社会层级结构理论与当代中国政治哲学研究范式

在当代中国政治哲学建构过程中,有关研究范式的讨论显得十分重要.目前学术界关于当代中国政治哲学研究范式的讨论主要有以下几种观点:在宏观层面与微观层面上,有的学者强调应采用微观研究范式;     

哲学与政治的相遇--论雅斯贝尔斯的政治哲学

本文围绕雅斯贝尔斯的前后期政治著述活动,探讨了其政治哲学的基本内容和特征.雅斯贝尔斯政治哲学的基本内容是他关于社会与国家的理念以及"新政治"思想.雅斯贝尔斯政治哲学的基本特征是将哲学与政治紧密地结合起来,坚持用理性贯注每一个生存,有意识地处理共同体与个人、权利与义务、自由与权威、合法性与道德性、秩序与暴力之间的矛盾,从而使生存变成交往性的生存,使个体达到自身,使社会达到统一.雅斯贝尔斯政治哲学的宗旨是人类的统一、世界的统一.作为普遍交往的政治哲学,雅斯贝尔斯的政治哲学思想有助于人类从全球意识出发,共同选择未来、开辟未来,并对此共同负起责任.     

孙中山政治哲学研究

孙中山为了建立资产阶级民主共和国而推翻帝制,在建立丰功伟绩的同时,也形成了具有时代性的政治哲学。他用实际革命经验,以进化论、知行观、大同社会为基础,结合三民主义的革命理论,构建了自身的政治哲学脉络。他的政治哲学不仅符合近代中国的政治需要,也迫切要回答中国向何处去的历史主题,彰显了卓越的政治智慧。孙中山力图完成中国时局的变革而总结出的政治哲学,是通过进化论来揭示人类自身的历史存在,是用三民主义来开辟大众的当下生存境遇,以追求大同社会为终极目标,深刻地体现了该思想的深邃性和前瞻性。他的政治哲学既是革命实践的总结,又是他实施革命抱负的手段,虽然有资产阶级的不彻底性,但却显示出不朽的光辉,它是中国近代资产阶级哲学的最高成就。     

后现代政治哲学的理论版图

一、政治哲学研究的后现代视角 如果把现代政治哲学当做一个理论范式,那么根源于启蒙理性的宪政民主和市场经济、自由伦理就是构成它的价值坐标.     

启蒙、政治与实践:哲学视域中的审美功能探析

在哲学史演进中展开审美之维的功能研究,伴随研究视域从超验的形而上学、先验的主体性哲学向实践哲学的转向,形成了从启蒙功能、政治功能向实践功能的显性功能渐次彰显的研究脉络,并产生了由启蒙功能奠基,在政治功能中逐渐进入现实,最终在感性的人的实践功能中得到整合推进、共育发展与真正实现的历史逻辑。进一步在哲学视域中整体地研究审美之维推动哲学发展与推进历史实践的功能,审美之维是本体论领域保存超越追求、认识论领域重构认识形式、实践论领域恢复感性的人的实践的重要维度,表现出建构理想世界、认识现实世界与实践改造世界的现实功能。马克思主义在感性学基础上建构起审美之维功能研究的实践哲学视域与实践领域,形成了研究审美之维功能的实践来源、实践力量与实践路径的实践美学,为超越现代性、探索全新现代文明形态的历史实践中审美之维功能的研究与实现提供了理论遵循。     

殖民时期英法政治哲学和社会传统对东南亚的影响

英国和法国作为世界近现代历史上最大的两个殖民主义宗主国,它们的殖民扩张历史对殖民地国家的经济社会发展产生了重要的影响。英法两国不同的政治哲学和社会传统产生了两种不同的殖民指导思想,其差异严重影响着英法殖民地在殖民统治时期以及独立后的国家发展进程。在东南亚地区,英属马来和法属印支两块殖民地在英法殖民主义管理体制下不同的经济社会发展进程,反映出在不同政治哲学和社会传统影响下的两种殖民指导思想的差异性。了解近邻历史及其社会发展,对于中国发展东南亚各国关系具有重要的现实意义。     

政治哲学的立场、意向和方法——以当代中国特色政治哲学构建为视角

政治哲学研究者总是站在某一立场上研究政治哲学,政治哲学的立场问题就是研究者在人类社会的复杂结构中,立足于谁、为了谁进行研究的问题。当代人类基本共同体从国家走向世界势在必行,政治哲学要超越以往立场的多元而走向一元,为世界共同体构建提供支持和服务。政治哲学的意向是一种研究者确定目标对象并在意识中不断与之相互建构的互动活动。政治哲学研究如果死守某个目标对象,其研究就会丧失创造性和生命力。政治哲学研究目标对象的确定是个性化的、具有创造性的开放构建过程,这个过程不是一次性完成的,而是与研究者的研究相伴始终的不断循环往复的持续过程。政治哲学作为哲学的专门学科,必须运用哲学的基本方法——思辨方法,但也要运用一些其他方法,如文献诠释法、历史审视法、现实质疑法等。今天政治哲学要回归其应承担的使命和责任,必须改变政治哲学研究中流行的科学经验方法,在使思辨方法成为政治哲学的基本方法的同时,对政治科学和政治现实始终保持批判性态度,不断推进政治复归其真实本性,体现本性所要求的实践要求。立场、意向和方法的不同决定着政治哲学的性质不同,构建当代中国特色政治哲学需要对我们的研究立场、意向和方法进行反思和重构。     

什么叫政治哲学

"政治哲学"在今天的哲学研究中炙手可热的事实,使得回答"什么叫政治哲学?"的问题甚为急迫.政治哲学在哲学史上的第一个伟大形态是苏格拉底或柏拉图的政治哲学.人们当然可以坐在今天的各种意见洞穴中理解政治哲学,若想了解政治哲学的本义,却不得不首先回到柏拉图的政治哲学.     

马克思实践哲学的政治维度

马克思实践哲学终结了西方近代的政治与哲学相对立的政治思想传统,实现了政治与哲学的联合.而这一联合以"实践"本身具有的政治维度为基础.政治维度是马克思实践哲学的一个根本维度,从这一角度可以把马克思的实践哲学理解为一种政治哲学.     

中国社会结构现代化的哲学视角

中国社会结构现代化的哲学视角就是用马克思主义哲学作指导从宏观角度把握现代化的中国社会整体结构,以较高层次的哲学概念,如经济基础、上层建筑等等作为分析工具,从社会关系的不同组合特征、从个人与社会的关系以及从阶级结构等方面去认识中国社会结构的现代化。     

Economic theory as political philosophy

I defend the integrity of the question of what the cognitive status of economic theory could amount to, and I argue that the theory is best understood as a compartment of formal political philosophy, in particular a species of contractarianism. This seems particularly apt as an account of general equilibrium theory. Given the intentional character of the explanatory variables of economic theory and the role of information in effecting choice, it is argued that economic theory is unlikely to secure the predictive power that would enable it to function as a factual instead of a normative theory.     

The return of the political in social work

This article is a follow-up to our article 'Revisiting social work as art' and in part a response to Karen Healy's reply [both published in IJSW 17(2)]. It is, however, also a significant extension of this material since it engages with more general concerns about the critical project that is intrinsic to social work. Social work is not just about self-foundation based on knowledge, values and skills formation, but also about self-assertion. Crucially, it is through this notion of self-assertion that social work can be best understood as an agent of change. This transformative aspect of social work is our central focus. We are not concerned with structural conditions of power and domination but with theorising what a transformative politics would look like for social work using the lens of the French political philosopher Alain Badiou as a conceptual medium for permitting the return of the political for social work.     

Psychosocial and relationship-based theories for child and family social work: political philosophy, psychology and welfare practice

Psychosocial perspectives on children’s development are allied to theories that recognize the ‘self’ as essentially a social entity. The quality of relationships that children experience in their social environment have a profound effect on their socio-emotional development, personality formation and social competence. To this extent, psychosocial theories of children’s development and wellbeing can provide child and family social workers with a powerful framework within which to analyse, assess and practise. However, it is also recognized that the character of child welfare practices and policies are influenced by prevailing political climates. A simple dichotomy is described between political philosophies of the right and left; libertarianism and communitarianism; individual freedom and collective action. It is argued that the present swing to libertarian individualism has brought about major changes in the policy and practice of much child and family social work, including a preference for theories that emphasize people’s psychological independence, rationality and personal responsibility. In such a climate, child and family social work becomes more legalistic, orientated towards principles of justice rather than welfare, and towards rights and responsibilities rather than personal relationships and social competence. Psychosocial developmental theories, with their emphasis on the importance of social relationships and the emotional interconnectedness of people in community, fare less well under the rigours of psychological individualism and free-market economics. The paper concludes that if children’s psychosocial development and competence are a product of their social history, practices that psychologically ‘disembed’ people from their relationship environment are unable to consider children’s needs within a coherent, well-grounded theoretical framework. If child and family social work is premised on helping children develop social understanding and emotional wellbeing, theory and practice are best served by taking a psychosocial perspective.     

From entitlements to incentives: The changing philosophy of social protection

In recent years policies for social protection initially designed for purposes of income maintenance have come to place increasing emphasis on the reintegration of welfare beneficiaries into the labour force. This paper describes a range of initiatives in public assistance, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and public pensions, which link social benefits with incentives to work. These measures are seen as part of a broader pattern of change that seeks to balance social rights and obligations. The reasons for this change are examined in the light of demographic trends, ideological shifts, and unanticipated consequences of past social welfare policies. An analysis of the uncertainties surrounding incentive-oriented social policies suggests that these measures bear careful monitoring.     

The political participation of social workers: a comparative study

This article reports on a comparative study that examined the political participation of social workers in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa, the state of New South Wales (excluding the Hunter region) in Australia, and New Zealand. Each of these contexts had roughly the same number of social workers, that is, approximately 1,200. It was found that social workers in New Zealand tended to be more politically active than their counterparts in New South Wales and KwaZulu-Natal, and the reasons for this are examined. In the process, New Zealand is presented as a case study of the way in which social work has responded to its political context. Finally, conclusions are drawn as to the engagement of social workers in the policy cycle and of the need for them to become more active politically.     

The political activities of social workers in the context of changing roles and political transition in Hong Kong

The article reports on a fourth study on the political participation of social workers based on a methodology developed by Gray and Collett van Rooyen (2000). Thus far studies have been conducted in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The present study examined the political activities of social workers in Hong Kong. It begins with a review of the politicisation of Hong Kong's social workers, tracing developments from the 1960s onwards. It then examines the literature on political participation in social work, particularly various typologies of political activity, in order to add to theory relating to this important aspect of social-work practice. Thereafter, it outlines the conceptual framework and methodology used in the study, the results of which provide the basis for the discussion of the political activities of social workers in Hong Kong. It ends with an in-depth discussion of the implications of the findings for the political role of social workers in Hong Kong's changing political context.     

The risks of using TQM philosophy in developing the quality of social welfare services

Total Quality Management (TQM) seems to be a highly promising strategy for producing better quality in personal social services. However, there are at least four problems in implementing TQM philosophy in social services.
According to the analysis, TQM must be further developed, particularly with regard to needs analysis; it has to be clarified where the TQM approach stands with respect to the matters of workplace democracy and justice, and its methodology has to be reconsidered.     

"差异"的统治——解构主义政治哲学的一个维度

差异的统治是解构主义政治哲学批判现代政治哲学的一个重要维度或典型形态。解构主义者认为现代性政治将对同一性的追求作为其基本的前提,掩饰和抹煞差异以至于将差异消融于同一之中,这使得现代性政治带有强烈的专制、霸权和极权的倾向。他们以德勒兹的"差异",特别是德里达的"延异"、利奥塔的反"元叙事"观为哲学基础,力图颠覆同一性为基础的现代宏大政治,强调多元的和差异的政治观,以解构现代政治的中心、标准、惟一价值和至高无上的权威和特权,旨在确立多元文化和政治视野的同等价值,这对于扩大社会、政治体系的合理合法性范围,并使其具有更大的包容性无疑具有重要意义。但他们对差异的过度推崇使得他们缺乏普适性的前提而陷入混乱,无法建构出任何政治图景。     

Contending philosophy of social science perspectives: A flexible typology

Philosophy of social science (PoS) typologies can help practitioners in the social sciences to reflect upon the often-tacit assumptions embedded in research. Existing PoS typologies however suffer from various shortcomings, one of them being a tendency to present extreme versions of the assumptions underpinning research. Having considered this and other shortcomings, the present paper advances a flexible PoS typology. Operating with strong and moderated versions of three PoS perspectives – positivism, constructionism and (critical) realism – the typology captures key assumptions underpinning a broad range of contemporary social research. Moreover, it opens up the possibility of contemplating the assumptions embedded in research in a more fruitful way. To render tangible how the typology constitutes an improvement over existing typologies, it is used in reflections on sustainability research on climate negotiations, green growth and housing development.