The Modernist-Postmodernist Quarrel on Philosophy and Justice: A Possible Levinasian Mediation [Hardcover]

This book examines the social relevance of philosophy as this problem is posed in the contemporary Modernism-Postmodernism debate. Manuel P. Arriaga critically investigates the two sides of the debate in their various presuppositions and their equally diverse ramifications in fields ranging from political theory, philosophy of religion, and theory of knowledge, among others. Making use of the problematic of social justice as touchstone in threshing out the issue and aided particularly by the thought of Emmanuel Levinas, Arriaga then presents a view of the social relevance of philosophy that incorporates the good points of the opposing camps of the debate.The Modernist-Postmodernist Quarrel on Philosophy and Justicewill interest anyone wishing to ask about the social relevance of what philosophers do.Manuel P. Arriagais assistant professor of Philosophy at California State University, San Marcos.

Chapter 1 Framing the Issue
Chapter 2 Modernism, Critical Theory, and Habermas's Reconstructive Science
Chapter 3 Habermas's Discourse Ethics and the Question of Justice
Chapter 4 Jean-Fran?ois Lyotard: Justice, Philosophy, and Undecidability
Chapter 5 Richard Rorty on the Social Irrelevance of Philosophy
Chapter 6 The Dichotomy in Liberally-inspired Views of Justice
Chapter 7 Some Integrative Approaches
Chapter 8 Levinas's Integrative Views of Justice and Philosophy