政哲茶記 The Political Philosophy Cha Chaan Teng

常言道民主係人民作主，咁邊個係「人民」（demos）嘅一分子，點樣決定邊個有權參與民主政治？今集探討呢個較少討論但係同等重要嘅問題——民主的邊界問題（boundary problem of democracy），介紹兩個比較多人提倡嘅解答：「受影響者原則」（all affected principle）以及「受支配者原則」（all subjected principle）。

If democracy is rule by the people, then how do we decide who is a member of "the people" and gets included in the democratic process? This episode discusses the so-called "boundary problem of democracy" and two of its most common solutions, namely the all affected principle and the all subjected principle.

延伸閱讀 Further Reading：

Abizadeh, A. (2008). Democratic Theory and Border Coercion: No Right to Unilaterally Control Your Own Borders: No Right to Unilaterally Control Your Own Borders. Political Theory, 36(1), 37–65.

Song, S. (2012). The Boundary Problem in Democratic Theory: Why the Demos Should Be Bounded by the State. International Theory, 4(1), 39–68.

最近令人發指嘅虐待動物案件，再度引起大眾對動物福利與權益嘅關注。今集會介紹 Peter Singer 嘅名著《Animal Liberation》，以及 Sue Donaldson 同 Will Kymlicka 合著嘅《Zoopolis》，講吓前者點樣從效益主義（utilitarianism）提倡動物權益，以及後者點樣提倡所謂「動物公民權」（animal citizenship）嘅概念，認為同我哋同住嘅動物應該享有某種基本公民權利。

Recent incidents of animal cruelty sparks fresh debates on animal welfare and rights. This episode introduces two important books on the topic, namely Peter Singer's Animal Liberation, as well as Zoopolis co-written by Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka. We discuss how Singer proposes a utilitarian defence of animal liberation, and then explains how Donaldson and Kymlicka argue for animal citizenship, especially those who live in our midst.

參考書目 References：

Singer, Peter. Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals. HarperCollins, 1975.

Donaldson, Sue and Will Kymlicka. Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights. Oxford University Press, 2011.

購書連結（Amazon）：https://a.co/d/07ktKU0O

當人工智能發展得越來越強大，會唔會有一日 AI 會可以解決現今民主制度嘅種種弊端，令民主更加強大？今集會同旅加社會學學者鄒崇銘博士傾吓佢最新嘅政治科學小說《Demotopia》，探討「算式民主」、離散群體政治參與，以及民主嘅未來等等嘅議題。

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more and more powerful day by day, will AI be the panacea for the current flaws of our democratic systems? In this episode, Dr Sung Ming Chow, Canada-based sociologist and author of "political science fiction" Demotopia, shares his thoughts on "algorithmic democracy", political participation of diasporas, and the future of democracy.

今集有幸請來《Postcolonial Global Justice》一書作者、政治理論學者 Dr Shuk Ying Chan，討論全球正義（global justice）同解殖理論（postcolonial theory），思考點解今時今日嘅國際秩序仍然有嚴重不平等，同埋一個更合乎正義嘅國際秩序會係點樣。

Very pleased to have Dr Shuk Ying Chan, political theorist and author of Postcolonial Global Justice, to share her views on global justice and postcolonialism. We will discuss how the global order right now is still highly unequal, and what a more just global order will look like.

參考書目 References：

Chan, Shuk Ying. Postcolonial Global Justice. Princeton University Press, 2025.

上集提到德國大哲哈伯馬斯嘅溝通理性和商議式民主等概念，今集講吓近年Google DeepMind進行嘅「哈伯馬斯機器」（Habermas Machine）研究，測試生成式 AI 可唔可以令選民更能進行理性討論，凝聚共識，從而反思 AI 與民主嘅關係。

Continuing last episode's introduction the late Jürgen Habermas and his theory of deliberative democracy, this episode discusses Google DeepMind's intriguing experiment on the "Habermas Machine", a generative AI that aims to facilitate rational deliberation and consensus building. From this, this episode also reflects on the relationship between AI and democracy.

參考書目 References：

Tessler, M. H. et al. (2024) "AI can help humans find common groundin democratic deliberation." Science 386:289.

Volpe, Alessandro. "Toward an artificial deliberation? On Google DeepMind’s Habermas Machine." Ethics and Information Technology 27:45.

李立峯。〈AI可以促進公共討論？ 談「哈伯馬斯機器」〉，《明報》，2026年3月12日，http://reurl.cc/K2jvRq。

鄒崇銘。〈哈伯馬斯機器、公共領域與人類的可能〉，棱角媒體，2026年3月16日，https://points-media.com/%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB/%E3%80%90%E9%84%92%E5%B4%87%E9%8A%98%E3%80%91%E5%93%88%E4%BC%AF%E9%A6%AC%E6%96%AF%E6%A9%9F%E5%99%A8%E3%80%81%E5%85%AC%E5%85%B1%E9%A0%98%E5%9F%9F%E8%88%87%E4%BA%BA%E9%A1%9E%E7%9A%84%E5%8F%AF%E8%83%BD/。

2026年3月14日，德國哲學大師哈伯馬斯（Jurgen Habermas）逝世，享耆壽96歲。今集簡單介紹哈伯馬斯在政治哲學方面的理論貢獻，包括溝通理性和商議式民主等等的概念。

On 14 March 2026, German philosopher Jurgen Habermas passed away at the age of 96. This episode is dedicated to introducing some of Habermas's main contributions in political philosophy, such as communicative ethics and his work on deliberative democracy.

今集淺談義戰論（ Just War Theory）同關於人道干預（ humanitarian intervention）嘅政治哲學討論。究竟戰爭咩情況先合乎正義？咩情況之下先可以用軍事手段干預另一個國家？如果一個國家嘅動機不純，咁又有冇問題呢？今集嘅討論會集中喺義戰論嘅經典著作，Michael Walzer嘅《Just and Unjust Wars》。

Today's episode discusses Just War Theory especially in relation to the topic of humanitarian intervention. What are the conditions of a just war? When can a country legitimately intervene militarily into another country? What if a country's intentions and motives are "impure"? We will discuss all these with reference to Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars, a classic on the topic.

參考書目 References：

Walzer, Michael. Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. Basic Books, 1977.

Tan, Kok-chor. What Is This Thing Called Global Justice? Routledge, 2017.

（警告：內含劇透）作為2025年最後一集，今集決定講吓最近大熱嘅《優獸大都會》（Zootopia），但係唔講尼克同茱迪嘅愛情（？），而係講吓電影嘅政治意涵！兩齣電影似乎都係想講Zootopia 優獸市表面上係動物共融嘅烏托邦，但係事實又係點呢？究竟電影想帶出咩訊息？

(Spoiler alert) As the final episode of 2025, this episode talks about something more light-hearted: Zootopia! On its surface, Zootopia 1 and 2 seem to be about Judy and Nick solving crimes in the animal metropolis, but what are the political messages embedded in the movies? Is Zootopia a real Utopia for all animals regardless of species?

參考書目 References：

Chew, Kevin. “On war and cuteness: the utopian politics of Disney’s Zootopia.” Screen 60, no. 4 (2019): 567–586.

大埔火災令人痛心，亦令人意識到，無論人如何努力，世界其實從來都係冇辦法受完全控制，總有一啲無法預料無法想像嘅天災人禍隨時降臨。今集介紹德國哲學家 Hartmut Rosa 嘅著作《世界的不可控性》(The Uncontrollability of the World），現代文明總係想「征服」不可控嘅世界，但係咁樣只會令人與世界產生疏離，亦令世界變得更不受控。所以 Rosa 認為，人應該嘗試同世界重新建立互相共鳴（resonance）嘅關係。

The heartbreaking blaze at Tai Po reminds everyone that despite our best efforts, the world is inherently uncontrollable. German philosopher Hartmut Rosa's The Uncontrollability of the World contends that modernity's urge to control the uncontrollable world creates radical alienation and makes the world even more uncontrollable. Hence, Rosa thinks we should aim to establish a relation of resonance with the world.

參考書目 References：

Rosa, Hartmut. The Uncontrollability of the World. Translated by James C. Wagner. Polity Press, 2020.

成日話民粹主義興起，咁究竟民粹主義係乜嘢？今日會參考三個不同嘅理論角度，嘗試定義民粹主義，睇吓點解好似好多人會擔心民粹主義抬頭，但係又有人會覺得民粹主義先係真正嘅民主。

We often hear people talk about populism and that it is threatening liberal democracy. What is populism actually? Today we are going to discuss three theoretical attempts (Mudde, Weyland, and Ostiguy) to conceptualise populism.

參考書目 References：

Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristóbal and others (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Populism. Oxford University Press, 2017.