What We Talk about When We Talk about Political Theory: Reconsidering Hannah Arendt's ＂Method＂ of Political Thinking and Its Critiques of the Rawlsian Method of Political Philosophy Today

當我們談論政治理論時我們在談什麼？再探漢娜．鄂蘭的政治理論「方法」以及其對於當今羅爾斯式政治哲學方法的批判

杜坤峰(Kun-Feng Tu)

《台灣政治學刊》 25卷2期 (2021/12) Pp. 219-263

https://doi.org/10.6683/TPSR.202112_25(2).0005

摘要

This paper reconsiders Hannah Arendt's ＂method＂ of political thinking and its implicated critiques of the Rawlsian methodology of political philosophy today, namely, the reflective equilibrium. By addressing Arendt's approach to political thinking and comparing it with John Rawls' counterpart, I argue that inasmuch as thinking cannot be reduced to philosophising, the outcome of thinking is by no means nothing but philosophy, either. That is to say, in opposition to the analytic method of normative political philosophy ever since Rawls, I contend that reflective equilibrium, as Rawls and some political philosophers proposed, is not the paradigmatic method of thinking on political matters and that political philosophy (or in Rawls' words the coherent theory) is not the only possible product of political thinking. Based on these points, this paper concludes that Arendt's approach to political thinking, namely, thinking in plurality and judgmental theory, could provide a trenchant critique of the belief that is held by Rawlsians and most philosophers today. That is, reflective equilibrium and political philosophising are neither adequate for theorising politics nor the best way of thinking about political matters.

關鍵字

Hannah Arendt ； John Rawls ； Methodology ； Political Theory ； Thinking

並列摘要

這篇文章探討漢娜．鄂蘭的政治理論「方法」以及其所隱含的對於當今羅爾斯式政治哲學方法－亦即反思均衡－的批判。藉由討論鄂蘭的政治思考途徑並將之與約翰．羅爾斯的方法論加以對照，本文試圖論證：如果思考本身無法被化約為哲學式思考，那麼思考的產物就不完全是哲學了。換言之，一反羅爾斯與一些政治哲學家們所提倡者，本文宣稱「反思均衡（或者說，規範性政治哲學的分析方法）」並非思考政治事務的唯一或主要途徑，而政治「哲學」（以羅爾斯的語彙來說，即邏輯一致的理論）亦非政治思考的唯一可能產物。以該論證為基礎，本文嘗試總結到：鄂蘭的政治思考途徑－亦即以多元性來思考，並獲致判斷性的理論－可以對當今羅爾斯主義者們以及大部分哲學家們的信念提出一個深刻的批判。那就是，反思均衡與哲學式思考既不但無法充分地理論化政治活動，也不是思考政治事務的最佳方法。

並列關鍵字

漢娜．鄂蘭 ； 約翰．羅爾斯 ； 方法論 ； 政治理論 ； 思考

參考文獻

Arendt, Hannah. 1977. The Life of the Mind. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.

Arendt, Hannah. 1982. Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Arendt, Hannah. 1990 (1954). “Philosophy and Politics.” Social Research 57 (1): 73-103.

Arendt, Hannah. 1998 (1958). The Human Condition. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.

Arendt, Hannah. 2003. Responsibility and Judgment. New York, NY: Schocken Books.