William E. Connolly's politics of complexity: a critique

Fear, Christopher

Abstract

Copyright © University of Notre Dame 2017. In recent years, William E. Connolly has argued that the phenomenon of complexity in the physical sciences carries radical implications for political theory: namely, that political theorists should now be revising their concepts of agency, responsibility, and freedom. This very recent project of Connolly's has not (yet) attracted much opposition. Here I offer a critique of Connolly's argument which focuses on three key areas: (1) how he interprets and deploys evidence from physical science; (2) his theory of creative freedom; and (3) the impact that his recent philosophy has on the idea of the intellect. I argue that Connolly's scientific evidence is not what he claims it is; that the theory of creative freedom he offers fails; and that his critique of the intellect fails in theory, and would be highly damaging in practice.

Citation

Fear, C. (2017). William E. Connolly's politics of complexity: a critique. Review of Politics, 79(1), 73-98. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670516000735

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 23, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Jan 9, 2017
• Publication Date: 2017
• Deposit Date: Jul 16, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 27, 2022
• Journal: Review of Politics
• Print ISSN: 0034-6705
• Electronic ISSN: 1748-6858
• Publisher: University of Notre Dame
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 79
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 73-98
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670516000735
• Keywords: Political Science and International Relations; Sociology and Political Science
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/2193689
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/review-of-politics/article/william-e-connollys-politics-of-complexity-a-critique/EA1448AAB2BA4E355FCF3F06DA25F13B
• Additional Information: This article has been published in a revised form in Review of politics ; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S003467051600073. This version is published under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND. No commercial re-distribution or re-use allowed. Derivative works cannot be distributed. © copyright holder.