#Political Constructivism PDF

Political Constructivism is concerned with the justification of principles of political justice in the face of pluralism. Contemporary accounts of multiculturalism, pluralism and diversity have challenged the capacity of political theory to impartially justify principles of justice beyond the boundaries of particular communities. In this original account, Peri Roberts argues that political constructivism defends a conception of objective and universal principles that set normative limits to justifiable political practice. Political Constructivism explores this understanding in two ways. Firstly, by engaging with constructivist thinkers such as John Rawls and Onora O’Neill in order to lay out a basic understanding of what constructivism is. Secondly, the author goes on to defend a particular account of political constructivism that justifies a universal primary constructivism alongside the many secondary constructions in which we live our everyday lives. In doing so he outlines an understanding of principled pluralism which accepts diversity whilst at the same time recognising its limits. This volume will be of particular interest to students and researchers of political theory and political philosophy.

Contemporary liberal political justification is often accused of preaching to the converted: liberal principles are acceptable only to people already committed to liberal values. Catriona McKinnon addresses this important criticism by arguing that self-respect and its social conditions should be placed at the heart of the liberal approach to justification. A commitment to self-respect delivers a commitment to the liberal values of toleration and public reason, but self-respect itself is not an exclusively liberal value.

Books about Political Constructivism

This book continues and revises the ideas of justice as fairness that John Rawls presented in A Theory of Justice but changes its philosophical interpretation in a fundamental way. That previous work assumed what Rawls calls a "well-ordered society," one that is stable and relatively homogenous in its basic moral beliefs and in which there is broad agreement about what constitutes the good life. Yet in modern democratic society a plurality of incompatible and irreconcilable doctrines—religious, philosophical, and moral—coexist within the framework of democratic institutions. Recognizing this as a permanent condition of democracy, Rawls asks how a stable and just society of free and equal citizens can live in concord when divided by reasonable but incompatible doctrines? This edition includes the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," which outlines Rawls' plans to revise Political Liberalism, which were cut short by his death. "An extraordinary well-reasoned commentary on A Theory of Justice...a decisive turn towards political philosophy." —Times Literary Supplement

In this book Katrin Flikschuh examines the relevance of Kant's political thought to major issues and problems in contemporary political philosophy. She advances and defends two principal claims: that Kant's philosophy of Right endorses the role of metaphysics in political thinking, in contrast to its generally hostile reception in the field today, and that his account of political obligation is cosmopolitan in its inception, assigning priority to the global rather than the domestic context. She shows how Kant's metaphysics of freedom as a shared idea of practical reason underlies the cosmopolitan scope of his theory of justice, and she concludes that despite the revival of 'Kantianism' in contemporary thinking, his account of justice is in many respects very different from dominant approaches in contemporary liberal theory. Her study will be of interest to political philosophers, political theorists, and historians of ideas.

Beyond Justice as Fairness: Rethinking Rawls from a Cross-Cultural Perspective, by Paul Nnodim, explores the three foundational topics in Rawls’s theories of justice—social justice, multiculturalism, and global justice—while deconstructing ideas of democratic citizenship, public reason, and liberal individualism latent in Rawls’s treatment of these subjects to uncover their cultural and historical underpinnings. Furthermore, it investigates whether these ideas are compatible with the concept of the person in a non-Western context.

Utilizing 100 key readings, The Political Theory Reader explores the rich tradition of ideas that shape the way we live and the great issues in political theory today. Allows students to see how competing ideological viewpoints think about the same political issues Provides readers with direct access to authors covered in the From Ideologies to Public Philosophies text Facilitates discussions by having readings arranged thematically throughout text Extracts of works specifically chosen to focus on topics central to issues covered in chapters.

Rawls: An Introduction is a uniquely comprehensive introduction to the work of the American philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002), who transformed contemporary political philosophy. In the 1950s and 1960s, political philosophy seemed to have reached a dead end characterized by a loose predominance of utilitarian theses. Rawls’s conception of liberalism placed civil liberties and social justice at its core, and his extraordinary influence has only been confirmed by the extent of the criticism he has provoked. The book is divided into three parts which correspond to Rawls’s three major books. The first concentrates on A Theory of Justice (1971) and examines the way in which Rawls’s general vision of social justice is presented. Maffettone also includes here a discussion of some of the most important critiques of Rawls. The second part of the book highlights Political Liberalism (1993-6), with a chapter dedicated to the “passage” from Theory of Justice to Political Liberalism. Finally, the third part provides a discussion of The Law of Peoples (1999). This work is acomprehensive examination of these three major texts by a renowned Rawls scholar and will appeal to all philosophers and social scientists for whom it is essential to understand the key theories of this most influential of political philosophers.

This book deals with the concept of post-Islamism from a mainly philosophical perspective, using political liberalism as elaborated by John Rawls as the key interpretive tool. What distinguishes this book from most scholarship in Iranian studies is that it primarily deals with the projects of Iranian intellectuals from a normative perspective as the concept is understood by analytical philosophers. The volume includes analyses of the strengths and weakness of the arguments underlying each thinker’s ideas, rather than looking for their historical and sociological origins, genealogy, etc. Each chapter develops a particular conjectural argument for the possibility of an overlapping consensus between Islam and political liberalism, though the arguments presented draw upon different Islamic, particularly Shia, resources. Thus, while Shabestari and Soroush primarily reason from a modernist theological or kalami perspective, M.H.Tabatabai and Mehdi Haeri Yazdi’s arguments are mainly based on traditional Islamic philosophy and Quranic exegesis. While Kadivar, An-Naim and Fanaei are post-Islamist in the exact sense of the term, Malekian goes beyond typical post-Islamism by proposing a theory for spirituality that constrains religion within the boundaries of enlightenment thought. Throughout the book, specific attention is given to Ferrara and March’s readings of political liberalism. Although the book’s chapters constitute a whole, they can also be read independently if the reader is only curious about particular intellectuals whose political theories are discussed.

This book introduces the reader to the political theories of the American philosopher John Rawls. Rawls was arguably the most important political philosopher of the twentieth century. Barely a word of political philosophy is written today that is not indebted in some way, either directly or indirectly, to the philosophical paradigm that Rawls bequeathed. On his death at aged 81 in 2002 his obituaries, written by some of the leading figures in Western philosophy, placed him alongside John Locke and Immanuel Kant in the canon of Western political philosophers. His colleague, the philosopher Hilary Putnam, said: ‘His work is not going to be forgotten for decades, I think, for centuries.’ Rawls Explained sets out Rawls’s complex arguments in a way that makes them accessible to first-time readers of his hugely influential work. This book is both clear in its exposition of Rawls’s ideas and is true to the complex purposes of his arguments. It also attends to the variety of objections that have been made to Rawls’s arguments since it is these objections that have shaped the progression of his work. Therefore the aim of the book is to explain the basic ideas of Rawls’s theory of justice in an engaging but comprehensive fashion and to guide the reader carefully through his arguments. The book is divided into three parts corresponding to the three books that form the core of Rawls’s theory: A Theory of Justice (1971), Political Liberalism (1993) and The Law of Peoples (1999). This volume sets out Rawls’s ideas in the form of a critical exposition that elaborates the central themes and philosophical background of his arguments. Each section of the book ends with a survey of some of the main criticisms of the arguments coupled with Rawls’s strongest counterarguments.

Explores the actual and possible roles of evil in contemporary political theory

John Rawls (1921-2002) is, arguably, the most important political philosopher of our time. It is commonly observed that the publication in 1971 of his treatise A Theory of Justice initiated a return to political questions among Anglo-American philosophers and is largely responsible for the vigorous health of contemporary political philosophy. Rawls' ideas and approach have transformed philosophical inquiry in this area, and political theorists nowadays are obliged to make clear where they stand in relation to Rawls if they wish to be involved in mainstream discussions. Yet Rawls' influence has also extended beyond philosophy and has had a substantial impact on work in law, economics, and political science. Since the publication of A Theory of Justice, Rawls has written two other major works: Political Liberalism (1993) and The Law of Peoples (1999) and also issued a collection of his essays: Collected Papers (1999). This collection provides a thorough analysis of Rawls' work. In addition to a general introduction, the set includes introductions to each volume which help guide the reader through the material.