Extraordinary Responsibility

Politics beyond the Moral Calculus

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, History & Theory, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy
Cover of the book Extraordinary Responsibility by Shalini Satkunanandan, Cambridge University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Shalini Satkunanandan ISBN: 9781316415252
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: September 29, 2015
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Shalini Satkunanandan
ISBN: 9781316415252
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: September 29, 2015
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

Careful attention to contemporary political debates, including those around global warming, the federal debt, and the use of drone strikes on suspected terrorists, reveals that we often view our responsibility as something that can be quantified and discharged. Shalini Satkunanandan shows how Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Weber, and Heidegger each suggest that this calculative or bookkeeping mindset both belongs to 'morality', understood as part of our ordinary approach to responsibility, and effaces the incalculable, undischargeable, and more onerous dimensions of our responsibility. These thinkers also reveal how the view of responsibility as calculable is at the heart of 'moralism' - the pettifogging, mindless, legalistic, excessively judgmental, or punitive policing of our own or others' compliance with moral duties. By elaborating their narratives of a difficult 'conversion' to the open-ended and relentless character of responsibility, Satkunanandan explores how we might be less moralistic and more responsible in politics. She ultimately argues for a political ethos attentive to how calculative thinking can limit our responsibility, but that still accepts a circumscribed place for calculation (and morality) in responsible politics.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Careful attention to contemporary political debates, including those around global warming, the federal debt, and the use of drone strikes on suspected terrorists, reveals that we often view our responsibility as something that can be quantified and discharged. Shalini Satkunanandan shows how Plato, Kant, Nietzsche, Weber, and Heidegger each suggest that this calculative or bookkeeping mindset both belongs to 'morality', understood as part of our ordinary approach to responsibility, and effaces the incalculable, undischargeable, and more onerous dimensions of our responsibility. These thinkers also reveal how the view of responsibility as calculable is at the heart of 'moralism' - the pettifogging, mindless, legalistic, excessively judgmental, or punitive policing of our own or others' compliance with moral duties. By elaborating their narratives of a difficult 'conversion' to the open-ended and relentless character of responsibility, Satkunanandan explores how we might be less moralistic and more responsible in politics. She ultimately argues for a political ethos attentive to how calculative thinking can limit our responsibility, but that still accepts a circumscribed place for calculation (and morality) in responsible politics.

More books from Cambridge University Press

Cover of the book Complicity and the Law of State Responsibility by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Ovarian Stimulation by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Assessment for Teaching by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book The International Criminal Court in Ongoing Intrastate Conflicts by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Meaning and Power in the Language of Law by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Elementary Modern Standard Arabic: Volume 1, Pronunciation and Writing; Lessons 1-30 by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Migration and National Identity in South Africa, 1860–2010 by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Genetic Data and the Law by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Freedom's Edge by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Saddam Hussein's Ba'th Party by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Magic in Western Culture by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Political Competition, Partisanship, and Policy Making in Latin American Public Utilities by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book A Concise History of Finland by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Motivation in War by Shalini Satkunanandan
Cover of the book Differential Geometry of Singular Spaces and Reduction of Symmetry by Shalini Satkunanandan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy