This event has been cancelled.
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On April 13th, the Center for Critical Democracy Studies will host Professors Isabelle Aubert (Panth茅on-Sorbonne) and Rainer Forst (Goethe-Universit盲t) for 鈥Solidarity in Polarized Times,鈥听an event which will bring both thinkers together for a discussion of notions of solidarity in their recent philosophical work.. Professor Aubert will give a presentation titled 鈥淪olidarity and Critical Reason,鈥 and Professor Forst鈥檚 presentation will be titled 鈥淪olidarity: Concept and Conceptions.鈥 The discussion will be moderated by Professor Julian Culp (American University of Paris).
The event will take place in room Q-801 and will begin at 17h00. To sign-up, please register using the form below. Professor Aubert and Professor Forst鈥檚 biographies and paper abstracts can be found below.
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Dr. Isabelle Aubert is听Ma卯tre de conf茅rences听at the Institute of Law and Philosophy of Universit茅 Paris 1 Panth茅on-Sorbonne as well as Member of the听Institut universitaire de France. She received her PhD in philosophy under the supervision of Jean-Fran莽ois Kerv茅gan and Axel Honneth. Her research areas are legal philosophy, social theory, and contemporary political philosophy.听Her book publications include the monograph听Habermas听鈥撎齍ne th茅orie critique de la soci茅t茅听(CNRS 茅ditions, 2015) as well as the volumes听Dialogues avec J眉rgen Habermas听(CNRS 茅ditions, 2018),听Niklas Luhmann 鈥撎Une th茅orie g茅n茅rale de la soci茅t茅听(Sorbonnes Editions, 2023), and听Adorno 鈥 Dialectique et n茅gativit茅听(Vrin, 2023).鈥澨
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Prof. Dr. Rainer Forst is Professor of Political Theory and Philosophy at Goethe University听and Research Professor of Political Theory at WZB Berlin Social Science Center.听One of today's most important political philosophers and critical theorists, Forst received his Ph.D.听under the supervision of J眉rgen Habermas听and John Rawls, and is best-known for his groundbreaking work on concepts of听justice, power and听toleration.听Publications include: Contexts of Justice (1994; University of California Press 2002), Toleration in Conflict (2003; Cambridge University Press 2013), The Right to Justification (2007; Columbia University Press 2012), Justification and Critique (2011; Polity 2013), Normativity and Power (2015; Oxford University Press 2017) and Die noumenale Republik (2021); all published by Suhrkamp Verlag and translated into many languages. In 2012, he received the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation. He is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and of the British Academy.
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This article distinguishes between a general concept and various conceptions of solidarity depending on normative contexts. The general concept of solidarity refers to a particular practical attitude and involves a form of 鈥渟tanding by鈥 each other based on a听particular normative bond听with others constituted by a common cause or shared听identity. Since solidarity is a听normatively dependent concept, the nature of such bonds, causes or identities is not determined by the concept. Furthermore, solidarity itself, without the addition of further normative sources, is not a value; it can serve worthy or unworthy causes. Also, on the general conceptual level, the question of whether solidary acts are of a supererogatory nature or presuppose a particular sort of reciprocity or symmetry is left open. These questions have to be dealt with on the level of particular conceptions of solidarity, of which the article distinguishes four general ones:听ethical听conceptions located in communal contexts based on shared notions of the good,听legal听conceptions according to which solidary communities and duties are legally constituted,听political听conceptions that either focus on national solidarity or on the solidary pursuit of concrete aims of justice. Finally,听moral听conceptions of solidarity are based on some notion of common humanity materializing in particular forms of solidary action. Solidarity comes in many forms and with many justifications and grounds.
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This presentation aims to show solidarity as a key concept to Critical Theory, especially for J眉rgen Habermas and the next generation, Iris Marion Young, and Axel Honneth. In examining their approaches, I will focus on three main issues to reveal the explanatory, normative/critical, and epistemological scope of solidarity. I shall describe the conceptual challenge of getting the definition of solidarity right. Against particularistic forms of solidarity that are sectarian and exclusive, Habermas, Young, and Honneth present three interesting perspectives which stress the importance of a universal and reciprocal solidarity for the inclusion of all in democracy.听 I will then highlight how solidarity is not merely a descriptive, but also a critical concept. Solidarity refers to a social fact, the absence of which causes serious social pathologies, and it is also a normative issue with moral and political implications. Each following a singular path, Habermas, Honneth and Young reveal how and why the realization of a mutual solidarity is crucial for developing a society in which it is good to听live together, not next to each other along parallel tracks or with some people dominating others. My final concern will be to demonstrate the necessary link between solidarity and critical rationality: if a real critique is to be based on social practice, then solidarity between participants must be presupposed to ensure this practice.