Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy
Lecture 1
Theory depends on research aim → research question
1. Descriptive, what are the facts?
- Concepts, typologies
2. Explanatory, why these facts?
- Causal / interpretative framework
3. Evaluative , are they good/bad?
- Normative framework (criteria)
4. Predictive, what will/would happen?
- Predictive model
5. Prescriptive, what should be done?
- Action theory
Objection
- Normative theory… isn’t that just a matter of personal opinion?
- Isn't science about facts rather than values? (=positivism)
- So what is the status of normative theory? Avoid two extremes
o Dogmatism
→ truth is objective, given and it is evident, obvious, known
o Subjectivism/extreme relativism
→ truth is subjective, depends on preference
→ truth is relative, depends on context/culture
o Constructivism (middle road between these two extremes)
Constructivism: most common approach today
1. Start at “more or less universal intuitions”
2. Define the underlying values
3. Formulate principles
4. Translate into practical judgements
5. Adjust until a “reflective equilibrium”: tensions between 1-2-3-4 resolved
1
,Any limits to normative theory
- You cannot get anywhere from nowhere
- Very basic agreement on intuitions (fundamentals) is needed
- There will always remain “reasonable disagreement”
- Normative theories are “proposals” or “invitations” for debate
Moral (= ethics) - Political Philosophy
- Moral philosophy is about ethics
o about personal conduct
o how to act / be morally just?
- Political philosophy
o about institutional conduct
o what would be a just constitution?
- But often difficult to separate
- Critique of ‘political realism’
o Political philosophy is too moralistic. It should not be ‘applied ethics’, but a-moral.
Position of political theory (Dryzek 2011)
2
,A story of expansion
- 1940-60s
o Emigre philosophers
→ Arendt, strauss, Voegelin
o vs technically competent barbarians
→ totalitarianism
→ positivist social scientists
- 1971
o Rawls and followers
o vs critics
→ libertarians (Nozick)
→ communitarians (Sandel, Taylor)
→ republicans (Pettit)
- 1970-80s
o Anglo-Americans
→ analytical liberals
o vs Continental-Europeans
→ post-structuralists (Foucault)
→ critical theorists (Habermans)
→ (analytical) socialists (G.A. Cohen)
- 1990-00s
o The West
o vs The Rest
→ The Global Turn (Dryzek)
→ radical critics from left and right: Geen/Black/queer, neofascism etc.
PTH and ideology: 4 options
3
, PTH and ideology: 6 differences
Ideology vs Political theory
1. Public vs semi-private
2. Developed by groups vs individual thinkers
3. Active use of emotions vs rational and reflective
4. Opaque and ambiguous vs openly and clear
5. Unintended meanings matter too vs do not matter
6. Loose on what is good argument vs strict
Asymmetry (Freeden 2004)
The dominant ideology (Freeden 2004)
1. National sovereignty as the dominant geopolitical order
2. Representative liberal democracy as the dominant political order
3. Regulated market capitalism as the dominant economic order
4. Individual human rights as the dominant legal-ethical order
5. Egalitarian liberalism as the dominant political theory
- Everything together is The Liberal Paradigm
- Not unchallenged, but stes the term for the debate: PTH = attacking, defending,
refining it.
4
Lecture 1
Theory depends on research aim → research question
1. Descriptive, what are the facts?
- Concepts, typologies
2. Explanatory, why these facts?
- Causal / interpretative framework
3. Evaluative , are they good/bad?
- Normative framework (criteria)
4. Predictive, what will/would happen?
- Predictive model
5. Prescriptive, what should be done?
- Action theory
Objection
- Normative theory… isn’t that just a matter of personal opinion?
- Isn't science about facts rather than values? (=positivism)
- So what is the status of normative theory? Avoid two extremes
o Dogmatism
→ truth is objective, given and it is evident, obvious, known
o Subjectivism/extreme relativism
→ truth is subjective, depends on preference
→ truth is relative, depends on context/culture
o Constructivism (middle road between these two extremes)
Constructivism: most common approach today
1. Start at “more or less universal intuitions”
2. Define the underlying values
3. Formulate principles
4. Translate into practical judgements
5. Adjust until a “reflective equilibrium”: tensions between 1-2-3-4 resolved
1
,Any limits to normative theory
- You cannot get anywhere from nowhere
- Very basic agreement on intuitions (fundamentals) is needed
- There will always remain “reasonable disagreement”
- Normative theories are “proposals” or “invitations” for debate
Moral (= ethics) - Political Philosophy
- Moral philosophy is about ethics
o about personal conduct
o how to act / be morally just?
- Political philosophy
o about institutional conduct
o what would be a just constitution?
- But often difficult to separate
- Critique of ‘political realism’
o Political philosophy is too moralistic. It should not be ‘applied ethics’, but a-moral.
Position of political theory (Dryzek 2011)
2
,A story of expansion
- 1940-60s
o Emigre philosophers
→ Arendt, strauss, Voegelin
o vs technically competent barbarians
→ totalitarianism
→ positivist social scientists
- 1971
o Rawls and followers
o vs critics
→ libertarians (Nozick)
→ communitarians (Sandel, Taylor)
→ republicans (Pettit)
- 1970-80s
o Anglo-Americans
→ analytical liberals
o vs Continental-Europeans
→ post-structuralists (Foucault)
→ critical theorists (Habermans)
→ (analytical) socialists (G.A. Cohen)
- 1990-00s
o The West
o vs The Rest
→ The Global Turn (Dryzek)
→ radical critics from left and right: Geen/Black/queer, neofascism etc.
PTH and ideology: 4 options
3
, PTH and ideology: 6 differences
Ideology vs Political theory
1. Public vs semi-private
2. Developed by groups vs individual thinkers
3. Active use of emotions vs rational and reflective
4. Opaque and ambiguous vs openly and clear
5. Unintended meanings matter too vs do not matter
6. Loose on what is good argument vs strict
Asymmetry (Freeden 2004)
The dominant ideology (Freeden 2004)
1. National sovereignty as the dominant geopolitical order
2. Representative liberal democracy as the dominant political order
3. Regulated market capitalism as the dominant economic order
4. Individual human rights as the dominant legal-ethical order
5. Egalitarian liberalism as the dominant political theory
- Everything together is The Liberal Paradigm
- Not unchallenged, but stes the term for the debate: PTH = attacking, defending,
refining it.
4
