LECTURES CONTEMPORARY SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
LECTURE 1: What is political philosophy today?
Theory
Staircase of questions you can ask in research
Research aim - RQ: these questions build on eachother
1. Descriptive: what are the facts?
2. Explanatory: why these facts? (causes, interpretations)
3. Evaluative: are they good/bad?
4. Predictive: what will/would happen? (what will happen if we intervene, what would happen if we
wouldn’t?)
5. Prescriptive: what should be done?
For every question you need different required theory
1. Concepts, typologies
2. Causal/interpretative framework
3. Normative framework (criteria)
4. Predictive model
5. Action theory
1, 3 and 5 are contributed by Political Theorists: a normative contribution to the theory used by the
questions
Objection: normative theory… isn’t that just a matter of personal opinion? Is science about facts
rather than about values? (= positivism)
So, what is the status of normative theory?
Avoid two extremes:
1. Dogmatism: truth is objective, given and it is evident, obvious
2. Subjectivism/extreme relativism: truth is subjective, depends on preference & truth is relative,
depends on context/culture
Middle road is called constructivism
-> Methodology of political theory: the Rawlsian method of constructivism
1. Start at “more or less universal intuitions” (ie. slavery is bad)
2. Try to define the underlying values (human dignity, equality)
3. Formulate (moral) principles (humans are not property)
4. Translate into practical judgements (abolish slavery)
5. Adjust until a reflective equilibrium: tensions between 1-4 are resolved
Limits to normative theory
- You can’t get anywhere
- Very basic agreement on intuitions is needed (“slavery is great” would be a non-starter)
- There will always remain “reasonable disagreement”
- Normative theories are “proposals” or “invitations”
Political theory
Difference moral philosophy (= ethics) & political philosophy
Ethics starts from the individual, more about personal conduct (how to act?). Political philosophy
more about institutional conduct (how to govern?).
,But often these two are difficult to separate
- Is euthanasia wrong <-> Should euthanasia be made illegal?
Critique from “political realists”
- Political philosophy (including liberalism) is too moralistic. It should not be ‘applied ethics’, but a-
moral
Position of political theory (Dryzek et al, 2011)
--
1.1 Is vs ought
Positivist (is) vs. prescriptivist (ought)
They can exist together (cohabitation)
1.2 with history
Two approaches: textualism (Strauss) vs. contextualism (Skinner)
Do we give importance to the texts or to the context of the texts?
1.3 with philosophy
Analytical, ideal (Rawls) vs. non-ideal, realist (critics)
1.4 with the “real world”
Real world vs politics & society
Utopian vs. ‘sober’ and informed
Contemporary political theory: a story of expansion
,Political theory and ideology: 4 options
1. Ideology is bad, political theory is not ideology: strictly separate, political theory is better
thinking, apart from ideology (ivory tower)
2. They’re just different and both legitimate (Freeden: ideologies steer and shape our modern
politics much more than people think, he is the expert on ideologies)
3. Political theory is indeed ideological and that is a bad thing: Political Theory needs scientific
purification (they want positive & logical political theory, mathematical theory)
4. Admit that political theory has an ideological perspective and that is good: Admit & accept
political theory’s ideological character (example: critical theory)
Differences (Freeden, 2004, pp. 10-13)
Ideology Political theory
1. Public, for many people 1. Semi-private (for peers only)
2. Developed by groups 2. Developed by individual thinkers
3. Active use of emotions 3. Rational and reflective
4. Opaque, ambiguous 4. Openly, clear
5. Unintended meanings matter too 5. Unintended meanings do not matter
6. Loose on what is good argument 6. Strict on what is good argument
Asymmetry
Students of ideologies stands outside of subject matter/look down on ideologies: ‘to arrive at a
higher level of conceptual analysis of the explanandum’
Students of political theory: like a boomerang, it comes back to you. Engaging in a conversation,
engaging in political theory
But, a nuance: students of political theory to prescribe and to offer good solutions to problems of
political organization and practices
But, a nuance: students of ideology of course have an opinion and cannot be fully neutral
The dominant ‘ideology’ (still)
1. National sovereignty as the dominant geopolitical order
2. Representative liberal democracy as 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
Combined, these can be called the liberal paradigm
This sets the terms of debate in political theory today: you are either attacking, defending or refining
it
Are there any alternatives?
1. Global governance - internationalism - localism
, 2. Authoritarianism - deliberative democracy
3. Democratic socialism - communism
4. Group rights - duties - virtues
5. Libertarianism - communitarianism - conservatism
Is liberalism an ideology?
Freeden: liberalism is not neutral and definitely an ideology
LECTURE 1: What is political philosophy today?
Theory
Staircase of questions you can ask in research
Research aim - RQ: these questions build on eachother
1. Descriptive: what are the facts?
2. Explanatory: why these facts? (causes, interpretations)
3. Evaluative: are they good/bad?
4. Predictive: what will/would happen? (what will happen if we intervene, what would happen if we
wouldn’t?)
5. Prescriptive: what should be done?
For every question you need different required theory
1. Concepts, typologies
2. Causal/interpretative framework
3. Normative framework (criteria)
4. Predictive model
5. Action theory
1, 3 and 5 are contributed by Political Theorists: a normative contribution to the theory used by the
questions
Objection: normative theory… isn’t that just a matter of personal opinion? Is science about facts
rather than about values? (= positivism)
So, what is the status of normative theory?
Avoid two extremes:
1. Dogmatism: truth is objective, given and it is evident, obvious
2. Subjectivism/extreme relativism: truth is subjective, depends on preference & truth is relative,
depends on context/culture
Middle road is called constructivism
-> Methodology of political theory: the Rawlsian method of constructivism
1. Start at “more or less universal intuitions” (ie. slavery is bad)
2. Try to define the underlying values (human dignity, equality)
3. Formulate (moral) principles (humans are not property)
4. Translate into practical judgements (abolish slavery)
5. Adjust until a reflective equilibrium: tensions between 1-4 are resolved
Limits to normative theory
- You can’t get anywhere
- Very basic agreement on intuitions is needed (“slavery is great” would be a non-starter)
- There will always remain “reasonable disagreement”
- Normative theories are “proposals” or “invitations”
Political theory
Difference moral philosophy (= ethics) & political philosophy
Ethics starts from the individual, more about personal conduct (how to act?). Political philosophy
more about institutional conduct (how to govern?).
,But often these two are difficult to separate
- Is euthanasia wrong <-> Should euthanasia be made illegal?
Critique from “political realists”
- Political philosophy (including liberalism) is too moralistic. It should not be ‘applied ethics’, but a-
moral
Position of political theory (Dryzek et al, 2011)
--
1.1 Is vs ought
Positivist (is) vs. prescriptivist (ought)
They can exist together (cohabitation)
1.2 with history
Two approaches: textualism (Strauss) vs. contextualism (Skinner)
Do we give importance to the texts or to the context of the texts?
1.3 with philosophy
Analytical, ideal (Rawls) vs. non-ideal, realist (critics)
1.4 with the “real world”
Real world vs politics & society
Utopian vs. ‘sober’ and informed
Contemporary political theory: a story of expansion
,Political theory and ideology: 4 options
1. Ideology is bad, political theory is not ideology: strictly separate, political theory is better
thinking, apart from ideology (ivory tower)
2. They’re just different and both legitimate (Freeden: ideologies steer and shape our modern
politics much more than people think, he is the expert on ideologies)
3. Political theory is indeed ideological and that is a bad thing: Political Theory needs scientific
purification (they want positive & logical political theory, mathematical theory)
4. Admit that political theory has an ideological perspective and that is good: Admit & accept
political theory’s ideological character (example: critical theory)
Differences (Freeden, 2004, pp. 10-13)
Ideology Political theory
1. Public, for many people 1. Semi-private (for peers only)
2. Developed by groups 2. Developed by individual thinkers
3. Active use of emotions 3. Rational and reflective
4. Opaque, ambiguous 4. Openly, clear
5. Unintended meanings matter too 5. Unintended meanings do not matter
6. Loose on what is good argument 6. Strict on what is good argument
Asymmetry
Students of ideologies stands outside of subject matter/look down on ideologies: ‘to arrive at a
higher level of conceptual analysis of the explanandum’
Students of political theory: like a boomerang, it comes back to you. Engaging in a conversation,
engaging in political theory
But, a nuance: students of political theory to prescribe and to offer good solutions to problems of
political organization and practices
But, a nuance: students of ideology of course have an opinion and cannot be fully neutral
The dominant ‘ideology’ (still)
1. National sovereignty as the dominant geopolitical order
2. Representative liberal democracy as 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
Combined, these can be called the liberal paradigm
This sets the terms of debate in political theory today: you are either attacking, defending or refining
it
Are there any alternatives?
1. Global governance - internationalism - localism
, 2. Authoritarianism - deliberative democracy
3. Democratic socialism - communism
4. Group rights - duties - virtues
5. Libertarianism - communitarianism - conservatism
Is liberalism an ideology?
Freeden: liberalism is not neutral and definitely an ideology
