Exploring the Role of Justification and Power Dynamics

In this episode, we discuss the social theory of the Kantian critical theorist Rainer Forst in his book Normativity and Power. We work through how well his theory of the relationship between power and reason accounts for economic domination, why he thinks power and violence ought to be distinguished, and whether critical theory can escape the problem of circularity in judging the difference between better and worse reasons for acting. Do we have reasons for acting? Does it matter? Come get Kant-pilled and leave your Hegel at home!

This is just a short clip from the full episode, which is available to our subscribers on  Patreon: 

patreon.com/leftofphilosophy

References:

Rainer Forst, Normativity and Power: Analyzing Social Orders of Justification, translated by Ciaran Cronin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017) 

Music: 

Vintage Memories by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com