Théorie politique

H08 - Faith, Tolerance, Identity, Revolution

Date: May 31 | Heure: 08:45am to 10:15am | Location: Classroom - CL 410 Room ID:15722

Chair/Président/Présidente : Paul Gray (Brock University)

Philosophical Jews: The Conception of Enlightened Ideas in the Marquis d’Argens’ Lettres juives: Catherine R. Power (University of Toronto)
Abstract: Despite its immense popularity during the time of writing and circulation in the 1730s-40s, the Marquis d’Argens’ (Jean-Baptiste de Boyer) Lettres critiques et philosophiques, which consisted of three epistolary novels, Lettres juives; Lettres cabalistiques; and Lettres chinoises, is largely overlooked by contemporary political theorists. The Lettres’ contribution is noteworthy in its multi-layered literary presentation incorporating many of the polemics and paradoxes of Enlightenment and counter-Enlightenment ideas. d’Argens’ choice of “Jewish” avatars adds a significant layer of hermeneutic complexity for critical readers of the text. Situating figural “Judaism” within the broader historical, social, and theological context of Enlightenment Christian Europe helps us to understand why the Marquis chose the “Jews” as his dramatis personae and how that choice inflects the narrative as it unfolds, along with the philosophical ideas being explored. In this paper, I focus on the Lettres juives. I argue that, without proposing a definitive resolution, the Lettres juives presents the tensions between assumptions of essential human nature and justice-based demands for toleration on the one hand with absolute secular sovereignty, freedom, and perfectibility on the other. The presentation of these deep tensions in Enlightenment thought is further nuanced by the form of its presentation as a personal conversation between Jewish insider-outsiders. d’Argens’ particular articulation of these tensions provides us with a deeper understanding of the discussion in our own time as we seek to understand the re-emergence of populist intolerance amidst competing claims for cosmopolitanism, popular sovereignty, and post-colonial freedom.

Ghazali: Subjective Belief and Political Intolerance: Mohamad Ghossein (University of Ottawa)
Abstract: In this paper, I will explore the position of Muslim theologian Abū Ḥāmid Al-Ghazālī on toleration. Ghazali's reflections on faith and toleration offer a clear insight into a theology, which promotes the idea that there is no compulsion in faith while simultaneously calling for coercion against certain classes of unbelievers. I will set out to explain how his line of reasoning reconciles these two points. While Ghazali assumes that faith is based on an internal conviction unmalleable at the hands of external forces, he maintains that certain classes of unbelievers must be coerced. I will argue that Ghazali's intolerant position on unbelief is linked to his characterization of unbelief as a culpable error. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, I wish to examine a troubling line in Islamic thought. Second, I want to showcase that emphasis on the individual in matters of faith is no precondition for toleration.

The Gezi Insurrection As a Destituent Political Act: Tolga Karabulut (Ankara University)
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to develop an understanding of the Gezi protests of 2013 in Turkey as a destituent political act. Drawing on Agamben’s theory of destituent power, my main argument is that the emancipatory aspects and novelty of the Gezi insurrection should not be seen as an attempt to overthrow the existing government but, rather, as a radical political act that sought to suspend sovereign forms of power by challenging the dominant socio-political identities and subjectivities at the time. The radicality of the movement, therefore, lied in its refusal to be drawn into existing political categories and institutions and thereby evading the domesticating attempts of the government. Undermining the authority of foundational principles and binary oppositions (such as seculars versus Islamists) that have animated the political life in Turkey allowed the insurrection to open up an alternative space for autonomous subjectivities. It was the desire to be “not governed” that brought diverse groups of people together. To situate the destituent character of the Gezi insurrection, I start by focusing on the founding of the modern Turkish subject as the negation of the religious identity that resulted in a social and political division between seculars and Islamists, which has acquired a prevalent character under AKP regime. Later, I analyze some characteristics of the Gezi protests that rendered the governing power inoperative. In the last section, I aim to explore the potential roles and effects of the Gezi insurrection for democratization in Turkey.