Is Political Philosophy Impossible?: Thoughts and Behaviour in Normative Political Theory (Contemporary Political Theory)

Political philosophy seems both impossible to do and impossible to avoid. Impossible to do, because we cannot agree on a single set of political principles. Impossible to avoid, because we're always living with some kind of political system, and thus some set of principles. So, if we can't do the philosophy, but can't escape the politics, what are we to do? Jonathan Floyd argues that the answer lies in political philosophy's deepest methodological commitments. First, he shows how political philosophy is practiced as a kind of 'thinking about thinking'. Second, he unpicks the different types of thought we think about, such as considered judgements, or intuitive responses to moral dilemmas, and assesses whether any are fit for purpose. Third, he offers an alternative approach - 'normative behaviourism' - which holds that rather than studying our thinking, we should study our behaviour. Perhaps, just sometimes, actions speak louder than thoughts.-- Provided by Publisher Series Copyright Contents Disclaimers and Debts Introduction What Is This Book About? Synopsis of Chapter 1 Synopsis of Chapter 2 Synopsis of Chapter 3 Who Am I to Say This? What could you avoid reading? 1 Symptom: Interminability 1.1 Overview 1.2 Three Questions: OQ, FQ, GQ 1.3 Rawls and a Few of His Rivals 1.4 A Reassessment of the Problem and a Switch in Literature 1.5 Isaiah Berlin: From Value-Pluralism, to Universal Evils, to Liberalism 1.6 Rawls’ Second Set of Answers: From Reasonablenessto Liberalism 1.7 United by an Ideal of Democracy? 1.8 United by an Ideal of Tolerance? 1.9 Stuart Hampshire and a Second Argumentfrom Universal Evils 1.10 Joseph Raz: Practical Reason as a Guide to PoliticalMorality 1.11 Alasdair MacIntyre: Competing Traditions as a Guideto Morality 1.12 Rorty’s Liberalism by Redescription 1.13 A Variety of Further Responses: Denial, Judgement,Deferral 1.14 Interminability Described: The Impossibility ThesisIntroduced 1.15 The Impossibility Thesis Sustained 1.16 Summary of Arguments and a Sketch of What Follows 2 Diagnosis: Mentalism 2.1 Introduction 2.2 What Mentalism Is 2.3 Mentalism’s Techniques 2.4 Three Types of Mentalist Evidence and a Synopsisof Why Mentalism Fails 2.5 The Evidence for Failure, Part 1: Impartial Choices 2.6 The Evidence for Failure, Part 2: Considered Judgements 2.7 The Evidence for Failure, Part 3: Intuitive Choicesof Abstract Principle 2.8 Normative Dissonance in Full View 2.9 Objections and Clarifications 2.10 The Problem Restated 3 Cure: Normative Behaviourism 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Normative Behaviourism: A Brief Sketch 3.3 Preliminaries, Part 1: Facts, Principles, Thoughts, and Behaviour 3.4 Preliminaries, Part 2: Reasonable Objections, Causes/Purposes, Reliable Tendencies, and the Case for Experimental Optimism 3.5 A Normative Behaviourist Argument in Favourof Social-Liberal-Democracies 3.6 An Explanatory Theory of Social-Liberal-Democracy’s Success 3.7 The Relationship between Normative Behaviourism, Psychological Behaviourism, Political Behaviouralism, and Political Science More Generally 3.8 Reasons to Be Convinced by Social-Liberal-Democracy 3.9 Normative Behaviourism Defended against FiveObjections 3.10 Conclusions Conclusion Overview Reiteration: Out of the Cave and on the Way to Denmark Clarification by Way of a New Set of Comparisons Concessions and Reflections Index Students of political theory/philosophy, at all levels, are desperate for a book that explains the 'method' or 'methods' of their subject. Scholars of political theory/philosophy, of all kinds, are desperate for both a fundamental analysis of their method, and a proper alternative to it. This book provides all these things. Jonathan Floyd, University Of Bristol. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.