Kate Soper, Troubled Pleasures: Writings on Politics, Gender and Hedonism Peter Osborne, ed., Socialism and the Limits of Liberalism Dave Archard Richard Rorty, Objectivity, Relativism and Truth and Essays on Heidegger and Others, Philosophical Papers, Vols. I and II Kate Soper Terry Eagleton, Ideology: An Introduction Richard Rorty Gary Saul Morson and Caryl Emerson, Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of […]

NEWS Heori Lefebvre, 1901-1991 Henri Lefebvre, the most prolific of French Marxist intellectuals, died during the night of 28-29 June 1991, less than a fortnight after his ninetieth birthday. During his long career, his work has gone in and out of fashion several times, and has influenced the development not only of philosophy but also […]

EDUCATION CHANGES: THE HIDDEN AGENDA The proposals for Modularisation, Credit Accumulation and Credit Transfer (MOCACT) currently under consideration at universities have profound implications for students. Yet there has been virtually no consultation with student bodies. Why? Proponents of MOCACT argue that it will increase student choice; enlarge the range of qualification levels; increase freedom of […]

EDITORIAL One of the central themes of a great deal of recent philosophy has been that of ‘anti-foundationalism’. The view that the Enlightenment search for the ‘foundations’ on which knowledge or moral principles could be built is in some way in a state of terminal crisis has been shared by philosophers who otherwise often seem […]

Feminism and Pragmatism Richard Rorty When two women ascended to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, Catherine MacKinnon asked: ‘Will they use the tools of law as women, for all women?’ She continued as follows: I think that the real feminist issue is not whether biological males or biological females hold positions of power, although it […]

F. H. Bradley and the Concept of RelativeTruth Sean Sayers Few people now read F. H. Bradley and the British Idealists.! This is not because they are not important philosophers. On the contrary. It is generally agreed that Bradley, in particular, is a major philosopher, as well as a great, if demanding, writer. 2 It […]

Does a Marxian Critical Theory of Society Need a Moral Theory? Kai Nielsen To show Marx is not a moral philosopher is not to show that he is not a moralist, i.e., one having or propounding moral judgements and views . R. G. Peffer As the image of actually existing socialism becomes more and more […]

Freedom’s Devices The Place of the Individual in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right John Rosentha/ The ordinary man thinks he is free if it is open to him to act as he pleases but his very arbitrariness implies that he is not free. When I will the rational, then I am acting not as a particular […]

COMMENT Compulsive Communism A Reply to the Reply by Gregory Elliott and Peter Osborne Tony Skiffen In ‘Active Citizenship as Political Obligation’ (RP 58) I argue that it is in principle as legitimate for us to be required to perform ‘community service’ as it is for us to be subjected to compulsory taxation. Here I […]

Alan J. Friedman and Carol C. Donley, Einstein as Myth and Muse Jonathan Powers Mike S. Dufrenne, In the Presence of the Sensuous Matthew Rampley Louis Althusser, Philosophy and the Spontaneous Philosophy of The Scientists and Other Essays Alison Assiter, Althusser and Feminism Andrew Collier, Scientific Realism and Socialist Thought Ted Benton Andrew Benjamin, Translation […]

NEWS Report Condemns Swansea MA Events in Swansea took a decisive turn in July with publication of the SwinnertonDyer Report into allegations of malpractice and poor academic standards on the MA in the Philosophy of Health Care at the Philosophy Department, University College, Swansea. This is the fourth report so far by either the College […]

EDITORIAL The break-up of the Soviet bloc and the breakdown of the consensus about Western welfare capitalism have, each in their turn, prompted debates about the alignments that can be drawn between various forms of marxism and contemporary political standpoints. This issue of Radical Philosophy focuses on these debates as they have emerged from both […]

Why Should a Dialectician Learn to Count to Four? Slavoj Zizek The triad and its excess How far must a Hegelian dialectician learn to count? Most of the interpreters of Hegel, not to mention his critics, are trying to convince us in unison that the right answer reads: to three (the dialectical triad, etc.). Moreover, […]

Active Citizenship as Political Obligation Tony Skiffen Rousseau says in The Social Contract: As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the state is not far from its fall. When it is necessary to march out to […]

Gorz on Work and Liberation Sean Sayers Work is and always has been a central human activity; but only in the last decade has it become a major political issue. It has taken the re-emergence of mass unemployment to make it so. Right up until the war, the view that mass unemployment is intolerable in […]

Revealing the Truth of Art Andrew Bowie Philosophical discussion of art in English tends not to aim its sights particularly high, and some Anglo-Saxon philosophy has effectively denied art any serious philosophical significance at all. In this light a contemporary German book* which wishes to argue for the truth of art over that of the […]

Lacan in Slovenia An Interview with Slavoj Zizek and Renata Salecl One notable result of the recent politicalferment in Central and Eastern Europe has been the emergence of new theoretical currents, often combining strands of thought which – to West European eyes – appear as starkly incompatible . Nowadays, one can meet young Soviet philosophers […]

REVIEWS IN THE PROVINCES Tom Steele, Alfred Orage and the Leeds Arts Club 1893-1923, Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1990. 284pp., £35.00, 085967 825 3 Not a lot of people have heard of him, but Alfred Orage is one of the most significant and influential figures in twentieth-century English philosophy. He was born in 1873, and brought […]

NEWS Swansea Affair – Second Lecturer Resigns In the News sections of RP 56 and 57, we reported on the escalating row in the Phi10sophy Department at University College Swansea, centred on allegations of malpractice in the examination of the M.A. in Philosophy and Health Care. We also noted the formation of the Swansea Three […]