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Utopophobia

On the Limits (If Any) of Political Philosophy
  • and
Language: English
Published/Copyright: 2019

About this book

A leading political theorist’s groundbreaking defense of ideal conceptions of justice in political philosophy

Throughout the history of political philosophy and politics, there has been continual debate about the roles of idealism versus realism. For contemporary political philosophy, this debate manifests in notions of ideal theory versus nonideal theory. Nonideal thinkers shift their focus from theorizing about full social justice, asking instead which feasible institutional and political changes would make a society more just. Ideal thinkers, on the other hand, question whether full justice is a standard that any society is likely ever to satisfy. And, if social justice is unrealistic, are attempts to understand it without value or importance, and merely utopian?

Utopophobia argues against thinking that justice must be realistic, or that understanding justice is only valuable if it can be realized. David Estlund does not offer a particular theory of justice, nor does he assert that justice is indeed unrealizable—only that it could be, and this possibility upsets common ways of proceeding in political thought. Estlund engages critically with important strands in traditional and contemporary political philosophy that assume a sound theory of justice has the overriding, defining task of contributing practical guidance toward greater social justice. Along the way, he counters several tempting perspectives, including the view that inquiry in political philosophy could have significant value only as a guide to practical political action, and that understanding true justice would necessarily have practical value, at least as an ideal arrangement to be approximated.

Demonstrating that unrealistic standards of justice can be both sound and valuable to understand, Utopophobia stands as a trenchant defense of ideal theory in political philosophy.

Author / Editor information

David Estlund is the Lombardo Professor of the Humanities in the Philosophy Department at Brown University. He is the author of Democratic Authority: A Philosophical Framework (Princeton) and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Political Philosophy.

Reviews

"David Estlund is a leading political philosopher….he further cements himself as a crucial figure in ideal theory. … This book stakes out clear territory for the value of ideal theory against the challenge brought by nonideal theorists. …an impressive piece of philosophy."---Ryan Muldoon, Review of Politics --- "Masterful . . . fascinating and delightfully heretical."---Nic Southwood, Phil Studies --- "Utopophobia is a monumental achievement."---Zofia Stemplowska, Phil Studies --- "The publication of Utopophobia is a major event . . . the book is written in a crystal clear and yet almost poetic style. . . . It provides the most careful and extensive defence of ideal theory to date."---Jacob Barrett, Mind

Topics

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    Frontmatter

    i
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    Contents

    ix
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    Preface and Acknowledgments

    xi
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  • PART I. LOOKING UP TO JUSTICE
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    Chapter 1. An Unrealistic Introduction

    3
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    Chapter 2. Overview

    25
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    Chapter 3. Anti-Anti- Moralism

    40
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    Chapter 4. Circumstances and Justice

    62
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  • PART II. UNBENDING JUSTICE
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    Chapter 5. Utopophobia

    81
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    Chapter 6. Mitigating Motives

    101
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    Chapter 7. Justice Unbent

    124
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  • PART III. BEYOND CONCESSIVE JUSTICE
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    Chapter 8. Concessive Requirement

    149
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    Chapter 9. Bad Facts

    173
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    Chapter 10. Prime Justice

    188
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  • PART IV. THE CULPRIT PROBLEM
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    Chapter 11. The Puzzle of Plural Obligation

    207
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    Chapter 12. Plural Requirement

    231
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  • PART V. THE PRACTICAL AND THE IDEALISTIC
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    Chapter 13. Progress, Perfection, and Practice

    255
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    Chapter 14. The Fallacy of Approximation

    271
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    Chapter 15. Countervailing Deviation

    288
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    Chapter 16. Beyond Practicalism

    304
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    Chapter 17. Informed Concern

    316
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    Epilogue

    329
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    Notes

    333
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    Index of Examples and Propositions

    367
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    General Index

    369
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    A note on the type

    379
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
January 20, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9780691197500
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
View content
https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691197500
eBook ISBN: 9780691197500
Keywords for this book
Requirement; Political philosophy; Theory; Principle; Social justice; Morality; Suggestion; A Theory of Justice; Thought; Institution; Consideration; Philosopher; Reason; Critique; Fallacy; Normative; Social structure; Explanation; Good and evil; Obstacle; Approximation; Selfishness; Value theory; Obligation; Probability; Deliberation; Original position; Politics; Philosophy; Utilitarianism; Causality; Result; Criticism; Just society; Realism (international relations); Utopia; Ethics; Analogy; Moral luck; Writing; Practical reason; Injunction; Pragmatism; Opportunism; John Rawls; Freedom of speech; Self-interest; Skepticism; Controversy; Adjudication; Mathematics; P. J. Conkwright; Ideology; Luck egalitarianism; Prerogative; Ambiguity; Wealth; Doctrine; Actualism; Disadvantage; Pure mathematics; Consequentialism; Moral responsibility; Henry Sidgwick; Stipulation; Plural; Brute fact; Ingredient; Phenomenon; Illustration
Audience(s) for this book
For a non-specialist adult audience
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