2018
DOI: 10.1080/13698230.2018.1501538
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Normative behaviourism as a solution to four problems in realism and non-ideal theory

Abstract: This article advances the case for 'normative behaviourism'a new way of doing political philosophy that tries to turn facts about observable patterns of behaviour, as produced by different political systems, into grounds for specific political principles. This approach is applied to four distinct problems at the heart of the ideal/nonideal theory and moralism/realism debates: (1) How to distinguish good from bad idealisations; (2) how to rank options of variable feasibility, cost, and danger; (3) how to distin… Show more

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Cited by 13 publications
(10 citation statements)
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“…Presumably, you could advise them on what to do next based on what generally works better for their kind, or even more generally on the starvation that both species can be observed as trying to avoid? This is an analogy I have used before (Floyd, 2017a), and have tried to refine since (Floyd, 2020), but it helps to rework it here, and not just in the face of that telling counter-example from Erman and Möller, noted above, but also because it brings with it further problems addressed below. What happens, for example, if not all squirrels want nuts?…”
Section: Mentalism In Disguise and Utilitarianism Under Covermentioning
confidence: 94%
“…Presumably, you could advise them on what to do next based on what generally works better for their kind, or even more generally on the starvation that both species can be observed as trying to avoid? This is an analogy I have used before (Floyd, 2017a), and have tried to refine since (Floyd, 2020), but it helps to rework it here, and not just in the face of that telling counter-example from Erman and Möller, noted above, but also because it brings with it further problems addressed below. What happens, for example, if not all squirrels want nuts?…”
Section: Mentalism In Disguise and Utilitarianism Under Covermentioning
confidence: 94%
“…This art really matters to methodology, and for at least four reasons. First, because of the noted practical ambitions behind much of our subject's recent methodological moment, from ideal vs. non-ideal theory, to moralism vs. realism, to 'political' political theory, and beyond (Floyd, 2010;Floyd, 2020). Second, because we clearly need to work at this art, not just in order to meet those ambitions, but also to meet the growing requirements of our funding bodies, most of whom now push 'engagement' or 'impact' as conditions of their various fellowships and audits (just as they once, notably, pushed 'methods training' 5 ).…”
Section: Reason Rhetoric and The Hybrid Art Of Public Political Philo...mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…GNT is part of a large and growing family of political theory calling for more attention to empirical politics in theory development: political realism (B. Williams, 2005;Geuss, 2008;Galston, 2010), non-ideal theory (Anderson, 2010; see Fung, 2007; see also Sen, 2009, pp.10-18, 96-113;Goodhart, 2018, Ch.1), and others (Bauböck, 2008;Miller, 2013;Waldron, 2016;Floyd, 2020). While we cannot offer a nuanced discussion of any let alone all of these here, we use a discussion of politial realism to illustrate the role of GNT in that family.…”
Section: Political Theory and The "Real World"mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Others have proposed broader frameworks to orient and justify greater empirical engagement by theorists. These include 'political' political theory, focused on ways that choices about political principles are influenced by the study of political institutional practices (Waldron 2016); normative behaviorism, focused on developing normative political principles from observable facts about political systems (Floyd, 2020; see also Floyd, 2017); or general calls for attention to existing empirical research in normative theory development (Bauböck, 2008).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%