POSTMODERN SOLUTION AGAINST INSTRUMENTAL REASON IN THE CURRENT POLITICAL ECONOMY: A CALL TO PRACTICAL-RATIONALITY

Öz

Practical rationality is a form of behavior and understanding that synthesizes reason and religious/moral rules. The concept of practical rationality was introduced to the literature by Max Weber and developed by Jürgen Habermas. According to Weber, there is no need to exclude religion in order to act rationally, as in the Christian tradition. In fact, reason can enable more rational behaviors to be exhibited with religious motivation. In this context, the aim of the study is to question the necessity of adopting the dynamic of practical rationality as a postmodern solution against instrumental reason, which has turned the economy into political material in the modern period. In particular, the views of Rawls and Wolterstroff constitute the framework of this study. Indeed, in the Western world of thought and philosophy, belief in the sustainability of instrumental reason has been lost by most segments. Since the liberation theories and formulas put forward are mostly within the framework of modern capitalism, their effects remain low. Rawls' proposal, which influenced the world of thought, does not seem to have overcome these limits. Instead, the belief in the necessity of a practical rationality understanding in which religious and moral principles and reason act together in the fields of politics and economics is increasing. At this point, Wolterstroff added a different dimension to the discussions with his reaction and call.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Economic thought
• Rawls
• Wolterstroff
• Modernity
• Democracy

MEVCUT EKONOMİ POLİTİKTE ARAÇSAL AKLA KARŞI POSTMODERN ÇÖZÜM: PRATİK-RASYONELLİĞE ÇAĞRI

Öz

Pratik-rasyonellik akıl ve dini/ahlaki kuralların sentezlendiği davranış ve anlayış biçimidir. Pratik-rasyonellik kavramı Max Weber tarafından literatüre kazandırılmış ve Jürgen Habermas tarafından geliştirilmiştir. Weber’e göre rasyonel davranmak için Hristiyan geleneğinde olduğu gibi dini dışlamaya gerek yoktur. Hatta akıl, dini motivasyon ile daha rasyonel davranışların sergilenmesini sağlayabilir. Bu doğrultuda çalışmanın amacı modern dönemde ekonomiyi siyasi malzeme haline getiren araçsal akla karşı postmodern bir çözüm olarak pratik-rasyonellik dinamiğinin benimsenmesi gerekliliğini sorgulamaktır. Özellikle Rawls’un ve Wolterstroff’un görüşleri bu çalışmanın çerçevesini oluşturmaktadır. Nitekim Batı düşünce ve felsefe dünyasında araçsal aklın sürdürülebilirliğine olan inanç çoğu kesim tarafından yitirilmiştir. Ortaya konulan kurtuluş teorileri ve formülleri çoğunlukla modern kapitalizm anlayışı çerçevesinde olduğundan bunların etkileri düşük kalmaktadır. Rawls’un düşünce dünyasını etkileyen önerisi bu sınırları aşamamış gözükmektedir. Bunun yerine politika ve ekonomi alanlarında dini ve ahlaki ilkelerle aklın birlikte hareket ettiği pratik-rasyonellik anlayışının gerekliliğine olan inanç artmaktadır. Bu noktada Wolterstroff ortaya koyduğu tepki ve çağrıyla tartışmalara farklı bir boyut kazandırmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• ekonomik düşünce
• Rawls
• Wolterstroff
• Modernite
• Demokrasi

Kaynakça

1. Audi, R. (2020). Religion & democracy: Interactions, tensions, possibilities. Daedalus, 149(3), 5-24, https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01800
2. Aytaç, C. K. (2020). Üst Kademe Teorisi Bağlamında Yöneticilerin Bireysel Değerlerinin Stratejik Karar Verme Sürecine Etkisini Anlamaya Yönelik Bir Araştırma. Bursa: Uludag University, Social Sciences Institute, Doctoral Thesis.
3. Beek, K. V. and Wolterstorff, N. (2019). Call for Justice: From Practice to Theory and Back. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers.
4. Besch, M., T. (2022). Patterns of justification: On political liberalism and the primacy of public justification. Journal of Social and Political Philosophy, 1(1), 47-63, https://doi.org/ 10.3366/jspp.2022.0006
5. Bonefeld, W. and O’Kane, C. (2022). Adorno and Marx: Negative dialectics and the critique of political economy. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing.
6. Brooks, T. (2021). Capabilities compatible with political liberalism? A third way. Croatian Journal of Philosophy, 21(62), 237-250, https://doi.org/10.52685/cjp.21.62.1
7. Cohn, T. and Hira, A. (2020). Global Political Economy: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.
8. Cooke, M. (2018). A Secular State for a Postsecular Society? Postmetaphysical Political Theory and the Place of Religion. Jürgen Habermas, Volumes I and II. 479-493. London: Routledge.

9. Cordero, T. (2023). Should liberal democracies accept religious arguments in public debate? A reflection on the thought of Nicholas Wolterstorff and Joseph Ratzinger. Prudentia Iuris, 95, 4760, https://doi.org/10.46553/prudentia.95.2023.pp.47-60
10. Çamlı, A. Y. (2021). Individual’s potential to perform ‘fair action’ in business life: J. Rawls and A. Sen. İş Ahlakı Dergisi, 14(1), 63-85. https://doi.org/10.12711/tjbe.2021.14.1.0171
11. Evsel, G. (2021). Üremeye yardımcı teknoloji yasaklarına karşılık pratik-rasyonel davranış. Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi, 24(1), 216-246, https://doi.org/10.18490/sosars.911397
12. Forrester, K. (2022). Liberalism and social theory after John Rawls. Analyse & Kritik, 44(1), 1-22, https://doi.org/10.1515/auk-2022-2020
13. Friedline, M. L. (2018). Pluralism and the roots of social conflict: rethinking Rawls. Religions, 10(1), https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10010020
14. Giovanola, .B and Sala, R. R. (2022). The reasons of the unreasonable: Is political liberalism still an option?. Philosophy & Social Criticism, 48(9), 1226-1246, https://doi.org/ 10.1177/01914537211040568
15. Guriev, S. and Papaioannou, E. (2022). The political economy of populism. Journal of Economic Literature, 60(3), 753-832, https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.20201595
16. Gailmard, S. (2021). Theory, history, and political economy. Journal of Historical Political Economy, 1(1), 69-104, http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/115.00000003
17. Gill, E. R. (2020). Religious values in liberal democracy. Religions, 11(12), 682, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11120682
18. Horkheimer, M. and Adorno, T. W. (2010). Aydınlanmanın diyalektiği. İstanbul: Kabalcı Yayınları.
19. Horvat, B. (2020). Political economy of socialism. London: Routledge.
20. Joustra, R. (2020). The coordinates of covenantal pluralism: Mapping pluralist theory in the 21st century. The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 18(4), 18–34, https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2020.1834994
21. Kędziora, K. (2021). Habermas on Rawls and the normative foundations of democracy. European Journal of Social Theory, 24(4), 545-561, https://doi.org/10.1177/1368431020985416
22. Kelly, T. (2001). Sociological not political: Rawls and the reconstructive social sciences. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 31(1), 3-19, https://doi.org/10.1177/004839310103100101
23. Lefebvre, A. (2024). Stanley Cavell, John Rawls and moral perfectionism in liberal democracy. European Journal of Political Theory, 0(0), 1-20, https://doi.org/10.1177/14748851241240310
24. Oliver, A. (2023). A political economy of behavioural public policy. London: Cambridge University Press.
25. Raekstad, P. (2024). The radical realist critique of rawls: A reconstruction and response. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 27(2), 183-205, https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2021.1891377
26. Rawls, J. (2007). Siyasal liberalizm. çev. Fevzi Bilgin. İstanbul: İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları.
27. Rawls, J. (1999). The law of peoples: With “the idea of public reason revisited. NY: Harvard University Press.
28. Reid, A. (2022). How can political liberalism respond to contemporary populism?. European Journal of Political Theory, 21(2), 299-320, https://doi.org/10.1177/1474885120911305
29. Smith, S. (2021). Historicizing Rawls. Modern Intellectual History, 18(4), 906-939, https://doi.org/10.1017/S147924432000044X
30. Shaw, J. (2020). Justice in Emmanuel Levinas and John Rawls. International Journal of Philosophical Studies, 28(4), 471-487, https://doi.org/10.1080/09672559.2020.1805489
31. Shojaei, Z. (2018). The role of religious reasons in the public sphere: A debate between John Rawls and Nicholas Wolterstorff. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Saskatchewan.
32. Siddique, M. Z. (2021). The irreconcilable conflict between Islam and liberalism. Islamic Studies, 60(3), 247-265.
33. Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society. California: University of California Press.
34. Weber, M. (1950). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York: Charles Scripner’s Son.
35. Wolterstorff, N. (2023). Fidelity in politics: Hallmarks of Christian political activity in the tradition of reformed Protestantism. Christian Scholar's Review, 52(3), 9-20.
36. Wolterstorff, N. (2018). Acting liturgically: Philosophical reflections on religious practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
37. Wong, B. (2023). Is it sectarian for a Rawlsian state to coerce Nozick? On political liberalism and the sectarian critique. Philosophia, 51(1), 367-387, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-021-00351-5