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This study argues that the bond between 'secularization' and 'de-legitimation' is not only borne out in debates over grand historical narratives relating to the status of modernity, as argued by Hans Blumenberg, but in debates over the appraisal of specific modern philosophical programs as well. It does this by examining how the category of 'secularization' is used to delegitimize Martin Heidegger's thought, from both theological and secular perspectives, by two of his former students, Hans Jonas and Karl Löwith. By analysing their interpretation of Heidegger and their understanding of secularization, legitimacy, and the philosophy-theology relationship, this study sheds light on the intellectual projects of these three thinkers – master and two students – and demonstrates the application of secularization as a hermeneutical category of de-legitimization on the basis of 'insufficiency' – either insufficiently secular or insufficiently religious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disenchantment of experience and the development of scientist objectivism limit the scope of objective knowledge to science and relegate the human realm to historicist relativity, which leads to the crisis of modernity. The late modern return to immediate experience as a condition that is antecedent to dualism comes as a response to the crisis and attempts to cure the diremption of experience. T.S. Eliot's and Theodor Adorno's accounts of immediate experience and the possibility of developing a vision of the whole out of it are compared to determine which response is more consistent and handles the crisis adequately. This may offer a possible way out of the crisis and indicate the role that art can play in restoring experience. Art may either work to recreate the lost totality of experience as Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral does or show alienated objectivity as a product of experience as another possible route to restoring experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political communities typically organize themselves by an appeal to values. Sometimes the values invoked are abstract ideas such as justice or equality. One such idea is that of law. In many important instances, practices cannot be understood except by reference to the values to which they make an implicit appeal but from which they fall short; and, equally, values cannot be understood except by reference to the practices within which they are imperfectly articulated. This general structure is captured by one strand of Platonic and Aristotelian thought, and is exhibited by the character of philosophy itself. Governance by law establishes a form of human association that is characterized by an orientation towards an idealization of its own nature. Consequently, jurisprudential reflection upon the nature of law is a necessary and fundamental feature of communities that aspire to governance by law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present an integrated philosophical foundation for Kaizen.Design/methodology/approach The study is based on triangulation (and integration) of six philosophies: the Traditional Values, the Process-Oriented Philosophy, Edification, Completeness, Improving Perfection and True-Mindfulness. In addition, the Power of One integrates these philosophies into one solid foundation for Kaizen.Findings A framework, called The Kaizen Wheel, is created to represent the integrated philosophical foundation for Kaizen. It shows the big picture and the close knit of the six philosophies for facilitating Kaizen. It also suggests that Kaizen can serve as a new philosophical paradigm for the unification of action and knowledge.Research limitations/implications Although empirical contents are implicitly embedded in each of the six philosophies, the paper’s main contribution is to provide a conceptual framework for the integration of Kaizen philosophies. Since this is a conceptual paper, further research and more empirical studies will help facilitate the understanding and practices of Kaizen.Practical implications The Kaizen Wheel provides a big picture of the Kaizen philosophies. It is a useful mechanism for practitioners to review their own values so as to provide guidelines for not only their thoughts and behaviors regarding Kaizen activities, but also the design and implementation of Kaizen programs.Originality/value This is an original paper. It provides a valuable conceptual framework for providing an integrated foundation for Kaizen research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an expectation today that International Relations (IR) theory ought to engage with philosophy as a meta-knowledge capable of grounding and legitimizing knowledge claims in the discipline. Two assumptions seem to lie behind this expectation: first, that only philosophy can supply the necessary meta-theoretical grounding needed; second, that theory is inherently a philosophical register of knowledge. This article treats these assumptions with scepticism. While not denying philosophy's contribution to IR theory, the article makes the case for contextual intellectual history as an alternative mode of political and international theory. It seeks to shed light on the 'philosophization of IR' by depicting the broad contours of the historical and continuing rivalry between philosophy and history in the humanities and social sciences and, by reference to Machiavelli and Renaissance humanism, reminding the discipline of IR of the value of studying politics and international relations in a historical mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Georges Bataille and Émile Durkheim stand within the same broad tradition of social and anthropological theory, and their work also displays structural affinities in the ways in which they pose questions concerning the definitions of science and relations between science and religion and in the manner in which they represent the process of social inquiry. Rather than using social science as a tool to explain religion as a mere object in a social field, they both, in their own ways, bring religion and science into a dangerous but fruitful proximity to each other, and engage them in a sort of mutual interrogation concerning the status of human being, autonomy and knowledge, and the constitution of social life and of meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that Max Webers use of the concept of paradox has been relatively under-examined in the secondary literature. It argues that there is a highly distinctive form of paradox that Weber uses extensively throughout his writings. Weber deploys this term in two main senses: as a universal condition of human action; and as a specific way of understanding the logic of western modernity. The article suggests that this latter sense lies at the heart of Weber's understanding of agency in modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the author's perspectives regarding the political views of Max Weber. He states that Weber had an enormous theoretical impact on the development of political realism. He adds that Weber's famous definition of politics, which was striving for a share of power or for influence on the distribution of power, seems to express clearly his understanding of all politics in terms of power politics. He claims that the main idea regarding Weber's political ideas revolves around the relationship of liberalism to democracy.

‘No one loves a political realist’, Robert Gilpin once lamented. A major reason for this hostility towards realism is its sceptical view of the role of ethical norms (principled beliefs about state action) in international relations. Some critics dislike realism because they think it leads to an immoral international order. Thucydides' famous adage that the ‘strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must’ is widely interpreted as evidence that one of realism's founding fathers was an advocate of an immoral approach to statecraft. Niccoló Machiavelli's well-known advice to his Prince that it is politics that determines ethics, not vice versa, reinforces these widely-held views of realism's amorality. The fact that modern realism has been influenced by unsavoury individuals like the German theorist Carl Schmitt, whose indisputable intellectual brilliance was tainted by his overly close association with the Third Reich, leads many to see a continuing link between realpolitik and evil in the international system. Thus, Richard Ashley spoke for many when he concluded that [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is sociology inherently a mode of secular materialism? Or, are there intellectual resources deep within the sociological tradition, expansively conceived, that offer the sociological imagination a spiritual 'post-secular' perspective on society and culture? This article draws out the subterranean theological stream of sociological consciousness and illuminates a 'sacramentalist' socio-theology with particular reference to the 'iconic vision' of Paul Evdokimov. In the context of late modernity, such a radical emphasis on the sacred foundations and transcendent potentialities of life provides the possibility of a fundamental critique of commodified profane culture and of sociology itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the limits of democratic concept as a fundamental organizing principle for political debate. Concepts of democracy; Influence of political homogeneity and commonality; Role of democratic institutions in economic growth.

This paper takes issue with a number of standard interpretations of Australian political thought and the methods of argument by which they have been reached. It confronts the substantive claims (a) that Australia has produced no significant indigenous political thought, ideology, or ideological conflict, and (b) that which passes for political thought is generally derivative, lacking in originality and inferior. It is argued that such claims are based upon unduly narrow conceptions of political thought and misplaced categories of evaluation. Finally, the paper demonstrates that by expanding our conceptions of political thought beyond that of `epic' or universalist political philosophy, and applying methods of evaluation appropriate to the subject matter, more sensible conclusions can be drawn about the existence and quality of Australian political thought, as well as its place in political life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many explanations have been offered for the sorry state of undergraduate education. One that has been overlooked is the attitude toward students and the philosophy of education brought to the classroom by the instructor. Cynicism, indifference, and low expectations pervade the undergraduate teaching experience. An alternative philosophy that focuses on positive expectations and mutual respect is offered here. I recommend techniques that are designed to make sociology courses enjoyable, noncompetitive, nonstratified, and relevant to the lives of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses some basic concepts in philosopher Max Weber's methodological writings. The purpose is to examine the relationship between Weber's historical analysis of the process of "rationalization" in the West and his reflections on the logic of the social sciences. The author focuses on two problems. First, in his ontology and theory of value constitution, Weber claims that the radical separation of nature from culture, of fact from value, is a transcendental presupposition of social inquiry. Second, in constructing his methodology of "ideal types," Weber assumes that instrumental and formal value rationality in social conduct constitute the priority elements of meaningful human action.