-
51Immanent Critique as Self-Transformative Practice: Hegel, Dewey, and Contemporary Critical TheoryJournal of Speculative Philosophy 31 (2): 218-230. 2017.ABSTRACT There are two traditions of immanent social critique. One of them, prominent in contemporary Frankfurt school critical theory, regards the immanence of critique as a quality of the standard employed. Such a conception of immanent critique needs to show, prior to the concrete practice of critique, how the standard is immanent in the object of critique. Showing this is the task of a “model of immanent critique.” The other tradition, going back to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and practi…Read more
-
47Social wrongsCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 26 (7): 1048-1072. 2023.In this paper we elucidate the notion of ‘social wrongs’. It differs from moral wrongness, and is broader than narrowly political wrongs. We distinguish conceptually monadic wrongness (1.1), dyadic wronging (1.2), and the idea of there being something ‘wrong with’ an entity (1.3). We argue that social and political wrongs share a feature with natural badness or wrongness (illnesses of organisms) as well as malfunctioning artifacts or dysfunctional organizations: they violate so called ought-to-b…Read more
-
45Pathologies of Recognition: An IntroductionStudies in Social and Political Thought 25 3-24. 2015.This paper is an introduction to the special issue on Pathologies of Recognition. The first subsection briefly introduces the notion of recognition and trace its development from Fichte and Hegel to Honneth and his critics, and the second subsection turns to the concept of a social pathology. The third section provides a brief look at the individual papers. The special issue focuses on two central concepts in contemporary critical social theory: namely ‘recognition’ and ‘social pathology’. For d…Read more
-
42Critical Naturalism: A ManifestoKrisis 42 (1): 108-124. 2022.The Critical Naturalism Manifesto is a common platform put forward as a basis for broad discussions around the problems faced by critical theory today. We are living in a time, e.g. a pandemic time, when present-day challenges exert immense pressure on social critique. This means that models of social critique should not be discussed from the point of view of their normative justification or political effects alone, but also with reference to their ability to tackle contemporary problematic issu…Read more
-
41Between normativism and naturalism: Honneth on social pathologyConstellations 26 (2): 286-300. 2019.
-
35Four conceptions of social pathologyEuropean Journal of Social Theory 22 (1): 80-102. 2019.This article starts with the idea that the task of social philosophy can be defined as the diagnosis and therapy of social pathologies. It discusses four conceptions of social pathology. The first two conceptions are ‘normativist’ and hold that something is a social pathology if it is socially wrong. On the first view, there is no encompassing characterization of social pathologies available: it is a cluster concept of family resemblances. On the second view, social pathologies share a structure…Read more
-
32Ein Drama in drei Akten: Der Kampf um öffentliche Anerkennung nach Dewey und HegelDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 61 (5-6): 681-696. 2013.This article attempts to present the unity as well as the difference between Hegel’s and Dewey’s social philosophical approaches to struggles for recognition. It argues that interpreting Dewey’s Lectures in China as a commentary on Hegel sheds new light on Dewey’s social philosophy as a recognition theoretical whole. Furthermore, the resulting “experimentalist” account of recognitive relations, norms and values might turn out to present a fruitful perspective in contemporary discussions on recog…Read more
-
22Degeneration of Associated Life: Dewey's Naturalism about Social CriticismTransactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 53 (1): 107. 2017.A striking feature of John Dewey’s philosophical attitude in his later period is that for self-description, he did not prefer the term “pragmatism.” Instead, he employed such isms as “experimentalism” and “naturalism.” In the period in which he moved towards developing his own original philosophy, he even stated that “I reject root and branch to the term ‘pragmatism.’”1 As he was at the time drawn to naturalism, it might be revealing indeed that he rejects “root and branch” to “pragmatism.” Also…Read more
-
19John Dewey and Social Criticism: An IntroductionJournal of Speculative Philosophy 31 (2): 213-217. 2017.Critical social theories are generally understood to be distinct from other normative theories by their explicit orientation toward emancipation: they not only present normative criteria for assessing the legitimacy or justification of social institutions or merely inquire into the actualized freedom of a given form of social life but claim to point toward a “freedom in view”—an end that might aid those participating in social struggles to overcome the pathological, alienated, or ideological soc…Read more
-
19Vicious circles: Adorno, Dewey and disclosing critique of societyPhilosophy and Social Criticism 48 (10): 1369-1390. 2022.At the centre of Adorno’s critical theory of society lies the problem of Bann or Bannkreis: why do individuals systematically act in ways that reinforce conditions that are obviously incompatible with their freedom and pursuit of happiness? Despite criticism of Dewey’s experimentalism by several Frankfurt School critical theorists claiming that the American pragmatist fails to account for systematic blockages to critique, Dewey does in fact formulate his approach to social critique as a response…Read more
-
16EinleitungDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 63 (6): 1072-1075. 2015.Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 63 Heft: 6 Seiten: 1072-1075
-
16Der Einfluss des Darwinismus auf DeweyDeutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie 63 (6). 2015.Name der Zeitschrift: Deutsche Zeitschrift für Philosophie Jahrgang: 63 Heft: 6 Seiten: 1099-1123
-
15Vicious circles: Adorno, Dewey and disclosing critique of societyPhilosophy and Social Criticism 48 (10): 1369-1390. 2022.At the centre of Adorno’s critical theory of society lies the problem of Bann or Bannkreis: why do individuals systematically act in ways that reinforce conditions that are obviously incompatible with their freedom and pursuit of happiness? Despite criticism of Dewey’s experimentalism by several Frankfurt School critical theorists claiming that the American pragmatist fails to account for systematic blockages to critique, Dewey does in fact formulate his approach to social critique as a response…Read more
-
14A Restless Spirit: Immanent Critique as Inquiry into Inquiry in Hegel and DeweyIn Arto Laitinen, Jussi Saarinen, Heikki Ikäheimo, Pessi Lyyra & Petteri Niemi (eds.), Sisäisyys & suunnistautuminen: Juhlakirja Jussi Kotkavirralle = Inwardness and Orientation: Festschrift for Jussi Kotkavirta, University of Jyväskylä. pp. 74-95. 2014.
-
13Naturalism and Social Philosophy: Contemporary Perspectives (edited book)Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 2023.This book explores the many facets of naturalism in social philosophy, investigating the consequences of concepts such as "second nature" and "forms of life" analyse the ways in which social action, gender, work and morality and embodied and surveys the conceptions of nature at play in social criticism.
-
10Unsocial Society: Adorno, Hegel, and Social AntagonismsIn Paul Giladi (ed.), Hegel and the Frankfurt School, Routledge. 2020.Adorno’s reading of Hegel’s theory of civil society shapes his way of addressing the core question of his critical theory of society: “Why do social crises not lead to social transformation?” Our chapter investigates the philosophical innovations at the heart of Hegel’s and Adorno’s respective approaches to the problems revealed by the antagonisms of civil society. We will do this by asking the questions: 1. How does Hegel conceive of the antagonistic structure of civil society? 2. How does Hege…Read more
-
9Negative Organicism: Adorno, Emerson, and the Idea of a Disclosing Critique of SocietyCritical Horizons 21 (3): 222-239. 2020.ABSTRACT This article articulates the idea of a disclosing critique of society. It starts from the assumption that the curiously organicistic undertones of Adorno’s negative social ontology is part and parcel of a disclosing gesture in his social criticism. It then traces Adorno’s debate with social organicists to the point where the critical theorist’s own concept of society emerges with a claim to be critical in itself. It is argued that this critical claim is enforced by a disclosing gesture.…Read more
-
7Anpassung und Erschließung. Naturgeschichte als kritische GesteAllgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie 47 (2): 201-222. 2022.
-
6Immanente Kritik und soziales Leben: selbsttransformative Praxis nach Hegel und DeweyVittorio Klostermann. 2018.Anhand einer textnahen Auseinandersetzung mit den Werken Hegels, Deweys und der Kritischen Theorie wird in diesem Buch der Begriff einer immanent-kritisch verfahrenden, naturalistischen Sozialphilosophie entwickelt. In einem ersten Schritt skizziert der Autor eine Konzeption der immanenten Kritik als einer selbsttransformativen sozialen Praxis, die in einem Dialog zwischen dem Philosophen und den alltäglichen Kritikern besteht. Darauf folgt eine Kartographie der ontologischen Voraussetzungen un…Read more
-
63. Eine Metaphysik der „lebendigen Mischung“In Michael Hampe (ed.), John Dewey: Erfahrung Und Natur, De Gruyter. pp. 33-48. 2017.
-
4Das andere Leben: Deweys naturalistische Sozialontologie und ihre kritische AufgabeIn Felix Petersen, Martin Seeliger & Hauke Brunkhorst (eds.), Pragmatistische Sozialforschung: Für Eine Praktische Wissenschaft Gesellschaftlichen Fortschritts, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 151-169. 2021.John Dewey entwickelt eine naturalistische Sozialontologie. Dieser geht es allerdings nicht nur darum, eine regionale Ontologie der sozialen Realität zu erarbeiten, sondern stets auch darum, die Realität selbst als sozial zu begreifen. Das Soziale stellt für ihn sowohl ein Prinzip der ganzen Realität, als auch einer besonderen Existenzweise dieser Realität unter anderen dar, nämlich derjenigen der menschlichen Sozialität im engeren Sinn, wie in einem ersten Schritt gezeigt wird. Im weiteren Verl…Read more
-
1John DeweyIn Ludwig Siep, Heikki Ikäheimo & Michael Quante (eds.), Handbuch Anerkennung, Springer. pp. 215-217. 2018.
-
Kritische TheorieIn Michael G. Festl (ed.), Handbuch Pragmatismus, J.b. Metzler. pp. 281-288. 2018.
-
Death and Disease of Spiritual Life: Hegel's Diagnosis of Lordship and BondageIn Julia Christ & Axel Honneth (eds.), Zweite Natur: Stuttgarter Hegel-Kongress 2017, Klostermann. pp. 691-704. 2022.
-
Ideology as Artificial Respiration: Hegel on Stoicism, Skepticism and Unhappy ConsciousnessStudies in Social and Political Thought 25 (2): 66-81. 2015.
-
Anerkennung als assoziiertes Leben: Zur Aktualität und Aufgabe von Deweys Vorlesungen in ChinaIn Arvi Särkelä & Axel Honneth (eds.), Sozialphilosophie. Vorlesungen in China 1919/20, Suhrkamp. pp. 230-259. 2019.
-
Säkularisierung ohne Profanisierung? Durkheim über die integrative Kraft religiöser ErfahrungIn Annette Pitschmann & Thomas M. Schmidt (eds.), Religion und Säkularisierung: Ein interdisziplinäres Handbuch, Metzler. pp. 7-13. 2014.
-
SozialphilosophieIn Michael G. Festl (ed.), Handbuch Pragmatismus, J.b. Metzler. pp. 155-161. 2018.
-
American Pragmatism and Frankfurt School Critical Theory: A Family DramaIn Michael G. Festl (ed.), Pragmatism and Social Philosophy. Exploring a Stream of Ideas from America to Europe, Routledge. pp. 145-162. 2020.
-
Inquiries into Identity: The Struggle for Recognition in Erik Allardt's Study of Ethnic ConflictsIn Jonas Jakobsen & Odin Lysaker (eds.), Recognition and Freedom: Axel Honneth’s Political Thought, Brill. pp. 193-212. 2015.
Zürich, ZH, Switzerland
Areas of Specialization
3 more
History of Western Philosophy |
Social Philosophy |
Aesthetics |
Metaphilosophy |
Metaphysics |
Virtue Ethics |
Philosophy of Education |
Social Ontology |
Areas of Interest
2 more
20th Century Philosophy |
Philosophical Methods |
Metaphor |
Negation |
Ludwig Wittgenstein |
Theodor W. Adorno |
Sigmund Freud |