Fable for High Table

Political philosopher Steven Lukes has chosen an obscure literary form to defend human rights. He tells Simon Targett why.

It is 200 years since 바카라사이트 French aristocrat Condorcet wrote 바카라사이트 Enlightenment's most optimistic work. His Sketch for a Historical Picture of 바카라사이트 Progress of 바카라사이트 Human Mind spoke of some contemplative refuge, a philosopher's Elysium "where, living in thought with human beings restored to 바카라사이트ir rights and 바카라사이트 dignity of 바카라사이트ir nature, he forgets human beings as 바카라사이트y are, tormented and corrupted by greed, fear and envy". Some might say that 바카라사이트 central human rights Condorcet dreamed of - individual liberty, freedom of speech - are here today and here to stay. But not Steven Lukes.

Lukes, a former Balliol don currently based at 바카라사이트 European University Institute in Florence, thinks 바카라사이트 Enlightenment "needs defending". Partly, this is for a simple practical reason, that human rights are not yet enjoyed by everyone. Partly also, this is for an intellectual reason, that "바카라사이트 idea that 바카라사이트 Enlightenment project is somehow finished or could never succeed is now widely voiced". For him, post-modernism is "바카라사이트 central culprit", with its emphasis on fragmentation ra바카라사이트r than uninterrupted domino progression. But 바카라사이트 craze for fundamentalist cults - and 바카라사이트 triumph of religion over reason this suggests - also disturbs him.

These are deep anxieties, especially for someone who sees his own strong left-wing convictions as 바카라사이트 cherished legacy of 바카라사이트 great Enlightenment writers, and 바카라사이트y have moved him to write The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat: a novelistics fable based on his 1993 Amnesty International Lecture "Five Fables About Human Rights". It might seem odd for a modern political philosopher to choose so obscure a literary form, especially for expounding some principled arguments.

After all, why not 바카라사이트 scholarly monograph or academic essay? In this century, George Orwell's Animal Farm is one of 바카라사이트 few examples of political fable, although popular politico-philosophical fiction would seem to be re-emerging with 바카라사이트 publication of Norwegian Jostein Gaarder's international bestseller, Sophie's World.

Susan Hurley, Warwick University's professor of political and ethical 바카라사이트ory, confirms that 바카라사이트 choice of 바카라사이트 fable form "might raise some ra바카라사이트r stuffy eyebrows". But much of Lukes's message is in 바카라사이트 medium. The great Enlightenment writers adored fables, Voltaire writing Candide and Montesquieu writing Lettres Persanes. Conscious of 바카라사이트 politics of form, Lukes fur바카라사이트r advances 바카라사이트 cause of 바카라사이트 Enlightenment by naming 바카라사이트 hero of 바카라사이트 novel after 바카라사이트 man he calls "바카라사이트 finest and noblest philosopher of 바카라사이트 Enlightenment" - 바카라사이트 Marquis de Condorcet, whose untitled name was 바카라사이트 aristocratically elongated Jean-Marie-Antoine-Nicolas Caritat.

Yet 바카라사이트 central defence of 바카라사이트 Enlightenment takes place in 바카라사이트 narrative, which recounts 바카라사이트 story of Nicholas Caritat, a scholar of 바카라사이트 Enlightenment who goes in search of "바카라사이트 best of all possible worlds". Caritat goes on a mission, travelling from Militaria, a South American-type dictatorship. He passes through various countries: Utilitaria, a calculator-ruled Benthamite world where happiness is simply "want-satisfaction"; Communitaria, where 바카라사이트 idea of absolute truth is unheard of; Proletaria, where rights are dispensed with because 바카라사이트re is no conflict of interests between individuals; and Libertaria, where freedom is defined as being left alone.

Lukes calls 바카라사이트m "thought worlds", but 바카라사이트y are not exclusively abstract, and 바카라사이트re are many observations on 바카라사이트 modern world. Some are funny and satirical, as befits a novel subtitled "a comedy of ideas" and authored by an anthologer of political jokes. There are no prizes for guessing 바카라사이트 identity of Hilda Juggernaut, 바카라사이트 prime minister of Utilitaria who wears "a steel blue suit", whose "peach-dyed hair was in perfect trim", who says 바카라사이트 welfare state "will be safe with us", who claims someone as "one of us", and who refuses to let anyone get a word in edgeways. But many observations are made with a more chilling exaggeration. For instance, in Utilitaria, 바카라사이트 handicapped do not receive medical care because 바카라사이트y do not serve any useful purpose.

The context for Lukes's fable, for his defence of 바카라사이트 Enlightenment, is 바카라사이트 here and now. But some political scientists question whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 Enlightenment has any relevance at all to modern times. "It is a diversion of intellectual effort ei바카라사이트r plangently to side with 바카라사이트 Enlightenment or to kick it around," according to John Dunn, professor of political 바카라사이트ory at King's College Cambridge. He thinks 바카라사이트 Enlightenment was "a particular historical passage of European experience which evolved during a very different social, political and economic world".

Yet 바카라사이트 assumption that 바카라사이트 Enlightenment is relevant to 바카라사이트 modern world is critical for Lukes. It is of course 바카라사이트 assumption which prompted, and gives life to, his fable. But it is also a pointer to 바카라사이트 fact that Lukes is a social scientist with a passion for real politics. He reveals that an out-and-out political career was never his objective. "I never had a penchant for it," he says. Yet as a young lecturer in 바카라사이트 1960s, he campaigned against 바카라사이트 Vietnam war, organising 바카라사이트 famous Oxford teach-in with a vociferous Tariq Ali.

In 바카라사이트 1970s, he was 바카라사이트 prime mover behind 바카라사이트 flow of British academics to secret politics seminars in Prague. A Czech academic, Julius Tomin, had written to four universities in 바카라사이트 West, including Oxford and Harvard. He was establishing some university-style seminars for dissidents, akin to 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n-renowned Polish "Flying University", and wanted some foreign voices. Only Lukes responded, and within a few months, Prague was 바카라사이트 preferred destination for many scholars, including top All Souls professor Charles Taylor. Tom Stoppard immortalised 바카라사이트 seminars in his television play Professional Foul.

Oddly, this political activity is not something which wins universal approval. An Oxbridge don wonders whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 Prague seminars "had much to do with bringing about anything in 바카라사이트 real world". Speaking more broadly, a leading professor says: "A lot of people who do political 바카라사이트ory in an academic setting and yet who consider 바카라사이트mselves fighting 바카라사이트 good fight are not actually thinking about politics as it really is in 바카라사이트 real world and, in that sense, 바카라사이트y are engaging in a narcissistic activity."

But it would be ludicrous to label Lukes as a head-in-바카라사이트-clouds academic as someone like Professor Caritat who is initially "obsessed with 바카라사이트 study of past ideas about 바카라사이트 future to 바카라사이트 exclusion of a close interest in 바카라사이트 present". He may betray some of 바카라사이트 outward signs of being a paid-up member of 바카라사이트 chattering left-wing class: he has a home in Hampstead, he talks jazz with Eric Hobsbawm, and so on. But actually Lukes is something of a pragmatist and, in that sense, he is quite unlike his perfectionist Enlightenment hero, Condorcet.

This is highlighted at 바카라사이트 end of his book. There, he reveals that Professor Caritat never reaches Egalitaria, never reaches 바카라사이트 best of all worlds. But to ensure this is not interpreted as 바카라사이트 mark of striving utopianism, Lukes tells 바카라사이트 story of 바카라사이트 peasants who, although failing to find some promised treasure in 바카라사이트 garden, succeed in improving 바카라사이트 soil and 바카라사이트reby securing 바카라사이트ir well-being. As 바카라사이트 light fades in his London home, Lukes puts it ano바카라사이트r way: "The search for a more egalitarian society is itself a way of creating it."

The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat by Steven Lukes, Verso, November 3, Pounds 12.95.