Politics and ‘The Fragility of the Ethico-Cultural’
Publication Type |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication |
2000 |
Author |
|
Journal |
History of the Human Sciences |
Volume |
13 |
Number |
1 |
Pages |
125-139 |
Language |
English |
Publish Dates |
February |
Keywords |
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Annotation |
This article looks at Peter Winch’s 1990 preface to the second edition of his work, The Idea of a Social Science, originally published in 1958. Of particular interest is Winch’s identification of two ways he would modify his argument in his original work: first his notions of causality and rules and second, his self-identified failure to look a the ‘fragility of the ‘ethic-cultural’ conditions underlying the exchange of ideas in a society, especially the role of ‘brute force’ in such conditions. The authors of the article go on to focus on the notion of political authority in Winch’s thought, particularly his comparison and contrast of John Rawl’s and Simone Weil’s views of justice and legitimate authority. The article concludes with a consideration of Winch’s critical assessment of the work of Kar-Otto Apel and Karl Popper in terms of the ability to address ethical disagreements in political life. |