Power and domination

The ‘power debate’ raises hard questions to which the recent ‘domination debate’ among philosophers embracing neorepublicanism contributes. Concerning agents and structures, the neorepublican focus on dominators’ wills needs broadening, replacing intentions with interests, since their power can be routine and unconsidered, and extend across generations. Neorepublicans see domination as a potential rendering others vulnerable; here the view needs to be narrowed to specify which potential dangers are relevant. There is no convincing way of determining what counts as dominating power that does not derive from one or another moral and political standpoint. These hard questions are and must remain open.