Laplacean Determinism (his so-called demon argument) is the thesis that every event that transpires in a closed universe is a physical event caused (i.e., determined) in full by some earlier event in accord with laws that govern their behavior. On this view, it is possible, in principle, to make perfect predictions of the state of the universe at any time Tn on the basis of complete knowledge of the state of the universe at time T1. Thus, if identity theory, epiphenomenalism (...) or any other instantiation of Laplacean Determinism is correct, mental events such as free will, intention and other forms of mental agency are tricks of the mind, misleading us into believing our volitional concerns have traction in a world ruled entirely by physical circumstance. Not surprisingly, advocates of free will and related acts of human volition have engaged in spirited debate with adherents to Laplacean orthodoxy, the results of which have been far from conclusive. Rather than join these deliberations, I wholly embrace the demon argument and then ask “what are the consequences of this allegiance?” As I hope to show, acceptance of this argument commits one to a belief in the existence of human precognition. This, I suggest, is a consequence that does not fit comfortably within a contemporary scientific worldview. (shrink)

Vinten looks at the relationship between Wittgenstein’s philosophy and the social sciences as well as at the ideological implications of Wittgenstein’s philosophy and applications of Wittgenstein’s philosophy to problems in social science. He examines and assesses the work of thinkers like Richard Rorty, Perry Anderson, and Chantal Mouffe. -/- “Robert Vinten has produced an impressively meticulous and wide-ranging discussion of how Wittgenstein’s mature philosophy can revitalize the social sciences. There is insight and scholarship on every page. This important book will (...) open up new possibilities for both philosophers and social scientists.” —Leonidas Tsilipakos, Lecturer, University of Bristol, UK. (shrink)

Alors que se développe un nouveau matérialisme dans la théorie sociale contemporaine qui prétend dépasser les apories d’un dualisme cartésien dans lequel seraient prises les sciences sociales modernes par une ontologie relationnelle et processuelle d’actants posthumains, nous nous tournons vers l’ontologie de l’agir qu’élabore Marx dans ces écrits philosophiques pour souligner qu’un tel dépassement a déjà été effectué, mais sur des bases radicalement différentes. L’étude de l’ontologie de l’agir, inspiré des travaux interprétatifs de Fischbach, débouche sur un ensemble de thèses (...) concernant 1. la nature de l’être de l’agir, 2. sur son essence sociale, 3. la nature de l’objectivité de la pratique, 4. le clivage de cet être dans la société capitaliste comme fondement de l’aliénation, 5. la conflictualité qui résulte de ce clivage et son historicité. Ensuite nous proposons un élargissement de l’ontologie de l’agir à travers une mise en dialogue entre la théorie du symbolique et de la pratique sociale de Michel Freitag et le matérialisme pratique de Marx sur chacun de ses enjeux ontologiques. Il en résulte les linéaments d’une critique matérialiste du nouveau matérialisme posthumaniste à partir de cette compréhension élargie de l’ontologie de l’agir. (shrink)

The politics of the Anthropocene has been widely debated within recent sociological theory. This article seeks to argue that Marxism, critical theory and especially the work of Herbert Marcuse have a great deal to contribute to these debates. Here, I seek to link together the recent revival of interest in the idea of the commons by the alter-globalisation movement and Marxist social theory in an attempt to challenge some of the dominant assumptions in respect of the nature/culture division and the (...) neoliberal dominance of mainstream politics. The more critical politics of the commons would suggest both a radical politics fit for the twenty-first century and a way of understanding the environmental crisis located within critical understandings of the histories of capitalism and social movements. This is suggestive of a civilisation-based politics focused on questions of emancipation informed by political economy, a critique of the dominant consumer society and culture rather than questions of deconstruction. In the final section, I seek to explore how Marcuse’s concerns remain linked to contemporary global ethical movements for change. (shrink)