Why One Can't Be Ethical without Being Political: An Institutionalist Perspective

Andreas Glaeser, University of Chicago

Stoicism, Christianity, and finally the privatization of belief in consequence of the European wars of religion have severed the ethical from the political in Europeanoid thought. The classical Greek understanding that ethics and politics cannot be thought apart was turned into its opposite with deep and from a sociological perspective deleterious effects on practical philosophy (it’s Rawlesian turn to institutions included). The reason is simple. Most ethically relevant consequences of actions are mediated by institutions not only because actions themselves are institutionally mediated, but also because action effects are spatio-temporally projected by institutions the mor complex societies have become. From an institutionalist perspective, the fundamental ethical question is therefore not, as Kant surmised, “what should I do?” but “what institutional arrangements should we create such that we all stand a better chance of acting ethically?”. Thus, politics comes into play as necessary element in aiming for a more ethical life.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 173. Power and Normativity in Society and History IV: The Contested Cultures of Political Modernities