Dr. Pierre-Albert Buhlmann | Associated Researcher
Former Member
Home Institution
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Uni Toulouse
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Position
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Associated research fellow
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Disciplines
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Philosophy
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Biography
Pierre Buhlmann is postdoctoral research fellow (funded by the DAAD) at the Centre for Philosophy of Law (CPDR) of the Catholic University Louvain, and an associated research fellow of the research group ERRAPHIS/TRANSMIS at the University Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. His work is situated in social and moral philosophy, and focuses on the problems of the ethical constitution of subjectivity and on the analysis of the dynamics of collective action.
The impossible realisation of a moral system. On the modern problem of ethical substance
My research project, that is situated in the field of social ontology, aims to elaborate an ethical theory of collective and social agency, yet one that is neither normatively nor coercively founded. Such an objective demands a two-fold procedure that consists, firstly, in problematizing the modern idea of an 'ethically substantial community', and, secondly, in putting forward a critical notion of community, which takes its political perils into account. The very ambiguity of the modern concept of community, already present in Kant’s attempt to formulate a universal ethical system (System des Sittlichen), can indeed be seen as the birthmark of critical philosophy.
This research project will therefore focus on two key moments within the critical discussion of this Kantian problem, namely Hegel’s concept of ethicity (Sittlichkeit) and Foucault’s conception of governmentality (gouvernementalité). In order to conceive a Foucauldian theory of social agency, these analyses will then be discussed in light of contemporary decolonial feminist social theories. By analysing the different conceptual conditions for critical social practices, this project will provide the theoretical toolkit necessary to conceive new possibilities of collective responsibility.
Hence, the research on the constitution of collective legitimacy can serve to better understand how to conceive and even spark processes of social change through the immanent critique of social institutions, practices of collective agency, as well as the implementation of new forms of mutual cooperation. In this way, this project aims to provide us with the first elements of a critical ontology of a non-ostracising social community: a human community constituted by non-repressive forms of socialisation. These theoretical tools are a vital contribution to contemporary social theory, because they can be used to address the threats that liberal democracies face today, such as populism and “migration crises”.
Publications
Scientific Articles
- Buhlmann, Pierre, “Conocer lo incognoscible. Adorno y la verdad filosófica de la experiencia estética” (“Knowing the unknowable. Adorno and the Philosophical Truth of Aesthetic Experience”), in: Buhlmann, Pierre & Pineda Canabal, Anibal (ed.), Estética y teoría crítica – Aesthetics and Critical Theory, Medellín: Revista Estudios de Filosofía, Universidad de Antioquia, n° 02/2023 (in preparation);
- Buhlmann, Pierre, „Von einigen Nervenpunkten des Denkens auf Freiheit und den letzten Schlupfwinkeln des Widerstands – Einige Bemerkungen zur praktischen Philosophie Theodor W. Adornos“, in: Bonamigo, Juliano, Buhlmann, Pierre, Nolz, Philipp, Kobakhidze, Giorgi (ed.), Kritische Theorie heute, Revue AUC Interpretationes, Prague, Vol. IX, Nr. 2/2019, Prag, S. 104-122.
Articles in Anthologies
- Buhlmann, Pierre, “Der Unmöglichkeit eines richtigen Lebens zum Trotz – Zum Motiv des Glücks in der Minima Moralia” (“Despite the Impossibility of the Right Life – On the Motive of Happiness in Minima Moralia”), in: Buhlmann, Pierre, Klass, Tobias Nikolaus, Nolz, Philipp, Zellini, Susanna (ed.), Aktualitäten und Bruchstücke – Adornos Minima Moralia, noch einmal, Vienna: Turia+Kant (in preparation);
- Bonamigo, Juliano, Buhlmann, Pierre, Nolz, Philipp, Kobakhidze, Giorgi, „Vorwort“ („Preface”), in: Bonamigo, Juliano, Buhlmann, Pierre, Nolz, Philipp, Kobakhidze, Giorgi (ed.), Kritische Theorie heute, Revue Interpretationes, Prague, Vol. IX, Nr. 2/2019, pp. 9-13;
- Buhlmann, Pierre, „Neuentdeckung des Körpers – Foucaults Moderne, zwischen Klinik und Politik“ („Rediscovery of the body – Foucault’s Modernity, between Clinics and Politics“), in: Drews, Ann-Cathrin & Martin, Katharina D. (ed.), Innen – Außen – Anders, Körper im Werk von Gilles Deleuze und Michel Foucault, Bielefeld: Transcript (2017), pp. 239-256.
Dictionary entries
- Article „L’histoire de la sexualité 3. Le souci de soi“ („The History of Sexuality, Vol. 3. The Care of the Self“), in: De Salies, Fabrice (ed.), Dictionnaire Foucault. Paris: Laffont (in print);
- Article „L’histoire de la sexualité 2. L’usage des plaisirs“ („The History of Sexuality, Vol. 2. The Use of Pleasure“), in: De Salies, Fabrice (ed.), Dictionnaire Foucault. Paris: Laffont (in print);
- Article „Subjectivité et vérité. Cours au Collège de France 1980-1981“ („Subjectivity and Truth. Lectures at the Collège de France, 1980-1981“), in: De Salies, Fabrice (ed.), Dictionnaire Foucault. Paris: Laffont (in print)
Reviews
- „Les aveux de la chair et l’expérience fondamentale du sujet moderne. Un premier commentaire du dernier tome de l’Histoire de la sexualité de M. Foucault“ („The Confessions of the Flesh and the fundamental experience of the modern subject. A first commentary on the ultimate volume of The History of the Sexuality by M. Foucault“), in: Implications philosophiques (ISSN: 2105-0864).
Editorial work
- Buhlmann, Pierre & Pineda Canabal, Anibal (ed.), Estética y teoría crítica – Aesthetics and Critical Theory, Medellín: Revista Estudios de Filosofía, Universidad de Antioquia, n° 02/2023 (in preparation);
- Buhlmann, Pierre, Klass, Tobias Nikolaus, Nolz, Philipp, Zellini, Susanna (ed.), Aktualitäten und Bruchstücke – Adornos Minima Moralia, noch einmal, Vienna: Turia+Kant (in preparation);
- Goddard, Jean-Christophe, Maesschalck, Marc, Buhlmann, Pierre, Held, Lukas (ed.), Fichte et Schelling : l’idéalisme en débat – Fichte und Schelling : derIdealismus in der Diskussion. Conférences plénières – Plenarvorträge, Toulouse : Éditions EuroPhilosophie (2020);
- Bonamigo, Juliano, Buhlmann, Pierre, Nolz, Philipp, Kobakhidze, Giorgi (ed.), Kritische Theorie heute, Revue AUC Interpretationes, Prague, Vol. IX, Nr. 2/2019.