Naturalism and Social Philosophy: Contemporary Perspectives

(Paperback)

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Can societies fall ill Can institutions die, or social practices degenerate Must social norms be embodied To what extent is social action habitual Is social life part of nature or does it transcend it This book explores the meaning and many facets of naturalism in social philosophy. It investigates the consequences of concepts such as 'second nature' and 'forms of life' for social philosophy. It analyses the ways in which social action, gender, work and morality are embodied. It surveys the conceptions of nature at play in social criticism. It provides students and experts of social philosophy with both an overview and critical analyses of the many facets of naturalism in social philosophy from Hegel to contemporary critical theory.
Contributors: Louis Carr, Fabian Freyenhagen, Martin Hartmann, Axel Honneth, Thomas Khurana, Steven Levine, Sabina Lovibond, Arvi Srkel, Barbara Stiegler, Mariana Teixeira, Italo Testa

Reviews

If often denied and repressed, the Anthropocene has returned naturalism to the center of the possibility of social philosophy. In this splendid and timely series of essays, the classical defenders of naturalism in social theoryfrom Hegel and Nietzsche through to Dewey, Beauvoir, Wittgenstein, Adorno and Horkheimerare provided with emphatic elaboration and defense. Singularly and collectively, these essays demonstrate the defining characteristics of the kind of naturalism necessary for a Critical Theory of society today. -- Jay M. Bernstein, University Distinguished Professor, Department of Philosophy, New School for Social Research
A timely and insightful collection of essays. Naturalist positions in ethics and philosophy of science are commonplace, it is high time that social philosophy starts making explicit its opposition to and reliance on naturalistic ideas. With this collection, the debate is on! -- Arto Laitinen, Tampere University

Author Bio

Martin Hartmann is professor of philosophy at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland. He focuses on political philosophy, social philosophy, philosophy of trust, Critical Theory, and the philosophy of emotions. He has published books on trust, John Dewey, the philosophy of emotions and articles on Critical Theory, pragmatism, trust, David Hume, Adam Smith, and the philosophy of emotions.
Arvi Srkel is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zrich, Switzerland. He focuses on social philosophy, philosophy of culture, philosophy of nature, and the history of philosophy. He has published many articles on Adorno, Dewey, Hegel, Nietzsche and Wittgenstein. He is the author of the book Immanente Kritik und soziales Leben: Selbsttransformative Praxis nach Hegel und Dewey and co-editor of John Dewey, Sozialphilosophie (with Axel Honneth), John Dewey and Social Criticism (with Federica Gregoratto and Just Serrano) and Pathologies of Recognition (with Arto Laitinen).