We can distinguish three styles of political philosophy: abstract, normative theorizing, political realism, and a diagnostic practice. I argue that the third is the most fundamental in that it concerns the epistemological conditions of political thinking.This is a power point file for a lecture given at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, on April 21, 2018, and then in revised form at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, on April 27.
….These developments call for sustained political thinking. The categories of traditional political thought seem no longer adequate for addressing the specific challenges of the 21st century. We must ask then: what now? What are the possibilities and requirements of political thought for this century?
In this essay I discuss neoliberalism from the perspective of the “political realism” associated with contemporary philosophers such as Bernard Williams, Hans Sluga, and Raymond Geuss. My goal is threefold: first, I want to draw upon the work of Geuss in particular to delineate a serious problem with neoliberalism that is easily overlooked in analyses of neoliberalism that focus on questions of equality, justice, and institutional design. Second, I hope to demonstrate that Geuss’ work in this area manifests a commitment to perfectionism that may surprise students of his work that focus on his attack upon moralism and his criticisms of politics as “applied ethics.” Finally, I suggest that Geuss’ own work needs to be supplemented here, and that the work of Stanley Cavell, a figure who may appear quite uncongenial to Geuss, is a good place to start.
