Projects / Programmes
The Philosophy of Crisis: Economy - Politics - Ecology
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.10.00 |
Humanities |
Philosophy |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| H001 |
Humanities |
Philosophy |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.03 |
Humanities |
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion |
Crisis, philosophy, political philosophy, economy, ecology
Researchers (11)
Organisations (2)
Abstract
The project proposal seeks to achieve two main goals: 1) to undertake systematic theoretical research of the current crisis and 2) analyse the concept of crisis. The studies are mutually complementary. The theoretical examination of the crisis rests on the premise that the current crisis must be addressed by considering the internal links between all of its three aspects: economic, political and ecological. We claim that there is a complex network of causes governing all three aspects of the crisis which requires the implementation of an interdisciplinary approach in which philosophy plays a prominent role. Concept analysis relies on the rich tradition of philosophical investigation of crisis within the field and other social structures (science, politics, law), while discovering an almost scandalous fact that despite the exceptional proliferation of the term, philosophy has still not developed a concept of crisis befitting the current situation, leaving the term open to spontaneous understanding. Therefore, the project aims to develop an accurate conceptual system that will enable the current crisis to be addressed in more accurate terms.
Significance for science
The research has contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of the current economic-political-ecological crisis and in this way exposed possible ways philosophy can contribute to solving actual social problems. It presented a critical perspective on contemporary (political) philosophy and developed a clearer and more distinct concept of crisis; it presented a critical analysis of contemporaneity and systematically developed adequate analytical tools. The project was an interdisciplinary research project bringing together philosophers, an economist, and specialists from the field of ecology. The research thus contributed to and broadened the horizons of knowledge in contemporary society.
Significance for the country
The point of departure of the project proposal was the supposition that the very emergence of the crisis in 2008, which actually struck Slovenia in the years 2009-2012, is one of the most important events, if not the most important one, that will affect its social development in the years to come. Today, in 2017, when official statistics show the end of the economic recession, the thesis put forward at the beginning of the research project that the crisis and the manner in which it was handled introduced irreversible changes, still holds. This initial finding was presented to the broader Slovenian public in various ways. It was at this point that we pointed out the traps and insufficiencies of the very notion of crisis. At the same time, our discoveries regarding the crisis were placed in various conceptual and theoretical contexts, including the following: the crisis of politics as such and of the European idea under the domination of an economistic way of thinking; the critique of austerity politics, in the politico-philosophical context of a state of emergency; the critique of the debt crisis and of its consequences for European power relations, from the perspective of capitalism as a world-system, through an analysis of the discourse on crisis as a way of transforming actuality; the critique of the introduction of machinic enslavement as a tendency of contemporary capitalism, in times of ecological crisis, etc. It would be pretentious to say that the insights and discoveries made in the project are of decisive importance for the future development of Slovenia; however, we strove to point out the various traps and impasses for Slovenia in dealing with the crisis, as well as to contribute basic knowledge on Slovenian society, to introduce the problematics of the field of international discussion on relevant issues, and to strengthen independent, free, critical, and competent thinking as well as scientific work – i.e. everything that does indeed contribute to the better development of Slovenia.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2013,
2014,
2015,
final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2013,
2014,
2015,
final report
