2008 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

Saturday, April 5-2:45 pm
32-13 LIMITS OF LIBERALISM: RELATIVISM,
RELIGION, AND LANGUAGE
Room UEH 403 on the 4th Floor, Sat at 2:45 pm
Chair Susan P. Liebell, Saint Joseph's University
sliebell@sju.edu
Paper Hermeneutics and Human Rights: Catholicism, Islam, and
Liberal Democracy
I explore Catholic and Islamic responses to liberal democracy,
concluding that while Catholicism’s initially pragmatic
appropriation became ethically grounded, Islamic liberals have been
hindered by interpretation-limiting theological notions.
Edward Barrett, United States Naval Academy
edward.barrett@yahoo.com
Paper The Social Basis of Value: Is Raz a Relativist
Joseph Raz claims that we know moral values through social forms,
thus leading him to advocates a liberalism that generally supports
social forms, but which he declares is not relativistic. This paper
examines the soundness of those claims.
Geoffrey C. Bowden, Malone College
gbowden@malone.edu
Paper A Link Between Language and Culture: Re-Reading the
"Fusion of Horizons"
This paper re-examines Charles Taylor's call for a "fusion of
horizons" by re-examining his relationship both to Hans-Georg
Gadamer and J. G. Herder. This re-examination emphasizes the
importance of language to understanding cultural values.
David Leitch, University of California, San Diego
dleitch@ucsd.edu
Disc. William Merrill Downer, Thiel College
wdowner@thiel.edu
33-12 CRITICS OF MODERNITY
Room UEH 413 on the 4th Floor, Sat at 2:45 pm
Chair Jason Evan Kosnoski, University of Michigan, Flint
kosnoski@umflint.edu
Paper Political Theory and Hyper-Civilization: Rousseau and Zerzan
This essay explores the relation between concepts of political theory
and the critique of civilized technology highlighted by the thought
of Rousseau and contemporary anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan.
Jonathan E. McKenzie, Purdue University
jemckenz@purdue.edu
Paper Revisiting the Marcuse-Habermas Dialogue On Technological
Reason
This paper examines the dialogue between the Habermas and
Marcuse on the subject of technological reason. It suggests that
Habermas’ response has consequences that can be seen from recent
critiques focusing on technology in deliberative democracy.
Luke Thomas Mergner, Indiana University, Bloomington
lmergner@indiana.edu
Paper Is There a "Paradox of Politics": Rousseau, Ricoeur, Connolly,
Honig
This paper analyzes the notion of a “paradox of politics,”
promulgated recently by Bonnie Honig and William Connolly, and
traces its origins in Paul Ricoeur and Rousseau.
James Wiley, University of Delaware
jswiley@udel.edu
Disc. Jason Evan Kosnoski, University of Michigan, Flint
kosnoski@umflint.edu
33-20 QUESTIONING NATION AND NATIONALISM
Room Suite 12-250 on the 12th Floor, Sat at 2:45 pm
Chair Jeffrey Church, University of Notre Dame
jchurch@nd.edu
Paper Restoring Virtue’s Lost Loveliness: The Reconstitution of a
Civil Theology
Examines the attempt by contemporary conservatives to arrest
decline in the moral character of American society by way of a
contrived civil theology, thereby maintaining U.S. standing in world
affairs strategically, economically, and culturally.
Vidal Manuel Troy, Columbus State University
vidal_troy@colstate.edu
Paper The Interaction Between Nationalism and Religion: The Case of
Québec
This paper examines the interaction between nationalism and
religion in Quebec. I argue that Quebec provides a unique case that
helps reveal the competitive dynamic between nationalism and
religion in forming social and political identity.
John Charles Evans, California State University, Northridge
john.evans@csun.edu
Paper The Specters of Economic Determinism in Benedict Anderson
Tracing two broad assumptions within Anderson’s Imagined
Communities, the essay argues that the form of the nation is
inadequate to contemporary politics, and the transference of this
form across societies rests on an erasure of cultural difference.
Matthew deTar, Northwestern University
m-detar@northwestern.edu
Paper Secession and the Problem of Overarching Nationalities
Ascriptive group theory, while prizing nationality as a justification
for secession, has proved unable to account for what can be termed
as overarching nationalities. Examination of these scenarios forces
the adoption of a new approach to secession.
Simon Gilhooley, Cornell University
sjg67@cornell.edu
Disc. Jeffrey Church, University of Notre Dame
jchurch@nd.edu
34-14 FREEDOM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
Room Suite 9-250 on the 9th Floor, Sat at 2:45 pm
Chair Ian Gordon Loadman, Arkansas State University
iloadman@astate.edu
Paper Juridical State and Political Judgement in Kant
TBA
Antonio Marques,
marquesantoni@gmail.com
Paper A Pragmatic Alternative to Nihilism
I explore whether nihilism can be overcome by a pragmatic, nonmetaphysical
alternative, and extricate the most important political
implications of this exploration.
Juan Gabriel Gomez Albarello, Illinois Wesleyan University
jgomezal@iwu.edu
Paper Toward a “Tolerable Platonism” : Adele Lebano
The present paper treats the tension between social choice and
political philosophy. The aim is to explore the possibility of a
‘tolerable Platonism’, or a form of political Platonism consistent
with a liberal defence of democracy.
Adele Lebano, Universita' degli Studi di Milano
adele.lebano@unimi.it
Paper Nietzsche and Politics of Values
In my paper, I argue that, contrary to the main belief, Nietzsche has
a cogent and coherent political theory based on one of his ultimate
philosophical project: transvaluation of all values.
Sezgin Seymen Cebi, SUNY, Albany
sezginseymen@yahoo.com
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