raf Geenens, Thomas Decreus, Femmy Thewissen, and Marta Resmini
    Constellations 22 (4): 514-522. 2015.
    status: published.
  •  34
    The “Individual Universal”
    Idealistic Studies 34 (1): 67-83. 2004.
    This article explores Schelling’s view concerning the eventual reconciliation of modern individuality and society. It is argued that in Schelling’s speculations on this subject, aesthetic models play a prominent role: on the level of society by expressing the need for a new mythology; on the level of the individual by formulating a normative ideal in which the individual is modelled after the work of artand its creator: the artistic genius. This normative view on modern individuality is quite am…Read more
  •  33
    Ten geleide
    with Koo van der Wal
    Wijsgerig Perspectief 46 (2): 4-5. 2006.
    Aanleiding voor dit nummer over 'democratie en representatie' is het overlijden, op 3 oktober van vorig jaar, van een van de belangrijkste naoorlogse politieke denkers in Frankrijk, Claude Lefort . Omdat we niet zozeer de man, maar des te meer zijn ideeën willen memoreren hebben we ervoor geopteerd om de kern van zijn politiek-filosofische nalatenschap onder de aandacht te brengen. Zonder twijfel is dat het inzicht in de onlosmakelijke verwevenheid van democratie en representatie
  •  32
    Boekbesprekingen
    with P. C. Beentjes, J. Lambrecht, Hendrik Hoet, Jaap van der Meij, W. G. Tillmans, Marcel Poorthuis, Th C. de Kruijf, B. Dehandschutter, Martin Parmentier, L. van Tongeren, Th Bell, J. Y. H. A. Jacobs, A. J. M. van der Helm, Hans Goddijn, H. J. Adriaanse, H. Rikhof, Henk Hoekstra, and Johan G. Hahn
    Bijdragen 53 (1): 86-111. 1992.
  •  31
    The general claim advanced in this article is that Foucault’s genealogy of the modern state traces two ideal-typically different power arrangements at the origin of the modern state, roughly referred to as ‘sovereign power’ and ‘governmentality’. They are ideal-typically different in that they operate according to a different logic, including different ends, means and modi operandi. The more specific claim, then, is that due to this different logic, their ever changing interpenetration on the le…Read more
  •  31
    Ten geleide
    with Koo van der Wal
    Wijsgerig Perspectief 46 (2): 4-5. 2006.
    Aanleiding voor dit nummer over 'democratie en representatie' is het overlijden, op 3 oktober van vorig jaar, van een van de belangrijkste naoorlogse politieke denkers in Frankrijk, Claude Lefort . Omdat we niet zozeer de man, maar des te meer zijn ideeën willen memoreren hebben we ervoor geopteerd om de kern van zijn politiek-filosofische nalatenschap onder de aandacht te brengen. Zonder twijfel is dat het inzicht in de onlosmakelijke verwevenheid van democratie en representatie
  •  30
    Whitehead and German Idealism
    Process Studies 14 (4): 265-286. 1985.
  •  29
    Kosmos und System (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 57 (4): 839-840. 2004.
    It can hardly be denied that since Schelling’s early comment on Plato’s Timaeus was published. Schellingiana, Vol. 4, Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1994, 177 pp.) the research on Schelling’s philosophical beginnings has been thoroughly renewed. This text documented for the first time Schelling’s in-depth acquaintance with Plato while he studied in Tübingen and exhibited at the same time his characteristically Kantian reading and understanding of Plato’s theory of creation. Two years later, in 19…Read more
  •  29
    De schaduw van de soevereine macht
    de Uil van Minerva: Tijdschrift Voor Geschiedenis En Wijsbegeerte van de Cultuur 19 (2): 119-125. 2003.
  •  29
    The theory of reflexive modernization plausibly advocates postnational cosmopolitanism. As the nation state is eroding today, we are becoming citizens of a ‘global risk society’ whose unity and cohesion is generated by the risk that is threatening us world-wide. By the same token, this world risk society is no longer unified in any political sense. There is no world state; its very idea is even rejected. In this sense, the cosmopolitanism argued for in the theory of reflexive modernization prove…Read more
  •  28
    De staat van de politieke filosofie
    Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 107 (4): 415-462. 2015.
    The state of political philosophy In this article we attempt to do what is by definition impossible: providing a complete picture of the discipline of political philosophy today. We start by presenting the three thematic subfields in which most research seems to be taking place: democracy (including such topics as deliberation, representation, radical democracy, republicanism, and populism), justice (which covers such diverse topics as capabilities, intergenerational justice, and linguistic just…Read more
  •  28
    Verzet als ‘tegengedrag’
    Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 112 (2): 77-95. 2020.
    Resistance as ‘Counter-conduct’. On the Usefulness of Foucault’s concept of Contre-conduite This paper intends to clarify the peculiarity of counter-conduct as a form of resistance and to examine its usefulness in our neoliberal era. In view thereof, it takes off with a general discussion of Foucault’s views of the relationship between power and resistance. Then the focus shifts more specifically to governmentality and its predecessor, pastoral power, as the specific type of power against which …Read more
  •  28
    This essay sets up a dialogue between Lefort’s view on the relationship between the state and modern society and Foucault’s thesis of a governmental turn in the modern power regime, whereby the relations between state and society are thoroughly redrawn. What are the main results? 1) Whereas Lefort’s political ontology leaves room for divergent agencies from which the symbolic institution of the social may unfold, his preoccupation with democracy leans him to inseparably link the symbolic institu…Read more
  •  27
    Das Erziehungssystem der Gesellschaft/N. Luhmann (Frankfurt a. M., 2002)
    Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 65 (4): 760-762. 2003.
  •  26
    ABSTRACT One of the productive political-philosophical concepts Foucault developed is that of governmentality. According to Foucault, governmentality is in many respects the heir of pastoral power. However, Foucault has never conclusively demonstrated the genealogical link between pastoral power and governmentality. The hypothesis that I want to put forward is that the “missing link” in this genealogy should be situated in the governmental transformations that took place in the period of the Ref…Read more