A broad definition of agential power. Issue 1 (2nd January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gilabert, Pablo
• Is Part Of: Journal of political power. Volume 11:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 79
• Page End: 92
• Publication Date: 2018-01-02
• Subjects: Power -- agential power -- noumenal power -- critical theory -- Rainer Forst; Power (Social sciences) -- Periodicals; Power (Philosophy) -- Periodicals; 303.305
• DOI: 10.1080/2158379X.2018.1433758
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2158-379X

Abstract

Abstract: Can we develop a definition of power that is satisfactorily determinate but also enables rather than foreclose important substantive scientific and normative debates about social and political life? I present a broad definition according to which agents have power with respect to a certain outcome (including, inter alia, the shaping of certain social relations) to the extent that they can voluntarily determine whether that outcome occurs. This simple definition generates a surprisingly complex agenda for substantive descriptive and normative inquiry. The proposed definition is partly developed through a critical engagement with Rainer Forst's important recent account of 'noumenal power.'