Two Types of Power

Åsa Burman (Stockholm University, Institute for Futures Studies)

The Collective Ethics Seminar: Online Presentation – 15 December 2025 – 15.15 – 16.45 CET / 09.15 – 10.45 EST


Åsa Burman – Two Types of Power

On Monday 15 December 2025, Åsa Burman (Stockholm University) will give a presentation in the Collective Ethics Seminar entitled ‘Two Types of Power’.


Abstract: Power is central to the social sciences and the humanities (cf. political science, sociology, and women’s studies) and to understanding the political sphere. However, despite its significance, it has not been considered a central concept in analytical philosophy. To overcome this shortcoming, I turn to contemporary social ontology, where the concept of power is gaining attention. 

I identify and define two types of power: deontic and telic. Deontic power is roughly our institutional rights (positive deontic powers) and obligations (negative deontic powers), and they have to do with what we can demand of each other. By contrast, telic powers are about ideals or standards that we (sometimes) try to live up to and that we hold ourselves and other agents responsive to. Positive telic power is about being perceived as an exemplar of a kind, as a woman or citizen, i.e. as fulfilling the ideal. Negative telic power is about being perceived as failing to live up to the ideal, i.e. being perceived by other agents as substandard in relation to the ideal. 

Deontic power and telic power can both conflict with and reinforce one another. I turn to the political sphere and illustrate this by using the right to vote as a historical example. More specifically, I use Charles Mills’s critique of Immanuel Kant’s work and especially the notion of a ”sub-person” to show that a fruitful way of understanding the historical lack of voting rights (a positive deontic power) for some people, such as say women and non-whites, were that they were viewed as substandard with respect to the ideal of personhood (a negative telic power). 

The online seminar is open for all to attend. The session starts at 15.15 CET / 09.15 EST. You can join the session via the following link: https://univienna.zoom.us/j/62736288881?pwd=SndEdTNoNlZtSzJqcmpabm5NaWIyUT09


For more information about the seminar, please see https://social.univie.ac.at/events/collective-ethics-seminar/. We hope to see you at the seminar!


Kind regards,


Gunnar Björnsson (Stockholm University), Olle Blomberg (University of Gothenburg), and Niels de Haan (University of Vienna)