Barcha
Fakultäten » Philosophische Fakultät » Philosophisches Seminar » Allgemein » Prof. Dr. Georg Kohler (emeritiert) » Barcha
Completed research project
| Title / Titel | The Discourse on Pleasure in the Framework of Political Theory | ||
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| Abstract (PDF, 14 KB) | |||
| Original title / Originaltitel | Der Lustdiskurs im Rahmen der politischen Theorie | ||
| Summary / Zusammenfassung | The question of what function the discourse on pleasure has exercised in political theory has never been adequately answered. One reason for this is that the discourse on pleasure has been rendered useless for the purposes of political theory: Many scholars have conceived it too narrowly by equating it with the discourse on sexuality and with the employment of sexual pleasure. The aim of this project is to broaden the outlook on the discourse on pleasure and especially to analyse its function in the framework of political theory. Frequently, political theorists decry the pursuit of pleasure, enjoyment, happiness, and an unburdened life in favour of the so called “higher values”, since it is claimed that only these can serve as a foundation of “true pleasure”. In addition, the discourse on pleasure plays a particularly important role in the descriptions and explanations of undesirable phenomena (injustice, tyranny) and undesirable social processes (decline of morality, decline of countries). The projects consists of three interrelated parts: (1) an analysis of selected historical instances of the discourse on pleasure; (2) an overview of the history of the idea of the discourse on pleasure; (3) a synthesis of the first two parts aimed at a general theory of the function of the discourse on pleasure in political thought. | ||
| Keywords / Suchbegriffe | Lustlehren, Lustfeindlichkeit, Ideengeschichte, Politische Theorie, Historische Umbruchsphasen, theories of pleasure, hostility toward pleasure, political theory, social upheavals | ||
| Project leadership and contacts / Projektleitung und Kontakte |
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| Funding source(s) / Unterstützt durch |
SNF (Personen- und Projektförderung) |
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| Duration of Project / Projektdauer | Aug 2004 to Mar 2008 |