Darrow Schecter

Gramsci: Pre-prison writings

Gramsci: Pre-prison writings: Edited by Richard Bellamy (Cambridge University Press, 1994), Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, lii + 350 pp. ISBN 0-521-42307-4.

Liberalisms and the limits of knowledge and freedom: On the epistemological and social bases of negative liberty

This article sets out to show that it is more precise to speak of different liberal traditions than it is to speak of liberalism in general. The argument is pursued by showing how contrary to French liberalism, which has a strong republican element, and in contrast with English and Scottish liberalism, which reserve an important place for political economy, there is also a central European liberalism with a marked philosophical dimension. This particular form of liberalism is analysed by examining the writings of Kant, Simmel and Freud. It is stated at the outset that critiques of liberalism often fail to appreciate the richness and diversity of liberal thinking, and that this depth must be borne in mind in any effective critique. It is explained that there are indeed grounds to critique liberal thought and practice, but that these grounds are obscured by lumping distinct and heterogeneous traditions together as if they all suffered from the same defects.

Gramsci's unorthodox Marxism: political ambiguity and sociological relevance

Gramscis work continues to enjoy popularity amongst academics and activists. There is nonetheless a real question about the relevance of his central political ideas for the twenty-first century. This paper defends the thesis that Gramscis humanism is part of a long tradition of political thought which dates back to Machiavelli, and that although this national-popular humanism is now outdated for reasons which are suggested in the writings and films of Pier Paolo Pasolini, there is also a sociological component to Gramscis theorising that retains resonance today.

Liberalism and the limits of legal legitimacy: Kant and Habermas

This paper makes a distinction between legal forms of legitimacy and legitimate forms of legality. It suggests that only legitimate forms of legality are genuinely legitimate. Genuinely legitimate in this context means sustained by non-instrumental forms of reason mediating between humanity and nature, keeping in mind that humanity is part of nature due to humanitys spontaneity and sensuality, but not reducible to nature because of human consciousness and rational law. Whilst legal forms of legitimacy are underpinned by instrumental forms of reason which estrange humanity and nature, non-instrumental reason reconciles humanity and nature in the medium of legitimate law. By way of a critique of liberalism in the works of Kant and Habermas, the paper attempts to show that there is a non-exclusively human dimension in nature as well as an extra-natural dimension in humanity. It is argued that the extra-natural dimension of humanity achieves a particular epistemological importance in law, and that legitimate law does not regulate or oppress the non-exclusively human dimension of nature that is present in each individual human. At the end of the paper it is suggested that this trace of nature in humanity is not ineffable or obscure. It achieves a particular epistemological resonance of its own in art and the formulation of artistic values which are neither relativist or dogmatic. The conclusion proposes that legitimate law reconciles humanity and external nature in the institutions of libertarian socialism, on the one hand, and reconciles humanity and nature in humanity in the articulation of artistic values which provide evidence of agonistic pluralism and the uniqueness of each person, on the other.

Georg Simmel and Avant-Garde Sociology: the birth of modernity, 1880–1920: Ralph M. Leck; Humanity Books, 2000, pp. 356, ISBN: 1-57392-867-4

Georg Simmel and Avant-Garde Sociology: the birth of modernity, 1880–1920: Ralph M. Leck; Humanity Books, 2000, pp. 356, ISBN: 1573928674.

On liberal revolution:: Piero Gobetti, edited with an introduction by Nadia Urbinati, translated by William McCuaig, Foreword by Norberto Bobbio, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2000, pp. 241, ISBN 0-300-081189-9

On liberal revolution:: Piero Gobetti, edited with an introduction by Nadia Urbinati, translated by William McCuaig, Foreword by Norberto Bobbio, Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 2000, pp. 241, ISBN 0-300-081189-9.