Publications by Wanpat Youngmevittaya
รัฐศาสตร์นิเทศ, 2023
This paper deals with Pridi Panomyong's Economic Plan (the PEP). Published shortly after the Siam... more This paper deals with Pridi Panomyong's Economic Plan (the PEP). Published shortly after the Siamese Revolution in March 1933, the PEP was originally attacked for its alleged Stalinism, but with the rehabilitation of Pridi from the 1980s, by both left and liberal leaning scholars, the PEP was reinterpreted as evidence of Pridi's social democracy-liberalism with the soft socialism elements. For many contemporary scholars, the PEP is not a radical plan; instead, it offers a modest economic program similar to a modern welfare state. They also believe that if the PEP had been implemented it would have realized economic justice. This paper reexamines the veracity of this perception of the PEP, and argues that the PEP is much more radical than it is now
Philosophia, 2023
The so-called liberal-communitarian debate in the 1980s was one of the most remarkable debates in... more The so-called liberal-communitarian debate in the 1980s was one of the most remarkable debates in Anglo-American political philosophy. While John Rawls was the most well-known thinker from the liberal camp, it can be said that Michael J. Sandel best represented the communitarian critique of Rawls' political theory. Nevertheless, for many scholars, especially liberal political theorists, Sandel's criticism of Rawls is misleading in many aspects due to his misunderstanding of Rawls' theory. This paper wants to reexamine this allegation against Sandel by dealing with three objections against Sandel's criticism of Rawls claiming that Sandel misreads and misunderstands Rawls. The sociology objection interprets Sandel as saying that Rawls' conception of the person reflects a sociological account of humans. The metaphysics objection interprets Sandel as saying that Rawls' conception of the person explains a metaphysical account of humans. The private morality objection interprets Sandel as saying that Rawls' conception of the person reflects a moral ideal of humans. This paper offer a careful rereading of Sandel, and argues that he does not misread or misunderstand Rawls as his critics claim. Therefore, these three objections are misleading.
Thammasat Review, 23(2), 2020
Karl Marx predicts that an advanced capitalist society would end up with class polarization betwe... more Karl Marx predicts that an advanced capitalist society would end up with class polarization between the very small number of the rich capitalist class and the very large number of the poor proletariat class. There seems to be no place for the modern middle class who sells their labours for wages or incomes but has different ways of life and a better standard of living than the working class. However, the social reality after Marx's time seems to contradict his prediction -the quite stable existence of the modern middle class makes Marx's prediction untrue. Some scholars who claim themselves as Marxists would argue that the modern middle class should be counted as the proletariat class, and so, Marx's prediction still holds in the present time. This paper argues that, according to Marx, the modern middle class cannot be counted as the proletariat class. It proposes a distinction between the proletariat class in general and the revolutionary proletariat class, in which when Marx discusses class polarization he always refers to the latter kind only. The modern middle class may be viewed as the proletariat class in general but cannot be counted as the revolutionary proletariat class because they do not have objective conditions such as collective benefits and ways of life that would allow them to develop class consciousness for a socialist revolution. The revolutionary proletariat class, according to Marx, refers only to the factory worker whose work and way of life are forced to live together and to aim for the same goala socialist revolution; they would want to destroy the alienation between the actual alienated life and the real human essence.
Thammasat Review, 22(1), 2019
Distributive justice is one of the most popular issues in the late 20th century Anglo-American an... more Distributive justice is one of the most popular issues in the late 20th century Anglo-American analytical political philosophy, at least since John Rawls' A Theory of Justice.
Journal of Social Sciences, Naresuan University, 15(1), 2019
This is a paper in political theory, aiming to reinterpret the political philosophy of Michael J.... more This is a paper in political theory, aiming to reinterpret the political philosophy of Michael J. Sandel, a prominent communitarian of our time. In contrast to the cultural relativism thesis, which holds that Sandel bases the moral judgement on any given culture/tradition of each community, and the deliberative democracy thesis, which holds that Sandel bases the moral judgement on the rational majority, I argue that Sandel's communitarianism is a virtue-based theory, addressing the critical enquiry of the teleology of the social practices in question; the moral judgement is based on the telos of the social practices in question which determines what's the right thing to do in general, while the actual identity of the person determined by the community is important as a second-order as it simply tells us who we should have a moral obligation with in particular.
Thammasat Review, 19(2), 2016
Turnout studies tackle the question, "Why do some people vote while others do not?" Anthony Downs... more Turnout studies tackle the question, "Why do some people vote while others do not?" Anthony Downs' An Economic Theory of Democracy was the first systematic attempt coping with turnout puzzles by exploiting rational choice theory (RCT). A D term or a civic duty, an important concept used by Downs, explains that people vote only if they care about democracy. There are two important questions regarding voter turnout: (1) Does RCT explain voter turnout successfully? (2) Does adding a D term mean that we no longer have a rational choice model? This paper aims to deal with the latter question only, and my main argument is that a D term makes RCT impossible because while RCT is the conception of investment, the D term is the conception of consumption. I am interested in question (2) only, therefore, even though my answer is that a D term makes RCT impossible, this does not mean that I see that RCT is successful in explaining voter turnout; in contrast, I think it is not. Apart from the discussion of a D term, I also review some RCT models which try to avoid the difficulties raised by a D term. In terms of application, I suggest that different political systems, cultures, history, and so on need different characteristics of RCT, so researchers should be aware of the limits of RCT.
Papers by Wanpat Youngmevittaya
This is a paper in normative moral philosophy, addressing the problem of the respect of persons r... more This is a paper in normative moral philosophy, addressing the problem of the respect of persons regarding the activity of criticism. The question is whether the activity of criticism should be considered a moral duty or simply a moral choice? If it is a moral duty, the further question is what, when, and how should we criticize someone if we are required by the moral law to respect persons? I discuss six potential arguments regarding this question, and argue that only one of them is satisfactory and should be set as the standard or the foundation of the morality of criticism. That is, we should criticize someone with the motive of love. I also argue that the criticism virtue would be possible only under the principle of moral particularism, in which this paper means the idea that we all have different roles in fulfilling our moral duties which are the same for everyone, and these different roles are determined by the actual identity of the person.
This article criticizes John Rawls’ conception of political liberalism, which insists that politi... more This article criticizes John Rawls’ conception of political liberalism, which insists that political sphere governed by his two principles of justice can be separated from any comprehensive moral doctrines, and that the validity of his conception of justice is political, not metaphysical nor comprehensive. I argue that Rawls’ project is flawed by showing that his two principles of justice and political liberalism are presupposed by the very comprehensive/ metaphysical doctrines which he denies. Whether he realizes it or not Rawls chooses a particular comprehensive theory of the good/person, specifically that of an unencumbered self. I discuss Rawls’ political liberalism from two points of view. First, I discuss Rawls’ political liberalism from political economy points of view, which I argue that the foundation of Rawls’ principles of justice lies in his particular theory of the person. Second, I discuss Rawls’ political liberalism from philosophical points of view, which I argues th...
Thammasat Review, 2020
Karl Marx predicts that an advanced capitalist society would end up with class polarization betwe... more Karl Marx predicts that an advanced capitalist society would end up with class polarization between the very small number of the rich capitalist class and the very large number of the poor proletariat class. There seems to be no place for the modern middle class who sells their labours for wages or incomes but has different ways of life and a better standard of living than the working class. However, the social reality after Marx's time seems to contradict his prediction – the quite stable existence of the modern middle class makes Marx's prediction untrue. Some scholars who claim themselves as Marxists would argue that the modern middle class should be counted as the proletariat class, and so, Marx's prediction still holds in the present time. This paper argues that, according to Marx, the modern middle class cannot be counted as the proletariat class. It proposes a distinction between the proletariat class in general and the revolutionary proletariat class, in which wh...
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Publications by Wanpat Youngmevittaya
Papers by Wanpat Youngmevittaya