RUcore: Rutgers University Community Repository
Dystopophobia: aversion to the worst in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, Edmund Burke, and Karl Popper
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
Dystopophobia: aversion to the worst in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, Edmund Burke, and Karl Popper
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Richards
NamePart
(type = given)
Michael A.
NamePart
(type = date)
1986-
DisplayForm
Michael A. Richards
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
author
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Murphy
NamePart
(type = given)
Andrew R
DisplayForm
Andrew R Murphy
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
chair
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Bathory
NamePart
(type = given)
Dennis
DisplayForm
Dennis Bathory
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Miller
NamePart
(type = given)
Lisa
DisplayForm
Lisa Miller
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
NamePart
(type = family)
Haddock
NamePart
(type = given)
Bruce
DisplayForm
Bruce Haddock
Affiliation
Advisory Committee
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
outside member
Name
(type = corporate)
NamePart
Rutgers University
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name
(type = corporate)
NamePart
School of Graduate Studies
Role
RoleTerm
(authority = RULIB)
school
TypeOfResource
Text
Genre
(authority = marcgt)
theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(keyDate = yes);
(qualifier = exact)
2019
DateOther
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact);
(type = degree)
2019-10
CopyrightDate
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact)
2019
Language
LanguageTerm
(authority = ISO 639-3:2007);
(type = text)
English
Abstract
(type = abstract)
Political theorists generally proceed by proposing ideal principles and utopian visions for society. Against this prevailing trend, this dissertation explores the possibility of political theory oriented around avoiding dystopia. Through an analysis of Thomas Hobbes, Edmund Burke, and Karl Popper – three Anglophone political theorists whose political theory shares an “aversional” quality – this dissertation asks, what in the moral, social, and political theory of these three thinkers explains and justifies their emphasis upon avoiding bad outcomes and human misery, rather than searching for ideals of justice and utopia? What philosophical and political beliefs, concepts, or strings of argument shared by these thinkers make their theories effectively focused upon avoiding bad outcomes? This dissertation sketches a dystopophobic family resemblance shared between the three. At the core of this resemblance is the identification of an asymmetry between goodness and badness, and a conceptualization of political matters operating at two levels: 1) at level of society and the structures and institutions that organize society to avoid dystopia; and, 2) the level of the individual within society whose life can go better or worse. This bifurcation manifests in a tension between the emancipatory urge to improve the condition of the worst off in society with a conservative eye still firmly fixed on protecting the stabilizing elements in the polity that protect against dystopian political disintegration.
Subject
(authority = LCSH)
Topic
Dystopias -- Philosophy
Subject
(authority = RUETD)
Topic
Political Science
RelatedItem
(type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
(type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_10238
PhysicalDescription
Form
(authority = gmd)
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (ix, 355 pages)
Note
(type = degree)
Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
RelatedItem
(type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
(type = local)
rucore10001600001
Location
PhysicalLocation
(authority = marcorg);
(displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
NjNbRU
Identifier
(type = doi)
doi:10.7282/t3-y8ve-pj68
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
Back to the top
Rights
RightsDeclaration
(ID = rulibRdec0006)
The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
(type = personal)
Name
FamilyName
Richards
GivenName
Michael
Role
Copyright Holder
RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact);
(point = start)
2019-09-12 18:19:17
AssociatedEntity
Name
Michael Richards
Role
Copyright holder
Affiliation
Rutgers University. School of Graduate Studies
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
Back to the top
Technical
RULTechMD
(ID = TECHNICAL1)
ContentModel
ETD
OperatingSystem
(VERSION = 5.1)
windows xp
CreatingApplication
Version
1.3
ApplicationName
macOS Version 10.14.6 (Build 18G95) Quartz PDFContext
DateCreated
(point = end);
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact)
2019-09-23T18:14:15
DateCreated
(point = end);
(encoding = w3cdtf);
(qualifier = exact)
2019-09-23T18:14:15
Back to the top
Statistical Profile