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Process Thought and Political Theory: Implications of a Principle of Internal Relations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Douglas Sturm
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Extract

The ultimate aim of political theory is to disclose the meaning of political activity. As such, political theory is, at one and the same time, interpretive and evaluative. In the phrasing of Dante Germino, political theory “takes as its starting point the empirical fact of the existing human person in the totality of his experience as a creature in society.” But, of course, the meaning of “the empirical fact of the existing human person” is a topic of philosophical inquiry. Facticity is not a given. It is an issue of paramount importance. On the resolution of that issue, much depends. According to Whitehead, “theories are built upon facts; and conversely the reports upon facts are shot through and through with theoretical interpretation.” The notion, for instance, of “history devoid of any reliance on metaphysical principles and cosmological generalizations, is a figment of the imagination.” The task of political theory therefore cannot be undertaken apart from considerations of cosmology. It is at this point that process thought is relevant to political theory. And that, in general, is the topic of this article.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , July 1979 , pp. 375 - 401
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1979

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References

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