Tony Burns
Biographic Data
| ID | 3811690 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tony Burns |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tony |
| FAMILY NAME | Burns |
| SIGNATURE | BURNS T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Nottingham |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 30 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1995 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
MacIntyre and Hegel on the possibility of resolving philosophical disagreements
This article examines the views of Hegel and Alasdair MacIntyre regarding philosophical disagreements, whether or not they can be resolved and if so how. For both thinkers such a disagreement is thought of as taking place between the advocates of two theoretical positions which are opposed to one another. Each party subscribes to a way of thinking about the issue under discussion which appears to be logically incompatible with the views of the ot…
Marx and the Concept of a Social Formation
This paper discusses the significance of the concept of a social formation for historical materialism. It argues that the concept is wrongly thought to be associated uniquely with the writings of Louis Althusser and with structuralist Marxism. It can be found in the writings of Marx himself, as well as those of Lenin, and is central to an adequate understanding of classical Marxism. To illustrate its importance the paper shows how the concept may…
Marx's Capital and the concept of super-exploitation
This article explores the theory of exploitation which Marx sets out in Capital. It argues that Marx assumes that there are five modes of extraction of surplus value. These are associated with the following principles: (1) extended duration of the working day; (2) enhanced productivity (due to the introduction of new technology); (3) efficient organization of the process of production; (4) increased intensity of labour and (5) depressed consumpti…
Lawrence ('Larry') Wilde (1950-2022)
Alasdair MacIntyre on the division of goods and “the corrupting power of institutions”
This paper examines the distinction between "internal goods" and "external goods" and its significance for the political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, focusing especially on its relevance for our understanding of MacIntyre's views regarding the relationship which exists between "practices" and social "institutions. " The paper explores the origins of this distinction in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, both of whom (like MacIntyre) associate…
Marxism and the Concept of A Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji
Jairus Banaji associates the concept of a social formation (involving modal combination, or the articulation of modes of production) with “vulgar Marxism.” This includes both the Marxism of the Second International and the structuralist Marxism of Louis Althusser. Banaji is critical of those Marxists who employ the concept because in his view they are insufficiently sensitive to the complexities of history. His reasons for thinking this may be su…
Alasdair MacIntyre, Utopianism, and the Politics of Social Institutions
This paper explores the relationship between two aspects of the social and political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. The first is what MacIntyre has to say about the politics of social institutions, especially the distinction which MacIntyre makes in After Virtue between practices and institutions. The second is MacIntyre’s views regarding utopianism in politics. I argue that MacIntyre’s assessment of the merits and demerits of utopianism in polit…
Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem
This article reconsiders what Marx says about what has come to be known as the transformation problem in Chapter IX of Capital Volume III, in the light of Marx's claim, made in Capital Volume I, that the value of a commodity is determined by the socially necessary labour-time that goes into its production. I criticise the traditional way of thinking about the transformation problem, according to which what Marx is doing in Chapter IX is consideri…
Examining trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in court-mandated intimate partner violence perpetrators
There is a dearth of empirical literature characterizing the various forms of trauma experienced by men court mandated to intervention for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. We investigated the potentially traumatic events (PTEs) experienced by men (N = 217) court mandated to enroll in a 41-week group IPV perpetrator program, as well as the relationships between PTEs, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and IPV. Findings ind…
Hegel and global politics: Communitarianism or cosmopolitanism
This article discusses Hegel’s views on global politics by relating them to the ‘communitarianism versus cosmopolitanism’ debate. I distinguish between three different theoretical positions and three different readings of Hegel, which I associate with the notions of ‘communitarianism’, ‘strong cosmopolitanism’ and ‘weak cosmopolitanism’, respectively. Contrary to a commonly held view that Hegel is not a cosmopolitan thinker at all, in any sense o…
Aristotle and Natural Law
Interpreting and appropriating texts in the history of political thought: Quentin Skinner and poststructuralism
Capitalism, modernity and the nation state: A critique of Hannes Lacher
This article is a critique of the views of Hannes Lacher, and in particular those expounded in his Beyond Globalization: Capitalism, Territoriality and the International Relations of Modernity (2006), which was intended as a contribution to the historical materialist approach to international relations. Three core issues are addressed: namely (1) Lacher's understanding of historical materialism; (2) his understanding of the connection between cap…
Introduction to Political Theory
Marxism and science fiction: A celebration of the work of Ursula K. Le Guin
In 1973, the newly-established journal Science Fiction Studies published a symposium on 'Marxism and science fiction' in its very first issue. (1) Thirty years later, the newly-established journal Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory published a similar symposium on 'Marxism and fantasy'. (2) One of the contributors to the earlier symposium, but conspicuous by her absence in the recent one, was Ursula K. Le Guin, who will b…
Joseph Dietzgen and the History of Marxism
Joseph Dietzgen (1828–1888) had an important role in the history of Marxism. One reason for this is that he coined the phrase “dialectical materialism” — the hallmark of “orthodox” Marxism. Another reason is that at the beginning of the 20th century, in the absence of Marx’s early writings, humanist critics of “orthodox” Marxism like Anton Pannekoek appealed to Dietzgen. An understanding of Dietzgen’s thought sheds new light on our understanding …
Sophocles' Antigone and the History of the Concept of Natural Law
This paper focuses on two related questions. The first of these is a general question. Where are the origins of the concept of natural law to be located in the history of political thought? The second is more specific. Sophocles puts into the mouth of the eponymous heroine of his Antigone an argument justifying her disobedience to an edict of her uncle Creon, who forbade her to bury her brother Polyneices. Does this argument involve an appeal to …
Recognition versus distribution: Three Works on Equality
(2001). Recognition versus distribution: Three works on equality. Contemporary Politics: Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 319-329
The Hegel-Marx Connection
A major and timely re-examination of key areas in the social and political thought of Hegel and Marx. The editors' extensive introduction surveys the development of the connection from the Young Hegel
Hegel-Marx Connection
Materialism in Ancient Greek Philosophy and in the Writings of the Young Marx
What is the young Marx's attitude towards questions of psychology? More precisely, what is his attitude towards the human mind and its relationship to the body? To deal adequately with this issue requires a consideration of the relationship between Marx and Feuerbach. It also requires some discussion of the thought of Aristotle. For the views of Feuerbach and the young Marx are (in some respects) not at all original. Rather, they represent a cont…
The purloined Hegel: Semiology in the thought of Saussure and Derrida
This paper explores the thought of Hegel, Saussure and Derrida regarding the nature of the linguistic sign. It argues that Derrida is right to maintain that Hegel is an influence on Saussure. However, Derrida misrepresents both Hegel and Saussure by interpreting them as falling within the Platonic rather than the Aristotelian philosophical tradition
What is Politics? Robinson Crusoe, Deep Ecology and Immanuel Kant
This article considers the nature of politics. Robinson Crusoe is used to show that even the broadest understanding of politics found in the literature is inadequate, for the situation of Crusoe on his island is a political situation even though he is completely alone. An analogy is drawn between the deep ecological understanding of politics and the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. For Kantian ethics, also, is built on the idea of a solitary in…
Aquinas's Two Doctrines of Natural Law
This paper examines the role which the concept of natural law has to play in the political thought of Aquinas, as this is to be found in the Summa Theologiae. It focuses particularly on Aquinas's understanding of the relationship which exists between natural and positive law. It argues that Aquinas's views are inconsistent and that the Summa actually contains two quite different positions regarding this subject. One of these is inherited from the…
John Gray and the death of conservatism
Interpreting and appropriating texts in the history of political thought: Quentin Skinner and poststructuralism
What is Politics? Robinson Crusoe, Deep Ecology and Immanuel Kant
This article considers the nature of politics. Robinson Crusoe is used to show that even the broadest understanding of politics found in the literature is inadequate, for the situation of Crusoe on his island is a political situation even though he is completely alone. An analogy is drawn between the deep ecological understanding of politics and the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. For Kantian ethics, also, is built on the idea of a solitary in…
Hegel and global politics: Communitarianism or cosmopolitanism
This article discusses Hegel’s views on global politics by relating them to the ‘communitarianism versus cosmopolitanism’ debate. I distinguish between three different theoretical positions and three different readings of Hegel, which I associate with the notions of ‘communitarianism’, ‘strong cosmopolitanism’ and ‘weak cosmopolitanism’, respectively. Contrary to a commonly held view that Hegel is not a cosmopolitan thinker at all, in any sense o…
Sophocles' Antigone and the History of the Concept of Natural Law
This paper focuses on two related questions. The first of these is a general question. Where are the origins of the concept of natural law to be located in the history of political thought? The second is more specific. Sophocles puts into the mouth of the eponymous heroine of his Antigone an argument justifying her disobedience to an edict of her uncle Creon, who forbade her to bury her brother Polyneices. Does this argument involve an appeal to …
Materialism in Ancient Greek Philosophy and in the Writings of the Young Marx
What is the young Marx's attitude towards questions of psychology? More precisely, what is his attitude towards the human mind and its relationship to the body? To deal adequately with this issue requires a consideration of the relationship between Marx and Feuerbach. It also requires some discussion of the thought of Aristotle. For the views of Feuerbach and the young Marx are (in some respects) not at all original. Rather, they represent a cont…
John Gray and the death of conservatism
Hegel and Natural Law Theory
This paper examines Hegel's attitude towards natural law theory. Commentators disagree on this. Some say that Hegel is hostile to natural law theory and that he is a legal positivist. Others say that he is in fact, a natural law theorist in the conventional sense. The paper argues that both of these interpretations are incorrect. It takes the view that Hegel is a natural law theorist, but not in the conventional sense. Like certain of the medieva…
Marxism and the Concept of A Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji
Jairus Banaji associates the concept of a social formation (involving modal combination, or the articulation of modes of production) with “vulgar Marxism.” This includes both the Marxism of the Second International and the structuralist Marxism of Louis Althusser. Banaji is critical of those Marxists who employ the concept because in his view they are insufficiently sensitive to the complexities of history. His reasons for thinking this may be su…
Alasdair MacIntyre, Utopianism, and the Politics of Social Institutions
This paper explores the relationship between two aspects of the social and political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. The first is what MacIntyre has to say about the politics of social institutions, especially the distinction which MacIntyre makes in After Virtue between practices and institutions. The second is MacIntyre’s views regarding utopianism in politics. I argue that MacIntyre’s assessment of the merits and demerits of utopianism in polit…
Capitalism, modernity and the nation state: A critique of Hannes Lacher
This article is a critique of the views of Hannes Lacher, and in particular those expounded in his Beyond Globalization: Capitalism, Territoriality and the International Relations of Modernity (2006), which was intended as a contribution to the historical materialist approach to international relations. Three core issues are addressed: namely (1) Lacher's understanding of historical materialism; (2) his understanding of the connection between cap…
Joseph Dietzgen and the History of Marxism
Joseph Dietzgen (1828–1888) had an important role in the history of Marxism. One reason for this is that he coined the phrase “dialectical materialism” — the hallmark of “orthodox” Marxism. Another reason is that at the beginning of the 20th century, in the absence of Marx’s early writings, humanist critics of “orthodox” Marxism like Anton Pannekoek appealed to Dietzgen. An understanding of Dietzgen’s thought sheds new light on our understanding …
Aquinas's Two Doctrines of Natural Law
This paper examines the role which the concept of natural law has to play in the political thought of Aquinas, as this is to be found in the Summa Theologiae. It focuses particularly on Aquinas's understanding of the relationship which exists between natural and positive law. It argues that Aquinas's views are inconsistent and that the Summa actually contains two quite different positions regarding this subject. One of these is inherited from the…
The Theoretical Underpinnings of Chicago Sociology in the 1920s and 30s
This paper looks at the work of the Chicago School in the 1920s and 1930s from the standpoint of the debate between positivism and its critics within the discipline of sociology. It is argued that, despite appearances to the contrary, Chicago sociology at this time is based on a rejection of the principles of positivism. It is an attempt to apply the principles of interpretative understanding to the practical problems of empirical research
Hegel and Natural Law Theory
This paper examines Hegel's attitude towards natural law theory. Commentators disagree on this. Some say that Hegel is hostile to natural law theory and that he is a legal positivist. Others say that he is in fact, a natural law theorist in the conventional sense. The paper argues that both of these interpretations are incorrect. It takes the view that Hegel is a natural law theorist, but not in the conventional sense. Like certain of the medieva…
The Theoretical Underpinnings of Chicago Sociology in the 1920s and 30s
This paper looks at the work of the Chicago School in the 1920s and 1930s from the standpoint of the debate between positivism and its critics within the discipline of sociology. It is argued that, despite appearances to the contrary, Chicago sociology at this time is based on a rejection of the principles of positivism. It is an attempt to apply the principles of interpretative understanding to the practical problems of empirical research
John Gray and the death of conservatism
The Hegel-Marx Connection
A major and timely re-examination of key areas in the social and political thought of Hegel and Marx. The editors' extensive introduction surveys the development of the connection from the Young Hegel
Hegel-Marx Connection
Materialism in Ancient Greek Philosophy and in the Writings of the Young Marx
What is the young Marx's attitude towards questions of psychology? More precisely, what is his attitude towards the human mind and its relationship to the body? To deal adequately with this issue requires a consideration of the relationship between Marx and Feuerbach. It also requires some discussion of the thought of Aristotle. For the views of Feuerbach and the young Marx are (in some respects) not at all original. Rather, they represent a cont…
The purloined Hegel: Semiology in the thought of Saussure and Derrida
This paper explores the thought of Hegel, Saussure and Derrida regarding the nature of the linguistic sign. It argues that Derrida is right to maintain that Hegel is an influence on Saussure. However, Derrida misrepresents both Hegel and Saussure by interpreting them as falling within the Platonic rather than the Aristotelian philosophical tradition
What is Politics? Robinson Crusoe, Deep Ecology and Immanuel Kant
This article considers the nature of politics. Robinson Crusoe is used to show that even the broadest understanding of politics found in the literature is inadequate, for the situation of Crusoe on his island is a political situation even though he is completely alone. An analogy is drawn between the deep ecological understanding of politics and the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. For Kantian ethics, also, is built on the idea of a solitary in…
Aquinas's Two Doctrines of Natural Law
This paper examines the role which the concept of natural law has to play in the political thought of Aquinas, as this is to be found in the Summa Theologiae. It focuses particularly on Aquinas's understanding of the relationship which exists between natural and positive law. It argues that Aquinas's views are inconsistent and that the Summa actually contains two quite different positions regarding this subject. One of these is inherited from the…
Recognition versus distribution: Three Works on Equality
(2001). Recognition versus distribution: Three works on equality. Contemporary Politics: Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 319-329
Joseph Dietzgen and the History of Marxism
Joseph Dietzgen (1828–1888) had an important role in the history of Marxism. One reason for this is that he coined the phrase “dialectical materialism” — the hallmark of “orthodox” Marxism. Another reason is that at the beginning of the 20th century, in the absence of Marx’s early writings, humanist critics of “orthodox” Marxism like Anton Pannekoek appealed to Dietzgen. An understanding of Dietzgen’s thought sheds new light on our understanding …
Sophocles' Antigone and the History of the Concept of Natural Law
This paper focuses on two related questions. The first of these is a general question. Where are the origins of the concept of natural law to be located in the history of political thought? The second is more specific. Sophocles puts into the mouth of the eponymous heroine of his Antigone an argument justifying her disobedience to an edict of her uncle Creon, who forbade her to bury her brother Polyneices. Does this argument involve an appeal to …
Marxism and science fiction: A celebration of the work of Ursula K. Le Guin
In 1973, the newly-established journal Science Fiction Studies published a symposium on 'Marxism and science fiction' in its very first issue. (1) Thirty years later, the newly-established journal Historical Materialism: Research in Critical Marxist Theory published a similar symposium on 'Marxism and fantasy'. (2) One of the contributors to the earlier symposium, but conspicuous by her absence in the recent one, was Ursula K. Le Guin, who will b…
Introduction to Political Theory
Capitalism, modernity and the nation state: A critique of Hannes Lacher
This article is a critique of the views of Hannes Lacher, and in particular those expounded in his Beyond Globalization: Capitalism, Territoriality and the International Relations of Modernity (2006), which was intended as a contribution to the historical materialist approach to international relations. Three core issues are addressed: namely (1) Lacher's understanding of historical materialism; (2) his understanding of the connection between cap…
Aristotle and Natural Law
Interpreting and appropriating texts in the history of political thought: Quentin Skinner and poststructuralism
Hegel and global politics: Communitarianism or cosmopolitanism
This article discusses Hegel’s views on global politics by relating them to the ‘communitarianism versus cosmopolitanism’ debate. I distinguish between three different theoretical positions and three different readings of Hegel, which I associate with the notions of ‘communitarianism’, ‘strong cosmopolitanism’ and ‘weak cosmopolitanism’, respectively. Contrary to a commonly held view that Hegel is not a cosmopolitan thinker at all, in any sense o…
Examining trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in court-mandated intimate partner violence perpetrators
There is a dearth of empirical literature characterizing the various forms of trauma experienced by men court mandated to intervention for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. We investigated the potentially traumatic events (PTEs) experienced by men (N = 217) court mandated to enroll in a 41-week group IPV perpetrator program, as well as the relationships between PTEs, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and IPV. Findings ind…
Marx, the labour theory of value and the transformation problem
This article reconsiders what Marx says about what has come to be known as the transformation problem in Chapter IX of Capital Volume III, in the light of Marx's claim, made in Capital Volume I, that the value of a commodity is determined by the socially necessary labour-time that goes into its production. I criticise the traditional way of thinking about the transformation problem, according to which what Marx is doing in Chapter IX is consideri…
Alasdair MacIntyre, Utopianism, and the Politics of Social Institutions
This paper explores the relationship between two aspects of the social and political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. The first is what MacIntyre has to say about the politics of social institutions, especially the distinction which MacIntyre makes in After Virtue between practices and institutions. The second is MacIntyre’s views regarding utopianism in politics. I argue that MacIntyre’s assessment of the merits and demerits of utopianism in polit…
Alasdair MacIntyre on the division of goods and “the corrupting power of institutions”
This paper examines the distinction between "internal goods" and "external goods" and its significance for the political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre, focusing especially on its relevance for our understanding of MacIntyre's views regarding the relationship which exists between "practices" and social "institutions. " The paper explores the origins of this distinction in the writings of Plato and Aristotle, both of whom (like MacIntyre) associate…
Marxism and the Concept of A Social Formation: An Immanent Critique of the Views of Jairus Banaji
Jairus Banaji associates the concept of a social formation (involving modal combination, or the articulation of modes of production) with “vulgar Marxism.” This includes both the Marxism of the Second International and the structuralist Marxism of Louis Althusser. Banaji is critical of those Marxists who employ the concept because in his view they are insufficiently sensitive to the complexities of history. His reasons for thinking this may be su…
Lawrence ('Larry') Wilde (1950-2022)
Marx and the Concept of a Social Formation
This paper discusses the significance of the concept of a social formation for historical materialism. It argues that the concept is wrongly thought to be associated uniquely with the writings of Louis Althusser and with structuralist Marxism. It can be found in the writings of Marx himself, as well as those of Lenin, and is central to an adequate understanding of classical Marxism. To illustrate its importance the paper shows how the concept may…
Epistemology (18 works) · Philosophy (18 works) · Law (16 works) · Sociology (16 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Political science (15 works) · Politics (14 works) · Law (13 works) · Political Economy and Marxism (10 works) · Hegelianism (7 works)