Respect and Power: The Foundations of Critical Ethics and Politics

This book presents a historically informed, theoretically systematic, and critically articulated theory of respect that challenges many of the presuppositions of the current debate in ethics and politics. It develops a theory of respect as the rule of power relations, which draws connections between Kant’s critical philosophy and Critical Theory.

The concept of respect is the foundation of normative theory. Any human practice is subject to a judgment in terms of respect, and a comprehensive theory is needed to critically assess our individual and social practices. This book elaborates an uncommon understanding of respect through a historical reconstruction of the practices of respect and a theoretical analysis of the limits of current theories of respect. Power is the fundamental force at work in social relations, and respect is the recognition of power with a critical stance that defines how power is to be used and regulated. A close confrontation with Hannah Arendt’s and Michel Foucault’s conceptions of power offers the opportunity to clarify in which sense respect is the rule of power relations. This also helps to overcome the anthropocentric bias inherent in many theories of respect. It is important to recognize that living beings and nature possess power, and that we must acknowledge this and understand the limitations of our power over them.

Respect and Power will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in moral and political philosophy, political theory, critical theory, and the social sciences.

Roberto Mordacci is Full Professor of Moral Philosophy at San Raffaele University, Milan. His research areas are the philosophy of history (postmodernism, utopia), normative ethics (respect, moral reasons) and critical theory. Among his recent books are Critica e utopia (2023) and La condizione neomoderna (2017).