Singer's A Darwinian Left successfully exposes flaws in traditional left thinking in regard to human nature.
Thomas Paine wrote in Common Sense (1776) that "we have it in our power to begin the world over again" (p. 109).
But common sense would, in fact, imply that we have no such power: our very natures will ensure the continuation of perennial human themes.
But it is not clear why Singer needs the inchoate findings of EP to demonstrate this, when the historical record itself will suffice.
Singer's purposes may be better served by one of English utilitarianism's intellectual descendants, American philosophical pragmatism.
To pragmatists, truth consists in enduring serviceability and practicality. The task for the political left is to examine what has and has not worked in its own historical experience.
While Soviet communism has collapsed under its own weight, the social democratic left has rethought its traditional bureaucratic collectivism and its excessive suspicion of consumer choice. The contemporary left still pursues its traditional goals of redistributing power, wealth, and opportunity, but in the context of the market economy.
The result has been the widespread electoral recovery of social democratic and labor parties in the post-industrial economies of the West, and the liberalization of left parties in the developing world. Governmental and electoral experience has guided the left to this position—not psychological Darwinism.
Singer's purposes may be better served by one of English utilitarianism's intellectual descendants, American philosophical pragmatism.
To pragmatists, truth consists in enduring serviceability and practicality. The task for the political left is to examine what has and has not worked in its own historical experience.
While Soviet communism has collapsed under its own weight, the social democratic left has rethought its traditional bureaucratic collectivism and its excessive suspicion of consumer choice. The contemporary left still pursues its traditional goals of redistributing power, wealth, and opportunity, but in the context of the market economy.
The result has been the widespread electoral recovery of social democratic and labor parties in the post-industrial economies of the West, and the liberalization of left parties in the developing world. Governmental and electoral experience has guided the left to this position—not psychological Darwinism.
No comments:
Post a Comment