Daniel Nica | University of Bucharest (original) (raw)
Papers by Daniel Nica
The last period of Foucault’s work is often labeled as “the ethical turn”. His reflections upon t... more The last period of Foucault’s work is often labeled as “the ethical turn”. His reflections upon the Greek epimeleia heautou (“care of the self”), his Nietzschean ideal of making life “a work of art”, and his search for new forms of subjectivity are commonly seen as a shift from his former political “problematizations” in favor of an ethical approach, focused on the so-called “aesthetics of existence”. In this paper, I would like to present the role played by the aesthetics of existence in the entire Foucauldian work and to answer some of the objections Foucault received on his late inquiries. Some of these objections concern the immoralism and relativism of Foucault’s ethics; others try to prove that the abandonment of power analysis lead Foucault towards an individualistic ethics, lacking political engagement.
La fel ca multe alte teorii, cadre de evaluare şi coduri morale ce par a se preta unei înţelegeri... more La fel ca multe alte teorii, cadre de evaluare şi coduri morale ce par a se preta unei înţelegeri rapide şi definitive, nici morala creştină nu scapă unor interpretări fugitive şi denaturate. De la credinciosul practicant, dar neinstruit la agnosticul sau ateul fără interese culturale sau academice, toţi ştiu că la sfinţenie se ajunge prin respectul orb faţă de indicaţiile pastorale şi că încălcarea Celor zece porunci e cel mai sigur drum către iad. Din nefericire, această opinie e împărtăşită şi de majoritatea savanţilor sau a intelectualilor, varianta erudită a acestei opinii fiind aceea că morala creştină deţine o procedură de decizie etică sau un test al evaluării morale. Fie ca văd morala creştină ca pe o teorie acţională care deţine instrumente decizionale clare, fie ca văd în creştinism un aparat cu mijloace riguroase de control social, rezultatul e acelaşi: deasupra teologiei morale pluteşte o aură de rigoare metodologică. În această lucrare, voi încerca să fac o critică a mitului ce proclamă caracterul procedural, legalist al acestei etici, dorind să insist asupra aspectelor paradoxale, aporetice, nesistematice şi necodificabile ale moralei creştine. Nu în ultimul rând această lucrare este un răspuns indirect dat profesorului Valentin Mureşan care, într-un capitol dedicat moralei teologice din cartea sa Managementul eticii în organizaţii (2009), argumenta că morala creştină este un tip de etică priincipiistă, testele evaluării morale fiind Cele zece Porunci, Fericirile şi legile bisericeşti.
In this paper I will discuss the problem of justification in moral particularism. The first part ... more In this paper I will discuss the problem of justification in moral particularism. The first part is concerned with Jonathan Dancy's account of justification, which is a narrative one. To justify one's choice is to present a persuasive description of the context in a narrative fashion, not to subordinate singular cases to universal rules. Since it dismisses arguments and employs persuasiveness, this view seems irrational, so the second part of my paper will consist of a personal reconstruction and reformulation of Dancy's account that will aim at defending particularist justification from being labeled as "irrational".
This paper is a critical investigation about the historical origins of two contemporary approache... more This paper is a critical investigation about the historical origins of two contemporary approaches in ethics: moral particularism and moral generalism. Moral particularism states that there are no defensible moral principles and that moral thought doesn't consist in the application of moral principles to cases, but in understanding the morally relevant features of an action, which vary from case to case. In opposition, moral generalism is the traditional claim that moral decisions are made by applying general rules to particular actions. Plato is often seen as a moral generalist for his appeal to Forms which are universal standards, while Aristotle is regarded as a precursor of moral particularism for stressing the importance of the "the prudence", which is the intellectual capacity to perceive the irreducible specificity of a context, and the importance of "the means" which differs from person to person. First I will take Plato into discussion, and I will briefly reconstruct his theoretical account on Justice and virtue in order to establish his "generalist" orientation. Then I will analyze Aristotle's alleged particularism by appealing to his texts and assessing some considerations of a few contemporary authors. At the end of the paper, I will question both particularism and generalism for the appropriation of the two ancient philosophers, on the ground that modern moral philosophy which is an action centered ethics is hard to reconcile with ancient moral thought which was an agent centered one.
The last period of Foucault’s work is often labeled as “the ethical turn”. His reflections upon t... more The last period of Foucault’s work is often labeled as “the ethical turn”. His reflections upon the Greek epimeleia heautou (“care of the self”), his Nietzschean ideal of making life “a work of art”, and his search for new forms of subjectivity are commonly seen as a shift from his former political “problematizations” in favor of an ethical approach, focused on the so-called “aesthetics of existence”. In this paper, I would like to present the role played by the aesthetics of existence in the entire Foucauldian work and to answer some of the objections Foucault received on his late inquiries. Some of these objections concern the immoralism and relativism of Foucault’s ethics; others try to prove that the abandonment of power analysis lead Foucault towards an individualistic ethics, lacking political engagement.
La fel ca multe alte teorii, cadre de evaluare şi coduri morale ce par a se preta unei înţelegeri... more La fel ca multe alte teorii, cadre de evaluare şi coduri morale ce par a se preta unei înţelegeri rapide şi definitive, nici morala creştină nu scapă unor interpretări fugitive şi denaturate. De la credinciosul practicant, dar neinstruit la agnosticul sau ateul fără interese culturale sau academice, toţi ştiu că la sfinţenie se ajunge prin respectul orb faţă de indicaţiile pastorale şi că încălcarea Celor zece porunci e cel mai sigur drum către iad. Din nefericire, această opinie e împărtăşită şi de majoritatea savanţilor sau a intelectualilor, varianta erudită a acestei opinii fiind aceea că morala creştină deţine o procedură de decizie etică sau un test al evaluării morale. Fie ca văd morala creştină ca pe o teorie acţională care deţine instrumente decizionale clare, fie ca văd în creştinism un aparat cu mijloace riguroase de control social, rezultatul e acelaşi: deasupra teologiei morale pluteşte o aură de rigoare metodologică. În această lucrare, voi încerca să fac o critică a mitului ce proclamă caracterul procedural, legalist al acestei etici, dorind să insist asupra aspectelor paradoxale, aporetice, nesistematice şi necodificabile ale moralei creştine. Nu în ultimul rând această lucrare este un răspuns indirect dat profesorului Valentin Mureşan care, într-un capitol dedicat moralei teologice din cartea sa Managementul eticii în organizaţii (2009), argumenta că morala creştină este un tip de etică priincipiistă, testele evaluării morale fiind Cele zece Porunci, Fericirile şi legile bisericeşti.
In this paper I will discuss the problem of justification in moral particularism. The first part ... more In this paper I will discuss the problem of justification in moral particularism. The first part is concerned with Jonathan Dancy's account of justification, which is a narrative one. To justify one's choice is to present a persuasive description of the context in a narrative fashion, not to subordinate singular cases to universal rules. Since it dismisses arguments and employs persuasiveness, this view seems irrational, so the second part of my paper will consist of a personal reconstruction and reformulation of Dancy's account that will aim at defending particularist justification from being labeled as "irrational".
This paper is a critical investigation about the historical origins of two contemporary approache... more This paper is a critical investigation about the historical origins of two contemporary approaches in ethics: moral particularism and moral generalism. Moral particularism states that there are no defensible moral principles and that moral thought doesn't consist in the application of moral principles to cases, but in understanding the morally relevant features of an action, which vary from case to case. In opposition, moral generalism is the traditional claim that moral decisions are made by applying general rules to particular actions. Plato is often seen as a moral generalist for his appeal to Forms which are universal standards, while Aristotle is regarded as a precursor of moral particularism for stressing the importance of the "the prudence", which is the intellectual capacity to perceive the irreducible specificity of a context, and the importance of "the means" which differs from person to person. First I will take Plato into discussion, and I will briefly reconstruct his theoretical account on Justice and virtue in order to establish his "generalist" orientation. Then I will analyze Aristotle's alleged particularism by appealing to his texts and assessing some considerations of a few contemporary authors. At the end of the paper, I will question both particularism and generalism for the appropriation of the two ancient philosophers, on the ground that modern moral philosophy which is an action centered ethics is hard to reconcile with ancient moral thought which was an agent centered one.