The Politics of Postmodernity: Essays in Applied Hermeneutics (Contributions to Phenomenology, 42)

The __Politics of Postmodernity__ outlines in a clear and coherent manner the implications for political theory that are inherent in philosophical hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is not only a general theory of human understanding, it is also, in terms of its practical consequences, a general Theory of Democracy. This book demonstrates, with reference to current debates, how hermeneutical theory provides the ultimate philosophical justification for democratic practice and universal human rights. One of the book's most significant features is the way in which it attempts to __work through__ postmodernism and the way in which throughout it shows how hermeneutics, while fully a form of `postmodern' thought, is nevertheless distinctive in this regard in eschewing all forms of relativism and in resolutely defending a nonessentialist universalism. This book will be of interest to all those concerned with the fate of the core values traditionally defended by philosophy and, indeed, with the future of philosophy itself __after__ postmodernity. The distinctive feature of Madison's political theory is the Merleau-Pontyan sense of contingency that pervades his writings on the subject and, indeed, is visible throughout his entire oeuvre. The perspicacity of Madison's view of con- tingency was first noted by Paul Ricoeur. In his foreword to the English transla- tion of Madison's now classic study of the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur "More than anything, the most penetrating view which Gary Madison proposes of Merleau-Ponty's final ontology concerns the paradox of contingency. "! Twenty-eight years after the original French publication of his dissertation, we may look back over Madison's work and interpret it as working out Merleau-Ponty's insights into the implications of contingency for human political reality within the framework of a hermeneutical theory of democracy. The spirit of Merleau-Ponty's understanding of the emergence of Being at the heart of contingency and of contingency at the heart of Being is carried forward in Madison's articulation of a nondogmatic politics of communicative rational- ity. Madison's postmodern liberalism is unique in seeking to articulate a specifi- cally and explicitly hermeneutical politics, one that attempts to draw out the ul- timate praxial consequences of phenomenological hermeneutics. As might be expected from a political-economic theory of communicative rationality, Madi- son's thinking takes shape through a dialectical confrontation with a number of prominent contemporary writers-Derrida, Rorty, and Habermas, in particular.

The Politics of Postmodernity outlines in a clear and coherent manner the implications for political theory that are inherent in philosophical hermeneutics. Hermeneutics is not only a general theory of human understanding, it is also, in terms of its practical consequences, a general Theory of Democracy. This book demonstrates, with reference to current debates, how hermeneutical theory provides the ultimate philosophical justification for democratic practice and universal human rights. One of the book's most significant features is the way in which it attempts to work through postmodernism and the way in which throughout it shows how hermeneutics, while fully a form of 'postmodern' thought, is nevertheless distinctive in this regard in eschewing all forms of relativism and in resolutely defending a nonessentialist universalism. This book will be of interest to all those concerned with the fate of the core values traditionally defended by philosophy and, indeed, with the future of philosophy itself after postmodernity.

Front Matter....Pages i-xv Introduction Postmodernity and Beyond....Pages 1-9 Coping with Nietzsche’s Legacy....Pages 13-36 Hermeneutics, the Lifeworld, and the Universality of Reason....Pages 37-68 Philosophy without Foundations....Pages 69-100 The New Philosophy of Rhetoric....Pages 101-136 The Practice of Theory/The Theory of Practice....Pages 137-159 The Politics of Postmodernity....Pages 163-185 Hermeneutical Liberalism....Pages 186-200 Austrian Economics and Philosophical Hermeneutics....Pages 201-214 Reinterpreting Civil Society....Pages 215-239 Back Matter....Pages 241-277 Demonstrates, with reference to ongoing debates, how hermeneutical theory provides the ultimate philosophical justification for democratic practice and universal human rights. This book is useful to those concerned with the fate of the core values traditionally defended by philosophy.