What is to be done? Political theory and political realism
This article argues for greater realism in political theory with respect to judgements about what politicians ought to do and how they ought to act. It shows that there are major problems in deducing what a given politician should do from the value commitments that are common to liberalism and it ma...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publications
2010
|
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797073221141397504 |
|---|---|
| author | Philp, M |
| author_facet | Philp, M |
| author_sort | Philp, M |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This article argues for greater realism in political theory with respect to judgements about what politicians ought to do and how they ought to act. It shows that there are major problems in deducing what a given politician should do from the value commitments that are common to liberalism and it makes a case for recognizing the major role played by the context of action and particular agent involved. It distinguishes political virtue from moral virtues and argues that the 'decisionist' features of political agency render evaluation a partly <em>post hoc</em> process. The article advocates a version of political realism that is rooted in an understanding of the distinctive character of political rule and that provides the basis for a contextualist but non-relativist account of 'what is to be done'. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:18:59Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:681afcfc-4c53-4508-9fc3-889819f18985 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T23:18:59Z |
| publishDate | 2010 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:681afcfc-4c53-4508-9fc3-889819f189852022-03-26T18:42:38ZWhat is to be done? Political theory and political realismJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:681afcfc-4c53-4508-9fc3-889819f18985Political scienceEnglishOxford University Research Archive - ValetSAGE Publications2010Philp, MThis article argues for greater realism in political theory with respect to judgements about what politicians ought to do and how they ought to act. It shows that there are major problems in deducing what a given politician should do from the value commitments that are common to liberalism and it makes a case for recognizing the major role played by the context of action and particular agent involved. It distinguishes political virtue from moral virtues and argues that the 'decisionist' features of political agency render evaluation a partly <em>post hoc</em> process. The article advocates a version of political realism that is rooted in an understanding of the distinctive character of political rule and that provides the basis for a contextualist but non-relativist account of 'what is to be done'. |
| spellingShingle | Political science Philp, M What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title | What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title_full | What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title_fullStr | What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title_full_unstemmed | What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title_short | What is to be done? Political theory and political realism |
| title_sort | what is to be done political theory and political realism |
| topic | Political science |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT philpm whatistobedonepoliticaltheoryandpoliticalrealism |