Filosofie & Praktijk - Volume 44, Issue 1, 2023

Abstract Contrary to the received view that the success of neoliberalism was mainly the result of a radical change in the economic policy of Western welfare states in the seventies and eighties of the 20th century, this success can be understood as the product of a long-term, slow, and largely unwitnessed cultural transformation. In this process the homo ludens of the counterculture of the sixties gradually changed into t Read More

Abstract In 1937 the Dutch publicist Menno ter Braak wrote a landmark article about national socialism (recently translated in English: “National Socialism as a Doctrine of Rancour1”). The recent republication of his article in the Netherlands stimulated a debate about the democratic credentials of Ter Braak. Contrary to what most commentators claim, Sjaak Koenis argues that even though Ter Braak was under the infl Read More

Abstract In 2021 the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Academie van Wetenschappen, KNAW) published the report “Academic Freedom in the Netherlands”. That report explicitly creates room for ideological limitations on academic freedom. I argue that this is at odds with the critical nature of science. Ideological limitations at the academy can foster a culture of (self)censorship. Not just among in Read More

Abstract The verdict in the court case against the Dutch state in order to decriminalise assisted suicide for people who wish to end their lives, is no surprise. The practical realization of the right to self-determination over one’s end of life, including the right to be able to receive or provide any necessary assistance, is only possible when accompanied by an awareness of a duty to use that right responsibly. Removing the penaliza Read More