The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi PDF
Preview The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi
John Horton · Manon Westphal Ulrich Willems E ditors The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi John Horton (cid:129) Manon Westphal (cid:129) Ulrich Willems Editors The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi Editors JohnHorton ManonWestphal SchoolofPolitics,InternationalRelations InstituteofPoliticalScience andPhilosophy UniversityofMünster KeeleUniversity Münster,Germany Keele,UK UlrichWillems InstituteofPoliticalScience UniversityofMünster Münster,Germany ISBN978-3-319-79077-0 ISBN978-3-319-79078-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79078-7 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018943262 #SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2019 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartofthe materialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation, broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology nowknownorhereafterdeveloped. Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this bookarebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations. Printedonacid-freepaper ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerInternationalPublishingAGpartof SpringerNature. Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland In memory of Glen Newey 1961–2017 Preface Allthecontributionstothisvolumebeganaspaperstotheconference,‘ThePolitical TheoryofModusVivendi’heldattheUniversityofMünsterinJuly2015,although they have all undergone revision since then and some have been radically reconceived. WearemostgratefultotheCentreofAdvancedStudyinBioethicsinMünsterfor their generosity infundingtheinitial conference andespeciallytoRuth Langer for organisingitsoefficiently. Ourprimarydebtistothecontributors,notleastfortheirpatience,asthevolume hastakenalittlelongertobringtopublicationthanwewouldhavewished.Wehave alsobeenhelpedbyanumberofothersinputtingthevolumetogether:CarolynIselt, Lars Kiesling, Nicolas Kleinschmidt and Judith Rensing. We are also grateful to JohannesGlaeser,DagmarKernandSrinivasanManavalanattheSpringerPress. The dedication is in memory of Glen Newey, who died unexpectedly last year. Glenwasalivelyandactiveparticipantintheoriginalconference,andalthoughhe hadalreadydecidednottocontributetothebook,hewasanimportantfigureinits earlygestation.Heismuchmissed. Keele,UK JohnHorton Münster,Germany ManonWestphal Münster,Germany UlrichWillems vii Contents TheorisingModusVivendi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 ManonWestphal PartI ModusVivendi,LiberalismandRealism WhyTheorizeModusVivendi?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 FabianWendt LiberalMoralismandModusVivendiPolitics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Steven Wall ModusVivendiandtheMotivationsforCompliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 RobertaSala ModusVivendiinaLiberalFramework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 ThomasGutmann CanModusVivendiSaveLiberalismfromMoralism?ACritical AssessmentofJohnGray’sPoliticalRealism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 EnzoRossi ModusVivendiBeyondtheSocialContract:Peace,Justice, andSurvivalinRealistPoliticalTheory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 ThomasFossen PartII ModusVivendiandLegitimacy ModusVivendiandPoliticalLegitimacy. . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . .. 131 JohnHorton ModusVivendiasaGlobalPoliticalMorality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 DavidMcCabe LegitimacyandModusVivendiTheory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169 FabianWenner ModusVivendiandLegitimacy:SomeScepticalThoughts. . . . . . . . . . . 185 MattSleat ix x Contents PartIII ModusVivendiandPoliticalPractice PoliticalThoughtBetweenFinalityandIndeterminacy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 MichaelFreeden MotivesandModusVivendi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223 KatharineSchweitzer ModusVivendiandToleration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 MichaelKühler InstitutionsofModusVivendiPolitics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 ManonWestphal Theorising Modus Vivendi Manon Westphal Modus vivendi is a term that suggests limited ambitions and even a pessimistic attitude towards the circumstances of political life. Literally meaning a “mode of (co-)living”,modusvivendireferstoastateofaffairsthatonecanlivewith,notone thatisparticularlyvaluableorsatisfying.Onemightwonder,then,whythetermhas been receiving increasing attention from political theorists and is currently in the process of becoming a distinctive focus of political theorising. The goal of this chapter is to make sense of these developments and to assess where the debate on modusvivendipresentlystands.IshouldmakeitclearfromthebeginningthatIam broadly sympathetic to the notion of modus vivendi. Modus vivendi achieves a welcome diversification of the landscape of contemporary political theorising by providing an approach that, exactly because its way of thinking about politics is “none too cheerful” (Newey 2006, p. 266), can strengthen the capacity of political theorists to assess political possibilities under conditions that are often far from cheerful, however lamentable that may be. It is this book’s aim to explore and advance the debate about both the potential of a political theory of modus vivendi anditsproblems. Ifmodusvivenditheoryistomeettheexpectationofgroundinganinnovativeand distinctive form of political theorising, it undoubtedly faces some important challenges and stands in need of further development in a number of respects. Eventhoughsomeofthecontributorstothisvolumearemoreoptimisticaboutthe capacity of modus vivendi to ground a robust political theory than others, this is a sentimentthattheyallshare.Itistheoverarchingambitionofthisvolumetoprobe thestrengthsofmodusvivendi,shedacriticallightontheweaknessesandlacunaeof modusvivenditheorisinginitscurrentform,provideclarificationofsofarneglected aspects of it and open up perspectives for future developments. While each of the subsequent chapters has a specific interest in modus vivendi and contributes to a M.Westphal(*) InstituteofPoliticalScience,UniversityofMünster,Münster,Germany e-mail:[email protected] #SpringerInternationalPublishingAG,partofSpringerNature2019 1 J.Hortonetal.(eds.),ThePoliticalTheoryofModusVivendi, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79078-7_1 2 M.Westphal betterunderstandingoftheconceptbydiscussingaparticularaspectoforchallenge toit,thischapterusesratherbroadbrushstrokes,andnoneoftheissuesraisedwillbe dealtwithinsatisfactorydepth.TheintentionoftheoverviewIdevelop,however,is tomapsomeofthecrucialpointsofdisputeinthedebateandlocatetheargumentsof thesubsequentchapterswithinabroaderframework. Tothisend,first,Isaysomethingaboutthenotionofmodusvivendiingeneral. Whatexactlyisamodusvivendi,i.e.whatcharacterisesthephenomenonthatthose whousemodusvivendiasapoliticalconceptreferto?Second,Iaddressthequestion of the motives and purposes of a political theory of modus vivendi. What is it that thosewhomakemodusvivendiacoreconceptoftheirtheorisingfindsoattractive aboutitandwhydotheythinkitisuseful?Third,Idiscusstheissueoflegitimacy. One important aspect of debate among theorists of modus vivendi in this regard is whether and in what sense a political theory of modus vivendi is or should be a normative theory. While there is little controversy that a political theory of modus vivendi cannot dispense with ethical content entirely, there is disagreement as to whatthiscontentisandhowdistinctiveitisbycomparisontothatofotherpolitical theories.Iillustratesomemainlinesofthedebateonthischallengebyshowinghow modus vivendi theorists make political legitimacy the mainstay of a moderately normative agenda for political theorising and what problems this project faces. Fourth, I sketch how some proposals made by the contributors point to possible waysoutoftheseproblemsandencourageadiversificationoftheagendaofmodus vivenditheorising. 1 Modus Vivendi as a Political Concept The term modus vivendi is not new. In situations where parties that are in dispute overpoliticalissuesfailtoachievetheirpreferredsolutionandendupbysettlingon termsofcoexistencethatallfindtosomeextentunsatisfactory,itisrathercommon tospeakofamodusvivendi.Morespecifically,suchascenarioisoftencalledamere modus vivendi. The qualifying “mere” is significant here as it gives expression to what is often associated with a situation referred to as a modus vivendi: a disap- pointinganddeficientoutcomethatislessthananyone’sideal.Suchaviewcanbe found in John Rawls’s Political Liberalism where, in anticipation of a possible objectionagainsthistheory,Rawlsstressesthathisideaofanoverlappingconsensus onapoliticalconceptionofjusticemustnotbemistakenforameremodusvivendi. “[S]omewillthinkthatevenifanoverlappingconsensusweresufficientlystable,theideaof politicalunityfoundedonanoverlappingconsensusmuststillberejected,sinceitabandons the hope of political community and settles instead for a public understanding that is at bottomameremodusvivendi”(Rawls2005,p.146;myemphasis). Theworriedcriticneedsnotbeconcerned,Rawlsexplains,becausetheobjectof the overlapping consensus, the political conception of justice, “is itself a moral conception”,which“isaffirmedonmoralgrounds”(Rawls 2005,p.147).Political
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