Power
163 pages
English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris
Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus
163 pages
English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

Description

Frequently understood in simplistic and often highly negative terms, the concept of power has proven to be both uncommonly intriguing and maddeningly elusive. In Power, Raymond Angelo Belliotti begins by fashioning a general definition of power that is refined enough to capture the numerous types of power in all their multifaceted complexity. He then proceeds in a series of discrete yet thematically connected meditations to explore the meaning of power in ancient, modern, and contemporary thought. In grappling with the critical questions surrounding the accumulation, distribution, and exercise of personal and social power, this work allows us to confront fundamental questions of who we are and how we might live better lives.
Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part One

I. Concepts of Power

II. Thrasymachus (ca. 459 BC–ca. 400 BC) and Socrates (ca. 470 BC–ca. 399 BC): Does Might Make Right?

III. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527): The Ambiguity of Power

IV. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900): The Will to Power

Part Two

V. Stoicism: Overcoming Oppression through Attitude

VI. Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1831): The Dynamic of Dyadic Relationships of Power

VII. Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) Securing the Acquiescence of the Oppressed

Part Three

VIII. Michel Foucault (1926–1984): The Ubiquity of Power

IX. Jürgen Habermas (1929–): The Power of Communicative Rationality

X. Feminism: The Power of Collective Transformation

XI. Final Words

Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Index

Sujets

Informations

Publié par
Date de parution 14 mars 2016
Nombre de lectures 11
EAN13 9781438459578
Langue English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1648€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

POWER
POWER
Oppression, Subservience, and Resistance
RAYMOND ANGELO BELLIOTTI
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2016 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Production, Eileen Nizer
Marketing, Kate R. Seburyamo
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Belliotti, Raymond A., 1948–
Power : oppression, subservience, and resistance / Raymond Angelo Belliotti.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4384-5955-4 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4384-5957-8 (e-book)
1. Power (Philosophy) I. Title.
BD438.B44 2016
303.3—dc23 2015010176
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Marcia, Angelo, and Vittoria

L’onuri chi si perdi ‘ntra un minutu,
‘Ntra cent’ anni nun è ricumpinzatu.
(“Honor that is lost in a minute is not won back in a hundred years.”)
Contents
Abbreviations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
P ART O NE
I. Concepts of Power
II. Thrasymachus (ca. 459 BC–ca. 400 BC) and Socrates (ca. 470 BC–ca. 399 BC): Does Might Make Right?
III. Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527): The Ambiguity of Power
IV. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900): The Will to Power
P ART T WO
V. Stoicism: Overcoming Oppression through Attitude
VI. Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1831): The Dynamic of Dyadic Relationships of Power
VII. Karl Marx (1818–1883) and Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937): Securing the Acquiescence of the Oppressed
P ART T HREE
VIII. Michel Foucault (1926–1984): The Ubiquity of Power
IX. Jürgen Habermas (1929–): The Power of Communicative Rationality
X. Feminism: The Power of Collective Transformation
XI. Final Words
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author
Index
Abbreviations
As is the common practice, when I have cited from the writings of some prominent authors, the references in all cases have been given immediately in the text and not in the notes. I used multiple versions of the texts in some cases. Unless otherwise indicated, all references are to sections or chapters, not page numbers. I have used the following abbreviations:
For Nietzsche BGE Beyond Good and Evil (1886) EH Ecce Homo (1908) GM On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) GS The Gay Science (1882) TI Twilight of the Idols (1889) UM Untimely Meditations (1873–76) WP The Will to Power (unpublished notebooks, 1883–88) Z Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883–85) GS 125 The Gay Science , Section 125 Z I “Zarathustra’s Prologue,” 5 = Thus Spoke Zarathustra , Book 1, “Zarathustra’s Prologue,” section 5 BGE 13 Beyond Good and Evil , section 13 EH “Why I Am So Clever,” 9 = Ecce Homo , “Why I Am So Clever,” section 9 GM II, 12 On the Genealogy of Morals , Book 2, section 12 WP 1067 The Will to Power , section 1067 UM “Schopenhauer as Educator,” 8 = Untimely Meditations, “Schopenhauer as Educator,” section 8 TI “Maxims and Arrows,” 12 = Twilight of the Idols, “Maxims and Arrows,” number 12
For Epictetus EN Encheiridion (Manual for Living) EN 12 Encheiridion , sec. 12
For Plato R Republic G Gorgias R 368b–369b Republic 368b–369b (Stephanus numbering) G 480a–522e Gorgias 480a–522e (Stephanus numbering)
For Machiavelli AW The Art of War D The Discourses FH Florentine Histories Ltr. Machiavelli’s letters P The Prince AW 2 45 The Art of War , Book 2, page 45 (Wood edition) D I 55 The Discourses , Book I, chapter 55 FH I 3 Florentine Histories , Book I, section 3 Ltr. 247: 1/31/15 Letter 247: January 31, 1515 (Atkinson and Sices edition) P 18 The Prince , chapter 18
Preface
Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
—Henry Kissinger
I was discussing our respective academic disciplines with a colleague who was a political scientist. The dialogue was quite predictable until he suddenly blurted out, “But we study power !” To describe with words the glee with which he uttered this sentence is beyond challenging. On a scale of passion from one to ten, my colleague earned a score of twelve. To label his enthusiasm “deranged avidity” would not overstate his mindset. It was as if he were convinced that to study and try to measure “power” were enterprises that by themselves amplified the personal significance of practitioners and elevated their profession.
When another philosopher passed by and offered, “Well, we search for truth,” his bromide received the derision one might anticipate. “Truth,” it appeared, was abstract, contestable, and elusive. “Power” was real, indisputable, and registered expansive, discernible effects. The political scientist unknowingly echoed the conclusions of the character Callicles in Plato’s Gorgias : philosophy is a project for babies. Engaging in it may help shape a child’s mind, but real men seek glory in the political arena pervaded by power (G 484c–484d).
The conversation ended and everyone went their separate ways. But I was haunted by my colleague’s words. I was convinced that throughout the history of philosophy many thinkers had reflected productively on the concept, consequences, and structures of power. Perhaps by explaining and critically examining these efforts I could combine the search for truth with a more profound understanding of power. Perhaps I could even go beyond being a baby and experience the visceral delight embodied by my colleague. Maybe in my seventh decade of life I could finally become a “real man.” Such is the genesis of this work.
Acknowledgments
Numerous people contributed to this work directly or indirectly. As always, my family comes first. Thanks to Marcia, Angelo, and Vittoria for being my one, true thing.
Thanks also to Michael Rinella, a first-rate acquisitions editor, who added expertise to the production process and who dealt patiently and considerately with an author who is consistently impatient. Thanks to Joanne Foeller, an expert of book formatting who corrected my numerous errors and prepared the final manuscript with unmatched efficiency and grace.
Finally, I am deeply grateful to the following publishers who have granted permission to reprint, adapt, or revise some of my previously published work:
1. Part of my explanation of Marxism was first published in Justifying Law: The Debate over Foundations, Goals, and Methods (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992).
2. A version of my analysis of Gramsci is included in Watching Baseball, Seeing Philosophy: The Great Thinkers at Play on the Diamond (Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishing, 2008).
3. My rendering of Machiavelli reflects material from Niccolò Machiavelli: The Laughing Lion The Strutting Fox (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008).
4. My interpretation of Stoicism adapts arguments from Roman Philosophy and the Good Life (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009).
5. Portions of my description and examination of Nietzsche were first published in Jesus or Nietzsche: How Should We Live Our Lives? (Amsterdam, Netherlands, Value Inquiry Book Series: Ethical Theory and Practice, Rodopi Publishers, 2013).
6. A few paragraphs of the chapter on Habermas are revisions of material from “Radical Politics and Nonfoundational Morality,” International Philosophical Quarterly 29 (1989): 33–51.
Introduction
When most people initially hear the term power they conjure images of domination and oppression: totalitarian political leaders dictating to the masses and enforcing their will because they monopolize the military forces of their country; or radically unequal relationships where one party enjoys privilege of place and prerogative; or the tragic effects of the distribution of widely unequal material resources among different social classes in society. At first blush, then, power strikes us as the means by which certain individuals or groups are able to assert their wills and attain their ends to the detriment of other, less-powerful individuals and groups.
While this understanding captures, in a simplistic fashion, one use of one type of power, it does not define the term. In its most general rendering, we all enjoy expansive power to do a variety of things and participate in a host of activities. In addition, even the exercise of power over another party can be in service of advancing the interests of the subordinate in the relationship. Thus, we should not identify power with oppression too facilely.
Furthermore, even oppressive power relations are more complicated than they first appear. We are inclined to assume that superiors in such relationships benefit abundantly while subordinates suffer gravely; that these relationships are static and ongoing; and that the possibilities for reversal are few if any. Also, power is typically understood as a commodity, object, or transferable substance that operates on antecedently constructed human beings. All such assumptions require refinement.
To deepen our understanding of power, a cluster of questions animates this work: How are we to judge appropriate from inappropriate exercises of power and acceptable from unacceptable relations of power? What normative standards permit us to justify acts of rebellion and efforts to transform extant power relations? Why would we undertake such acts and efforts? How would we do so? And for what end? How and why is resistance implicated in power’s basic constitution? To what extent do relations of power constitute the human subject? What is the relationship of power to knowledge? What is the relationship of power to our normative notions of morality and justice? Is it possible to pontificate about power from a vantage point not already contaminated by the effects of oppression? How much and what typ

  • Univers Univers
  • Ebooks Ebooks
  • Livres audio Livres audio
  • Presse Presse
  • Podcasts Podcasts
  • BD BD
  • Documents Documents