Habermas and the international EU as it is

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Isn’t there already transnational democracy enough in the EU (pending economic recovery from recession)?

A fascinating comment about Germany in a recent NYTimes article on the Ukraine Event is that, in effect, the European Commission is a “partnership...hallowed in Berlin as the real...governing body of Europe.”

silent spring, fat city, and being here now

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Isn’t the notion of Earth Day precious?

It should be every day, of course. So, what does this mean for every day?

Do you nearly cringe at the triteness of such a question? Aren’t you tired of hearing about deathly pollution and extinction-level climate change?

It’s all not trite, of course, for kids (who will inherit the Earth), for health care professionals, educators, community developers, progressive activists, social entrepreneurs, policy wonks, and Earth scientists.

Indeed, a holism of relevance is greatly to The Point, not some redemptive tokenism of preciousness.

Healthy planet, healthy nations, healthy regions, healthy lives...

environmental engineering

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commitment to excellent policy tools can work

"As world leaders head to the UN Climate Summit in September, what's critical can't wait for theorists to create populist mandates. What we need is effective leadership."

a reality of geopolitics: permanent improvisation

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part of a project on Habermas and transnationalism

So, Russia vetoes UN Crimea Resolution. What else is new?

Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador, remarks:

This is a sad and remarkable moment. The truth is that this resolution should not have been controversial. It was grounded in principals that provide the foundation for international stability and law—Article 2 of the U.N. Charter—the prohibition on the use of force to acquire territory and respect for sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of member states. These are principals that Russia agrees with and defends vigorously all around the world—except, it seems, in circumstances that involve Russia.

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Like the child whose outbursts can ruin a family gathering, if he isn’t pacified, the world’s enmeshment with the Russian economy (largely via Europe) allows Putin to easily threaten financial markets, risking global recoveries, if his adventurism isn’t tolerated.

U.S./E.U. optioning for diplomacy isn’t a choice; it’s the only feasible response to blackmail. Of course, insistence on the power of diplomacy is also exemplary of the “soft power” approach to leadership that attracts Ukraine to the EU. And around the world, one great appeal of democracy is its devotion to soft power. 

on solidarity: culturally-based, not politically

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part of Habermas and the EU

The M-W Unabridged Dictionary defines ‘solidarity’ as one might expect: “an entire union of interests and responsibilities in a group : community of interests, objectives, or standards.”

This is not a primarily-political notion, to which Habermas confines the term in his Athens lecture (properly, given his context). Indeed, the English dictionary’s exemplar is Joseph Conrad: “...solidarity that knits together innumerable hearts.”

Habermas’ “...Detranscendentalized ‘Use of Reason’”

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Habermas’ “From Kant’s ‘Ideas’ of Pure Reason to the ‘Idealizing’ Presuppositions of Communicative Action: Reflections on the Detranscendentalized ‘Use of Reason’” might be the only essay by Habermas that’s been published in English three times, thereby signaling its central importance for representing his philosophical position—which is no surprise: The essay relies on conceptual commitments which span his career; and cites essays by him that had seemed fundamental to the development of his thought. The essay is as difficult to work through as anything he’s done.

I would enjoy discussing this essay with anyone who has thought through it entirely. In particular, I’m interested in JH’s discussion of Davidson in a later section of the essay. You can contact me via the Facebook/Habermas Page or e-mail me. 

pragmatism as progressive realism

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A recent article in Politico extendedly characterizes Obama’s leadership as “realist.” Politico invites expert response, resulting first in a ping-pong by Dennis Ross (counselor to Obama) on realism vs. idealism which he labels “pragmatism.”

This is a happy thing. Firstly, Obama was academically pragmatist, literally. Secondly, I’ve long capsulated my sense of pragmatism as a fruitful balancing of idealist and realist perspectives. But that’s just heuristic. In a phrase, my sense of pragmatism is a progressive realism (overtly begging the question of what is the best sense of ‘progressive’; what is the best sense of ‘realism’?). Yet, it gets complicated: