Community and identity in post-war European philosophy. This project will evaluate the political notions of community and identity in post-war European philosophy. Recent developments in international political relations have challenged accepted Western understandings of politics as the business of nation states. This project contends that there is much to be learnt in this regard from post-war European political philosophy. A notion of community has been developed that is irreducible to a polit ....Community and identity in post-war European philosophy. This project will evaluate the political notions of community and identity in post-war European philosophy. Recent developments in international political relations have challenged accepted Western understandings of politics as the business of nation states. This project contends that there is much to be learnt in this regard from post-war European political philosophy. A notion of community has been developed that is irreducible to a politics of identity and the anonymity of the global. In exploring this notion, the project aims to expand the intellectual instruments available to academic and public discussion in Australia.Read moreRead less
A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out ....A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out of account. The study thereby points to the political conditions necessary to foster vibrant, healthy, and ethical community.Read moreRead less
The Concept of Innocence and the Political Community: Australian identity and social health. In recent years, dispute, and even violence, has erupted in Australia between cultural groups and interests. By analysing the import of 'innocence' in Western social thought, and the cultural values corresponding to it, the project promotes a rethinking of the assumptions that underpin (and often undermine) relations between different cultures that make up the Australian community. In so doing, the proje ....The Concept of Innocence and the Political Community: Australian identity and social health. In recent years, dispute, and even violence, has erupted in Australia between cultural groups and interests. By analysing the import of 'innocence' in Western social thought, and the cultural values corresponding to it, the project promotes a rethinking of the assumptions that underpin (and often undermine) relations between different cultures that make up the Australian community. In so doing, the project addresses urgent questions posed by contemporary philosophy, and implicitly within Australian society, regarding the negotiation of differences between citizens and communities. The project thereby contributes to Australia's reputation in the field of social philosophy, particularly concerning cultural difference.Read moreRead less