The form of ideology : investigations into the sense of ideological reasoning with a view to giving an account of its place in political life

147 Pages·2020·15.113 MB·English

by  David John Manning (editor)

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:
POLITICAL THOUGHT AND
POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Volume 37
THE FORM OF IDEOLOGY

THE FORM OF IDEOLOGY
Investigations into the Sense of
Ideological Reasoning with a View to
Giving an Account of its Place in
Political Life
Edited by
D. J. MANNING
i
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Firstpublishedin1980byGeorgeAllen&UnwinLtd.
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The Form of Ideology
Investigations into the sense of
ideological reasoning with a view
to giving an account of its place
in political life
Edited by
J.
D. Manning
London
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN
Boston Sydney
First published in 19 80
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. All
rights are reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the
purpose of private study, research, criticism or review,
as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo
copying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be
sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD
40 Museum Street, London WClA lLU
© L. G. Graham, A. Grimes, D. J. Manning, D. H.
Rashid, J. D. Rayner and T. J. Robinson, 1980
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
The form of ideology.
1. Ideology
I. Manning, David John
145 B823.3
ISBN 0-04-320138-5
ISBN 0-04-320139-3 Pbk
Typeset in 10 on 11 point Plantin by Trade Linotype Ltd., Birmingham.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
William Clowes (Beccles) Limited, Beccles and London.
Contents
Acknowledgements page vi
Preface M. J. OAKESHOTT vii
Introduction D. J. MANNING 1
1 Ideology and the Sociological Understanding
L. G. GRAHAM 12
2 Ideology and Religion A. GRIMES 22
3 Ideology and Philosophy D. H. RASHID 38
4 Ideology and Theoretical Inquiry
T. J. ROBINSON 53
5 The Place of Ideology in Political Life
D. J. MANNING 71
6 The Uses of Ideological Language J. D. RAYNER 90
Postscript JOINT AUTHORSHIP 113
Bibliography 132
Index 134
Acknowledgements
The editor wishes to acknowledge the financial support given to the
Durham MA course by the Social Science Research Council without
which this book would not have been possible. He also thanks Mrs
Dorothy Anson and Mrs Jean Richardson for typing the manuscript.
Preface
Some ten years ago a friend of mine, Dr David Manning, a lecturer
in politics in the University of Durham, embarked upon an adventure:
he designed a year's course of study for graduate students in politics.
It had some conventional features, but its central concern was to be
an inquiry. And anyone who succeeds in engaging graduate students
in an inquiry is, I think, doing something worthwhile. The inquiry
here was to distinguish and characterise a certain aspect of political
activity, namely, beliefs which, without specifiying a programme of
political action, express a political commitment and may be recognised
as reasons for acting. Nowadays, such beliefs are often called
'ideological', and consequently the inquiry to be embarked upon was
identified as the investigation of the form, or perhaps the meaning,
of ideological discourse. Students in the politics departments of uni
versities are often invited to study current allegedly ideological
doctrines (liberalism or socialism, for example) and are perhaps urged
to consider the merits and defects of their constituent beliefs, but
without even troubling their heads about what sort of beliefs they
are, and without considering 'ideology' as a distinguishable mode of
thought and argument. But here what was to be considered was just
this, the logic of ideological discourse.
It was a severe undertaking. But, almost from the beginning, the
seminar in which it was pursued attracted some remarkably able
students who not only readily took to what was afoot but became
adept explorers on their own account. And among its (usually) eight
or ten members there was, in some years, a particularly distinguished
student who, later embarking upon a research degree in Durham,
remained behind to help to initiate newcomers. Thus, the seminar
enjoyed an unusual intellectual continuity.
My connection with it, and the reason why I am writing this
preface, is that, from the beginning I was appointed the external
examiner of the work the members of the seminar submitted each year
for the master's degree awarded by the University of Durham -
answers to examination questions and a dissertation. I held this office
for ten years. It entailed visiting Durham each autumn to discuss the
work of those who were passing out (to use a military expression)
and to meet and converse with the newcomers. I knew them all by
name and nature, and I had the opportunity of observing, over the
years, the gradual formulation of some findings about the character
of ideological discourse.
To follow a well-trodden path, to begin with the word 'ideology'