Looking at the history of sociology in modern Ireland we can observe a constant oscillation betwe... more Looking at the history of sociology in modern Ireland we can observe a constant oscillation between continuity and rupture. However, we are somewhat reluctant to interpret this as a kind of Irish Sonderweg or Irish exceptionalism. What remains noticeable though is a relatively late willingness to connect to the outside world – culturally and intellectually. This is partly explained by several decades of Catholic institutional dominance. The challenges since late secularisation of the field occurred in the 1970s have included epistemological dominance of the rather narrow posivitist type. Within this context university-based sociologists and sociologies have often been perceived as self-marginalised figures and paradigms. As we approach the new millennium the situation of sociology as a discipline is less precarious compared to earlier times. However, new institutional challenges, such as the metrics increasingly used to evaluate scholarship, have called more traditional notions of t...
Judith Shklar’s liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprin... more Judith Shklar’s liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprint and quality through a long and consistent engagement with, and critical discussion of, republicanism. Her account of the contemporary relevance of notions of virtues and vices, justice and injustice, the questions of rights, representation, citizenship and democracy all point to older republican influences. However, Shklar also knew that unreconstructed republicanism and republican ideas of the virtuous life were no longer applicable to modern societal and political conditions. This becomes especially clear in her discussion of Rousseau and in her study Ordinary Vices. The irreducibly pluralist and individualist nature of modern democracy have made it inconceivable that we would all agree on what the virtuous life consists in. Shklar’s emphasis on positive liberty, critically directed against Isaiah Berlin’s argument that negative rights and negative liberty are at the heart of modern ...
Back to the future: Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments Sometimes the changing perceptions of clas... more Back to the future: Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more complex, story. So it is with Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). TMS was Smith’s first and last book. Having gone through five editions—the last one being prepared almost from the deathbed—, its various editions sandwiched his other classic book, The Wealth of Nations (WN) for which Smith became a household name. Today Smith is first and foremost identified as one of the founding fathers of political economy, a fact that is perhaps no better expressed than by the Bank of England’s twenty pound note, showing the man and paying reference to WN. Such was the perception of Smith—until the onslaught of the current economic crisis.
It might perhaps be going too far to suggest that it is part of the human condition, but in our d... more It might perhaps be going too far to suggest that it is part of the human condition, but in our daily actions and observations we cannot help but compare and contrast. Walter Benjamin’s funny observation is to the point: in winter we usually notice people who are thin; in contrast, in the summer it’s fat individuals who attract our attention. If this is true, then that we can’t help comparing and contrasting. The next questions for those concerned with intellectual and disciplinary matters is, of course: How qualified are our observations and conceptualizations? What exactly should be compared and contrasted? How explicit do comparisons have to be?
In the Basque Country cooking and eating together in gastronomic societies (in Basque: txokos, in... more In the Basque Country cooking and eating together in gastronomic societies (in Basque: txokos, in Spanish: sociedades gastronómicas) are highly popular activities. They represent a form of social bonding that has, maybe surprisingly, not been given much sociological attention. This article tries to remedy this situation. It recalls and describes the history, development and geographical distribution of the txoko; it looks into its formal organization, its unique social and culinary environment and its social functions. It concludes by suggesting that the txoko is a phenomenon that may best be studied and discussed in the context of plebeian cultures and related moral economies.
Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more c... more Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more complex, story. So it is with Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). TMS was Smith's first and last book. Having gone through five editions-the last one being prepared almost from the deathbed-, its various editions sandwiched his other classic book, The Wealth of Nations (WN) for which Smith became a household name. Today Smith is first and foremost identified as one of the founding fathers of political economy, a fact that is perhaps no better expressed than by the Bank of England's twenty pound note, showing the man and paying reference to WN. Such was the perception of Smith-until the onslaught of the current economic crisis. As the current interest and wave of recent reception and scholarship makes clear, Adam Smith is making an unexpected comeback. What is new is that over the last ten years, and pretty much overlapping with the current economic crisis, the talk is now less about Smith the political economist and author of WN, or about political economy or the benefits of open markets and commercial activities, than about Adam Smith the moral philosopher and his ground breaking TMS. It seems that scholars have begun to discover and excavate the 'real' Adam Smith, the moral philosopher who wrote about sociability, virtuous behaviour and sympathy and who reasoned that these features must not necessarily be seen in contradiction to, but rather helped to embed market relations, commercial activities and pursuit of self-interest for the purpose of the common wealth. Perhaps there never really was an Adam Smith Rätsel-an Adam Smith conundrum, that is, the assumed contradiction between the author of TMS and the author of WN-but rather a case of prolepsis, a re-projection onto Smith in the sense that he was assumed to have said things he could
Tocqueville and Beaumont on three axes of comparison: the US and Europe, England and Ireland, and... more Tocqueville and Beaumont on three axes of comparison: the US and Europe, England and Ireland, and France and Algeria
Judith Shklars Liberalismus der Furcht unterscheidet sich von anderen Liberalismen. Er gewinnt se... more Judith Shklars Liberalismus der Furcht unterscheidet sich von anderen Liberalismen. Er gewinnt seine einzigartige Prägung und Qualität durch eine lang andauernde und konsequente kritische Auseinanderset-zung mit dem Republikanismus. Ihre Diskussion der gegenwärtigen Relevanz von Tugenden und Lastern, von Gerechtigkeit und Ungerechtigkeit, die Fragen von Rechten, Repräsentation, Staatsbürgerschaft und Demokra-tie weisen auf ältere republikanische Einflüsse hin. Shklar war sich dennoch darüber im Klaren, dass ein unre-konstruierter Republikanismus und die republikanische Vorstellung eines tugendhaften Lebens auf moderne gesellschaftliche und politische Bedingungen nicht mehr anwendbar waren. Dies wird besonders deutlich in ih-rer Diskussion über Rousseau und in ihrer Studie Ganz normale Laster. Der irreduzibel pluralistische und indi-vidualistische Charakter moderner Demokratien hat es unvorstellbar werden lassen, dass wir eine einheitliche Vorstellung des tugendhaften Lebens hegen. Shklars Betonung der positiven Freiheit, die sich kritisch gegen Isaiah Berlins Argument richtet, negative Rechte und negative Freiheit ständen im Mittelpunkt des modernen Liberalismus; ihr Beharren auf der Notwendigkeit eines gemeinsamen Geistes, wie er in ihrer Studie über Montesquieu zum Ausdruck kommt; die Notwendigkeit, in Hinsicht auf Wahl und Verdienst gleichgestellt zu sein, wie er in der amerikanischen Staatsbürgerschaft betont wird; und schließlich ihre Diskussion des sich wandelnden Charakters von Loyalität und politischer Verpflichtung in ihren letzten Harvard-Vorträgen, sind allesamt Ausdruck der republikanischen Einflüsse, die in ihrem Elementarliberalismus zu erkennen sind. Abstract: Judith Shklar's liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprint and quality through a long and consistent engagement with, and critical discussion of, republicanism. Her account of the contemporary relevance of notions of virtues and vices, justice and injustice, the questions of rights, representation , citizenship and democracy all point to older republican influences. However, Shklar also knew that unreconstructed republicanism and republican ideas of the virtuous life were no longer applicable to modern societal and political conditions. This becomes especially clear in her discussion of Rousseau and in her study Ordinary Vices. The irreducibly pluralist and individualist nature of modern democracy have made it inconceivable that we would all agree on what the virtuous life consists in. Shklar's emphasis on positive liberty, critically directed against Isaiah Berlin's argument that negative rights and negative liberty are at the heart of modern liberalism; her insistence on the need for a common spirit as distilled in her study of Montesquieu; the need for equality in terms of voting and earning as stressed in American Citizenship; and finally her discussion of the changing nature of both loyalty and political obligation in her last Harvard lectures, are all indicative of the republican elements that can be detected in her barebones liberalism.
Looking at the history of sociology in modern Ireland we can observe a constant oscillation betwe... more Looking at the history of sociology in modern Ireland we can observe a constant oscillation between continuity and rupture. However, we are somewhat reluctant to interpret this as a kind of Irish Sonderweg or Irish exceptionalism. What remains noticeable though is a relatively late willingness to connect to the outside world – culturally and intellectually. This is partly explained by several decades of Catholic institutional dominance. The challenges since late secularisation of the field occurred in the 1970s have included epistemological dominance of the rather narrow posivitist type. Within this context university-based sociologists and sociologies have often been perceived as self-marginalised figures and paradigms. As we approach the new millennium the situation of sociology as a discipline is less precarious compared to earlier times. However, new institutional challenges, such as the metrics increasingly used to evaluate scholarship, have called more traditional notions of t...
Judith Shklar’s liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprin... more Judith Shklar’s liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprint and quality through a long and consistent engagement with, and critical discussion of, republicanism. Her account of the contemporary relevance of notions of virtues and vices, justice and injustice, the questions of rights, representation, citizenship and democracy all point to older republican influences. However, Shklar also knew that unreconstructed republicanism and republican ideas of the virtuous life were no longer applicable to modern societal and political conditions. This becomes especially clear in her discussion of Rousseau and in her study Ordinary Vices. The irreducibly pluralist and individualist nature of modern democracy have made it inconceivable that we would all agree on what the virtuous life consists in. Shklar’s emphasis on positive liberty, critically directed against Isaiah Berlin’s argument that negative rights and negative liberty are at the heart of modern ...
Back to the future: Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments Sometimes the changing perceptions of clas... more Back to the future: Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more complex, story. So it is with Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). TMS was Smith’s first and last book. Having gone through five editions—the last one being prepared almost from the deathbed—, its various editions sandwiched his other classic book, The Wealth of Nations (WN) for which Smith became a household name. Today Smith is first and foremost identified as one of the founding fathers of political economy, a fact that is perhaps no better expressed than by the Bank of England’s twenty pound note, showing the man and paying reference to WN. Such was the perception of Smith—until the onslaught of the current economic crisis.
It might perhaps be going too far to suggest that it is part of the human condition, but in our d... more It might perhaps be going too far to suggest that it is part of the human condition, but in our daily actions and observations we cannot help but compare and contrast. Walter Benjamin’s funny observation is to the point: in winter we usually notice people who are thin; in contrast, in the summer it’s fat individuals who attract our attention. If this is true, then that we can’t help comparing and contrasting. The next questions for those concerned with intellectual and disciplinary matters is, of course: How qualified are our observations and conceptualizations? What exactly should be compared and contrasted? How explicit do comparisons have to be?
In the Basque Country cooking and eating together in gastronomic societies (in Basque: txokos, in... more In the Basque Country cooking and eating together in gastronomic societies (in Basque: txokos, in Spanish: sociedades gastronómicas) are highly popular activities. They represent a form of social bonding that has, maybe surprisingly, not been given much sociological attention. This article tries to remedy this situation. It recalls and describes the history, development and geographical distribution of the txoko; it looks into its formal organization, its unique social and culinary environment and its social functions. It concludes by suggesting that the txoko is a phenomenon that may best be studied and discussed in the context of plebeian cultures and related moral economies.
Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more c... more Sometimes the changing perceptions of classic books and their authors tell a larger, often more complex, story. So it is with Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). TMS was Smith's first and last book. Having gone through five editions-the last one being prepared almost from the deathbed-, its various editions sandwiched his other classic book, The Wealth of Nations (WN) for which Smith became a household name. Today Smith is first and foremost identified as one of the founding fathers of political economy, a fact that is perhaps no better expressed than by the Bank of England's twenty pound note, showing the man and paying reference to WN. Such was the perception of Smith-until the onslaught of the current economic crisis. As the current interest and wave of recent reception and scholarship makes clear, Adam Smith is making an unexpected comeback. What is new is that over the last ten years, and pretty much overlapping with the current economic crisis, the talk is now less about Smith the political economist and author of WN, or about political economy or the benefits of open markets and commercial activities, than about Adam Smith the moral philosopher and his ground breaking TMS. It seems that scholars have begun to discover and excavate the 'real' Adam Smith, the moral philosopher who wrote about sociability, virtuous behaviour and sympathy and who reasoned that these features must not necessarily be seen in contradiction to, but rather helped to embed market relations, commercial activities and pursuit of self-interest for the purpose of the common wealth. Perhaps there never really was an Adam Smith Rätsel-an Adam Smith conundrum, that is, the assumed contradiction between the author of TMS and the author of WN-but rather a case of prolepsis, a re-projection onto Smith in the sense that he was assumed to have said things he could
Tocqueville and Beaumont on three axes of comparison: the US and Europe, England and Ireland, and... more Tocqueville and Beaumont on three axes of comparison: the US and Europe, England and Ireland, and France and Algeria
Judith Shklars Liberalismus der Furcht unterscheidet sich von anderen Liberalismen. Er gewinnt se... more Judith Shklars Liberalismus der Furcht unterscheidet sich von anderen Liberalismen. Er gewinnt seine einzigartige Prägung und Qualität durch eine lang andauernde und konsequente kritische Auseinanderset-zung mit dem Republikanismus. Ihre Diskussion der gegenwärtigen Relevanz von Tugenden und Lastern, von Gerechtigkeit und Ungerechtigkeit, die Fragen von Rechten, Repräsentation, Staatsbürgerschaft und Demokra-tie weisen auf ältere republikanische Einflüsse hin. Shklar war sich dennoch darüber im Klaren, dass ein unre-konstruierter Republikanismus und die republikanische Vorstellung eines tugendhaften Lebens auf moderne gesellschaftliche und politische Bedingungen nicht mehr anwendbar waren. Dies wird besonders deutlich in ih-rer Diskussion über Rousseau und in ihrer Studie Ganz normale Laster. Der irreduzibel pluralistische und indi-vidualistische Charakter moderner Demokratien hat es unvorstellbar werden lassen, dass wir eine einheitliche Vorstellung des tugendhaften Lebens hegen. Shklars Betonung der positiven Freiheit, die sich kritisch gegen Isaiah Berlins Argument richtet, negative Rechte und negative Freiheit ständen im Mittelpunkt des modernen Liberalismus; ihr Beharren auf der Notwendigkeit eines gemeinsamen Geistes, wie er in ihrer Studie über Montesquieu zum Ausdruck kommt; die Notwendigkeit, in Hinsicht auf Wahl und Verdienst gleichgestellt zu sein, wie er in der amerikanischen Staatsbürgerschaft betont wird; und schließlich ihre Diskussion des sich wandelnden Charakters von Loyalität und politischer Verpflichtung in ihren letzten Harvard-Vorträgen, sind allesamt Ausdruck der republikanischen Einflüsse, die in ihrem Elementarliberalismus zu erkennen sind. Abstract: Judith Shklar's liberalism of fear is distinct from other liberalisms; it gains its unique imprint and quality through a long and consistent engagement with, and critical discussion of, republicanism. Her account of the contemporary relevance of notions of virtues and vices, justice and injustice, the questions of rights, representation , citizenship and democracy all point to older republican influences. However, Shklar also knew that unreconstructed republicanism and republican ideas of the virtuous life were no longer applicable to modern societal and political conditions. This becomes especially clear in her discussion of Rousseau and in her study Ordinary Vices. The irreducibly pluralist and individualist nature of modern democracy have made it inconceivable that we would all agree on what the virtuous life consists in. Shklar's emphasis on positive liberty, critically directed against Isaiah Berlin's argument that negative rights and negative liberty are at the heart of modern liberalism; her insistence on the need for a common spirit as distilled in her study of Montesquieu; the need for equality in terms of voting and earning as stressed in American Citizenship; and finally her discussion of the changing nature of both loyalty and political obligation in her last Harvard lectures, are all indicative of the republican elements that can be detected in her barebones liberalism.
Teaching at Harvard's Department of Government for more than forty years the political theorist J... more Teaching at Harvard's Department of Government for more than forty years the political theorist Judith N. Shklar (1928-1992) was a Socratic figure who influenced a considerable number of social scientists and humanities scholars who today hold key positions, and not just in higher education, in the US and abroad. Shklar took issue with those who were looking for intellectual gurus or who wanted their academic teacher to function as a substitute parent and she was equally critical of those who wanted to walk the corridors of power (like her fellow students from early Harvard days, Brzezinski and Kissinger). She insisted instead that it was crucial to prepare students for the real world by showing that political ideas could really make a difference. Particularly in her essays and lectures Shklar discussed the complex relationship between political ideas and political practice. In this paper we will present and discuss some of her arguments by drawing on a course on political obligation and moral reasoning, the last course she taught before her untimely death in 1992. Instruction 'Moral Reasoning. Political Obligation' was listed as a core course within a broader Moral Reasoning bracket, aimed mainly at undergraduate humanities and social science students. Apart from their Socratic teaching style, which shows a gifted teacher thinking on her feet, what is so remarkable about these late lectures is that they represent an intellectual turning point in Shklar's own political theory and intellectual development. However, in order fully to appreciate this late turn in the development of her political thinking and how the lectures on political obligation fit into it, one first has to understand how Shklar saw her own role as a teacher and what she had to say about the relationship between teaching, research and writing. 1 We are currently preparing these lectures for publication with Yale University Press. This paper is an early draft that emerged from the joint editorial work. It is not our last word on the matter and we would therefore ask readers not to circulate, reproduce or cite from this text without permission.
Welcome to the relaunch of Serendipities – Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sc... more Welcome to the relaunch of Serendipities – Journal for the Sociology and History of the Social Sciences. As of December 2020, the journal is hosted by the Royal Danish Library (https://tidsskrift.dk/Serendipities). To mark our move to a new host and the reconfiguration of the editorial team, we welcome contributions to the journal, particularly those articles and book reviews that address the sociology and history of the social sciences in the broadest meaning of the description.
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