Political Norms and Moral Values

Jubb, Robert; Rossi, Enzo

doi:10.5840/jpr201511539

Cited by 46 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…On another, more classical view, 1 realism breaks with contemporary anglophone political theory's moralistic tendency to proceed as a branch of applied ethics (Geuss, 2008, Williams, 2005. Here, the general idea is that the sources of political normativity are not -or not exclusively -to be found in pre-political moral commitments, but in a form of normativity inherent to politics (Jubb & Rossi, 2015;Rossi & Sleat, 2014;Sleat, 2014). Hybrid views exist as well (Galston, 2010;Hall, 2016;Jubb, 2015).…”

Section: Realism and The Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such attempts at getting an accurate picture of the political (McNay, 2014) and then issuing prescriptions that meet this characterisation are questionable, and do not warrant claims to a greater degree of prescriptive and descriptive fit, nor a claim to settling ontological questions of what is real (Little, 2015). If anything, this issue marks a starting position for understanding how politics is a thick evaluative concept (Jubb & Rossi, 2015) -and even for this goal realists could consult sources that actually study how political speech and action can be distinguished from non-political speech and action (Freeden, 2013).…”

Section: Realism and The Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Political realism as ideology critique

Prinz

Rossi

2017

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosoph

Self Cite

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

a School of Politics, Philosophy, language and Communication Studies, University of east anglia, norwich, UK; b faculteit der Maatschappij-en Gedragswetenschappen, Universiteit van amsterdam, amsterdam, the netherlands ABSTRACT This paper outlines an account of political realism as a form of ideology critique. We defend the normative edge of this critical-theoretic project against the common charge that there is a problematic trade-off between a theory's groundedness in facts about the political status quo and its ability to envisage radical departures from the status quo. To overcome that problem, we combine insights from theories of legitimacy by Bernard Williams and other realists, Critical Theory, and analytic epistemological and metaphysical theories of cognitive bias, ideology and social construction. The upshot is an account of realism as empirically informed critique of social and political phenomena. We reject a sharp divide between descriptive and normative theory, and so provide an alternative to the anti-empiricism of some approaches to Critical Theory as well as to the complacency towards existing power structures found within liberal realism, let alone mainstream normative political philosophy, liberal or otherwise.

show abstract

Section: Realism and The Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Realism and The Status Quomentioning

confidence: 99%

Political realism as ideology critique

Prinz

Rossi

2017

Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosoph

Self Cite

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some, like Williams () or Newey (), have sought to argue that such values are political because they cannot be completely reduced to a set of moral considerations but must instead be understood through the way in which they feature in our institutions and practices and the various roles that we require them to play in actual politics. Others have argued that these political values can be explicated and operationalised without the need to make any appeal to moral values or principles (Jubb and Rossi forthcoming) (this claim can be made more radical by insisting that such values exhaust normativity in politics, hence leaving no space for the moral). This latter position does not require us to appeal to meta‐values to know when to deploy political values as opposed to moral values: politically relevant predicaments can be individuated by considering the very concept of politics, which we can individuate by contrasting it to raw domination on the one hand and personal interactions on the other (Hall but also cf.…”

Section: Realist Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realism in Normative Political Theory

2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper provides a critical overview of the realist current in contemporary political philosophy. We define political realism on the basis of its attempt to give varying degrees of autonomy to politics as a sphere of human activity, in large part through its exploration of the sources of normativity appropriate for the political, and so distinguish sharply between political realism and non-ideal theory. We then identify and discuss four key arguments advanced by political realists: from ideology, from the relationship of ethics to politics, from the priority of legitimacy over justice, and from the nature of political judgment. Next, we ask to what extent realism is a methodological approach as opposed to a substantive political position, and so discuss the relationship between realism and a few such positions. We close by pointing out the links between contemporary realism and the realist strand that runs through much of the history of Western political thought.Much contemporary Anglo-American political philosophy operates as a branch of applied ethics: normative political theory is supposed to implement moral commitments external to politics, be they teleological ideals or deontological constraints. However in recent years-under the loose label of 'political realism'-an alternative approach has emerged, or perhaps reemerged (Galston 2010; Runciman 2012). Crudely, realists maintain that political philosophy should not seek to regiment politics through morality; rather, it should theorise about the distinctive forces that shape real politics. Critics of realism see this move as a capitulation of normative theory in favour of descriptive approaches to politics. Realists see it as a way to make political philosophy more relevant and less ideological.This article has two main objectives and as many main sections. First, we propose a working definition of realism, and a critical overview of what we take to be the four key arguments in favour of that position. Second, we explore the status of realist theory: is it best characterised as a series of methodological concerns or does it represent a substantive political position it is own right? In the brief conclusion we discuss to what extent realism is (or could be) a new development rather than a revival of a traditional current of political thinking.

show abstract

“…So Williams' realist theory of legitimacy is universal in its abstract form, but it is underpinned by two forms of contextualism. First, politics is a context with its own form of normativity, so that pre-political moral demands do not reach into politics (Jubb and Rossi 2015). Here a lot of work is done by the very concept of politics.…”

Section: Williams' Realist Theory Of Legitimacy and 'Bare Liberalism'mentioning

confidence: 99%

EU Legitimacy in a Realist Key

Beetz¹,

Rossi

2015

SSRN Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Discussion papers of the WZB serve to disseminate the research results of work in progress prior to publication to encourage the exchange of ideas and academic debate. Inclusion of a paper in the discussion paper series does not constitute publication and should not limit publication in any other venue. The discussion papers published by the WZB represent the views of the respective author(s) and not of the institute as a whole. Terms of use: Documents in Copyright remains with the author(s). Abstract EU Legitimacy in a Realist Key by Jan Pieter Beetz and Enzo RossiThis paper provides a conceptual analysis of the EU's legitimation status through the lens of a realist account of legitimacy. We propose a modification of Bernard Williams' theory of liberal legitimacy, and use it to make sense of the widely perceived legitimation crisis of the EU. In Williams' well-known formula, "Basic Legitimation Demand + Modernity = Liberalism". Drawing on that model, we put forward three main claims. (i) The right side of the equation is insufficiently sensitive to the importance of popular sovereignty in Western constitutional traditions; (ii) The left side of the equation is best thought of as a 'legitimation story': an account of what plausibly sustains belief in legitimacy. This is, however, not a purely descriptive notion: attending to the meaning of politics in the relevant context rules out both violent domination and ideologically distorted legitimation stories, thus providing a non-moralised normative component for the position. (iii) While most EU member states ostensibly support the Union, the legitimation story offered by the member states to its citizens draws upon a tradition of popular sovereignty that sit badly with the supranational pooling and delegation of sovereign powers that characterises the EU rule. That, we maintain, explains the current legitimation crisis of the EU. Further, we argue that the realist framework requires a solution to the legitimation problem before any advances can be made on the front of social justice.This discussion paper is part of a series of contributions to the conference "Towards a Grammar of Justice in EU Law', which took place on 6-7 November 2014 at VU University Amsterdam, sponsored by ACCESS EUROPE Amsterdam, VU Centre for European Legal Studies and the Dutch Research Council VENI grant.

show abstract

Political Norms and Moral Values

Cited by 46 publications

References 3 publications

Political realism as ideology critique

Political realism as ideology critique

Realism in Normative Political Theory

EU Legitimacy in a Realist Key

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About