Hanna Fenichel Pitkin: Politics, Justice, Action (Routledge Innovators in Political Theory)

Hanna Pitkin has made key contributions to the field of political philosophy, pushing forward and clarifying the ways that political theorists think about action as the exercise of political freedom. In so doing, she has offered insightful studies of the problems of modern politics that theorists are called to address, and has addressed them herself in a range of theoretical genres. She is an innovator in bringing conceptual work inspired by ordinary language philosophy to the field of political philosophy, as well as a penetrating and exacting interpreter of texts who draws on the insights of psychoanalysis, gender, and historical study. This collection of her works approaches each of these dimensions of Pitkin's contributions in turn, recognizing that she typically blends these modes of engagement in much of her political theorizing. The Modern Condition and the Impetus to Theorize. At several moments in her career, Pitkin has offered sustained reflection on what aspects of modern political life prompt the impulse to theorize politics. She has also drawn out with great nuance the pitfalls that modern life and philosophy also present for that enterprise, for example, in attempts to naturalize human community or in turning to theoretical abstraction. Her study of Wittgenstein in particular structured her most penetrating study of these questions. Pitkin suggests an agenda for political theorizing to engage the dilemmas of modernity in ways that grasp the importance of paradox as a portal of insight into the modern condition, and eschews attempts at easy resolution. In keeping with this, Pitkin has herself explored a variety of conceptual paradoxes that arise in the work of other theorists (e.g., regarding freedom, interest, and obligation), each as symptomatic of modern dilemmas. In each encounter, Pitkin offers a clearer picture of the problems of political modernity and the outlines of political responses to them. Moral Philosophy, Judgment, Justice: Pitkin has turned at several points in her Hanna Fenichel Pitkin has made key contributions to the field of political philosophy, pushing forward and clarifying the ways that political theorists think about action as the exercise of political freedom. In so doing, she has offered insightful studies of the problems of modern politics that theorists are called to address, and has addressed them herself in a range of theoretical genres.. This collection of her works approaches each of these dimensions of Pitkin’s contributions in turn: The Modern Condition and the Impetus to Theorize: Pitkin has offered sustained reflection on what aspects of modern political life prompt the impulse to theorize politics. Highlighting the pitfalls that modern life and philosophy also present for that enterprise, she suggests an agenda for political theorizing that engages the dilemmas of modernity in ways that grasp the importance of paradox as a portal of insight into the modern condition, and eschews attempts at easy resolution. Moral Philosophy, Judgment, Justice: Pitkin has turned at several points in her career to the concept of justice as one that particularly brings together questions of agency and responsibility, the insights of moral philosophy, and judgment. Drawing upon a variety of methodological resources and theoretical inspirations, her work engages ordinary language philosophy, pedagogical practice, and textual study, to yield a complex and subtle set of observations, all of which open moral philosophy and matters of judgment to questions of action and responsibility in the exercise of political freedom. Action: Political agency and its obstacles are a key theme in Pitkin’s work and a main area of her theoretical innovation. She has examined the appeal of autonomy as a picture of political agency, explored the ways that the institutional arrangements of modern liberal societies attempt to link of individual and political agency and offered a picture of political freedom as maintaining the tension between individual "parts" and collective "wholes," Finally, Pitkin has meditated on the political and social conditions that most impede our ability to grasp agency as a practice of political freedom, and gestured to paths that may lead forward. Hanna Fenichel Pitkin's Political Theorizing Confronts The Sense Of Powerlessness And Alienation That Marks The Modern Condition. It Does So By Embracing Plurality, Ambiguity, And Contradiction, And By Remaining Attuned To Embodiment, Needs, And Differences -aspects Of The Human Condition That Political Theorists Have, She Argues, Too Often Sought To Escape Or Deny. The Insights Generated By Pitkin's Theorizing Not Only Point To The Challenges We Face In Marshalling Our Deliberative And Shared Powers, But Also Makes Accessible To Us Conceptual And Practical Tools We Can Use To Address Our Troubling Times. The Editor Has Focused On Work In Three Key Areas: Politics: Pitkin's Work On The Problems Of Autonomy, Moral Action, Consent, And Obligation Examines In Nuanced Ways How Persons Relate To Political Collectivities.^ She Explores Our Tendency To Imagine Autonomy In Ways That Deny Our Interconnectedness And Instead Project Dominance Over Others, And She Limns Alternatives To These Immature And Masculinist Conceptions Of Agency. Drawing Out These Themes In Her Readings Of Literature And Classics Of Political Theory, Pitkin Illuminates Problems Of Political Agency In Late Modern Life. Judgement: Pitkin's Path-breaking Work With Language Philosophy Is Most Prominently Displayed In Her Work On Justice. In Selections From This Work And Others, Pitkin Brings Together Questions Of Responsibility, The Insights Of Moral Philosophy, And Even Pedagogical Practice. Blending Ordinary Language Philosophy And Textual Study, She Offers A Complex And Subtle Set Of Observations About Justice And Judgement Which Open To Questions Of Action And Responsibility In The Exercise Of Political Freedom.^ Action: Pitkin's Political Thinking Draws Out Images Of Political Action That Best Heed The Ambiguities And Complexities Of Co-action With Strangers. Pitkin's Work In These Selections Reflects Upon The Ways That People Co-create Complex, Large-scale Problems By Way Of Their Participation In Social Norms, Their Attribution Of Agency To The Market, The Problem Of False Necessity, And So On. She Diagnoses These Problems As A Reflection Of Our Alienation From Our Own Shared And Collective Powers, And Offers Suggestions For Their Redirection. Hanna Fenichel Pitkin And The Dilemmas Of Political Thinking / Dean Mathiowetz -- Action And Membership (1984) -- Food And Freedom In The Flounder (1984) -- Slippery Bentham : Some Neglected Cracks In The Foundation Of Utilitarianism (1990) -- Obligation And Consent (1965-1966) -- Two Selections On Plato's Republic From Wittgenstein And Justice (1972) -- Relativism : A Lecture (1984-- Justice : On Relating Private And Public (1981) -- Judgment And Autonomy (1984) -- The Citizen And His Rivals (1984) -- The Mandate-independence Controversy (1967) -- Representation And Democracy : Uneasy Alliance (*2004) -- Absent Authority : Marx (1998) -- The Social In The Human Condition (1998) -- An Interview With Hanna Fenichel Pitkin. Edited By Dean Mathiowetz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements Hanna Fenichel Pitkin and the dilemmas of political thinking Radical politics Radical theorizing Politics Judgment Action Note References PART I: Politics 1. Action and membership (1984) Note References 2. Food and freedom in The Flounder (1984) Notes References 3. Slippery Bentham: some neglected cracks in the foundation of utilitarianism (1990) Natural harmony of interests Legislation Education Notes References 4. Obligation and consent (1965–1966) The problem of political obligation Locke on consent The theory applied Justifying political obligation Notes References PART II: Judgment 5. Two selections on Plato’s Republic from Wittgenstein and Justice (1972) Justice: Socrates and Thrasymachus Meaning and application The “is” and the “ought” Inside and outside views Some alternative examples “Showing how it is just” Form and substance Wittgenstein and the study of political theory Notes References 6. Relativism: a lecture (1984) Notes References 7. Justice: on relating private and public (1981) I II III IV V Notes References 8. Judgment and autonomy (1984) Notes References PART III: Action 9. The Citizen and his rivals (1984) Notes References 10. The mandate-independence controversy (1967) Notes References 11. Representation and democracy: uneasy alliance (2004) References 12. Absent authority: Marx (1998) Marx’s other half Arendt and Marx Notes References 13. The social in The Human Condition (1998) Relating behavior to the conceptual triad The conformist and the economic social Necessity Institutional structure Some difficulties in this reading Notes References 14. An interview with Hanna Fenichel Pitkin Intellectual formation and training Research and writing Teaching Index