Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory

Prinz, Janosch

doi:10.1177/1474885119857588

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…13 These examples are modular; they do not need to be, but could potentially be, combined. 14 Thomas Fossen's pragmatism-inspired approach to legitimacy (2013, 2014a, 2014b, 2019; for critical discussion, see Erman & Möller, 2015, Prinz, 2020b strikes me as an apt source of inspiration for developing an interpretative realist perspective on legitimacy and legitimation. 15 Fossen views legitimacy not as a question of moral knowledge, but of practical judgment (Fossen, 2020/forthcoming), the interpretation of which requires a close connection to the practices of legitimation.…”

Section: Re-connecting Realism To the Practices Of Politics Through Methodological Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realism and Real Politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism

Prinz¹

2021

Preprint

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This paper seeks to show that Bernard Williams’ approach to legitimacy falls short of its aspirations in ways that cast doubt on its fitness for guiding the practice of future realist political theory. More precisely, the paper focuses on the shortcomings of Williams’ realism in establishing a connection to (the practices of) politics, and on how to redeem those shortcomings in a way that would render them suitable for guiding future realist political theory. The first substantive section of the paper considers how compatible Williams’ commitments to diagnosis and interpretation are, with how he spells out his realist thought. The second section argues that making good on Williams’ commitments requires realist political theorists to rethink the sources of their insights and the basis of their claims, and sketches pragmatist and ethnographic approaches as promising examples of how realists could match theoretical commitments in practice.

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Section: Re-connecting Realism To the Practices Of Politics Through Methodological Innovationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Realism and Real Politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism

Prinz¹

2021

Preprint

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“…There is an elaborate and sometimes intemperate dialectic at play here (cf. Prinz, 2020) and I will focus on only a couple of points. One issue is about where the burden of proof in effect lies.…”

Section: Pragmatism In the Conversation Of Contemporary Political Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

Spotlight: Pragmatism in contemporary political theory

Festenstein

2021

European Journal of Political Theory

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This article surveys recent work in pragmatism and political theory. In doing so, it shows both how recent work on pragmatism has secured the view that at its core is a set of arguments about the character of democracy – although the character of those arguments is open to debate and reimagination – and how pragmatist arguments have been reinterpreted and deployed to address contemporary concerns and approaches. This charts a terrain of live disagreements rather than settled opinion.

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“…Many of these claims are based on serious misreadings of Geuss and other radical realists (Prinz, 2020; Raekstad, 2020). Not least, the charge of “status quo bias” seems absurd when one considers the explicit anti‐status quo positions that radical realists defend.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How radical is radical realism?

Cross

2021

European J of Philosophy

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Radical realism is distinguished in part from other forms of political realism by its more explicit anti-status quo objectives. In particular, radical realists generally reject the legitimacy of liberal political institutions, and often defend some version of Marxism or anarchism. However, critics of radical realism sometimes argue that radical realist's aversion to certain kinds of normative theorising hinders their capacity to criticize the status quo. This objection may therefore be best understood as one of "self-frustration," rather than "status quo bias." According to the objection, radical realists want to criticise the status quo, but their own methodological positions prevent them from doing so effectively. I have three aims in this article. First, I will clarify the kinds of normativity which radical realists do (and do not) object. Second, I will then show how this enables us to see that the self-frustration objection fails. Third, I will suggest that it is not radical realism but its critics who may have a problematic relationship with the status quo.

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Principles, practices and disciplinary power struggles in political theory

Cited by 5 publications

References 27 publications

Realism and Real Politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism

Realism and Real Politics. The gap between promise and practice in Bernard Williams’ realism

Spotlight: Pragmatism in contemporary political theory

How radical is radical realism?

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