{"product_id":"is-political-philosophy-impossible-thoughts-and-behaviour-in-normative-political-theory-paperback-9781107450523","title":"Is Political Philosophy Impossible?; Thoughts and Behaviour in Normative Political Theory (Paperback \/ softback) 9781107450523","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eIs Political Philosophy Impossible?\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eThoughts and Behaviour in Normative Political Theory\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA major new statement on how we do, and we ought to do, political philosophy.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eJonathan Floyd (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781107450523, Cambridge University Press\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 7 September 2017\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e288 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.8 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e'This is a fresh, inventive and deeply reflective approach to what political philosophy is capable. and incapable, of delivering. Dr Floyd argues meticulously for the need to jettison the principled preconditions of a broad spectrum of philosophical arguments. Instead, he holds, we should excavate our behavioural responses in the real world from which to derive political guidelines as members of our societies. In bold and erudite fashion, this book carves out valuable new space in a field some believe to be overcrowded.' Michael Freeden, University of Oxford\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePolitical philosophy seems both impossible to do and impossible to avoid. Impossible to do, because we cannot agree on a single set of political principles. Impossible to avoid, because we're always living with some kind of political system, and thus some set of principles. So, if we can't do the philosophy, but can't escape the politics, what are we to do? Jonathan Floyd argues that the answer lies in political philosophy's deepest methodological commitments. First, he shows how political philosophy is practiced as a kind of 'thinking about thinking'. Second, he unpicks the different types of thought we think about, such as considered judgements, or intuitive responses to moral dilemmas, and assesses whether any are fit for purpose. Third, he offers an alternative approach - 'normative behaviourism' - which holds that rather than studying our thinking, we should study our behaviour. Perhaps, just sometimes, actions speak louder than thoughts.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePart I. Introduction: 1. What is this book about?\u003cbr\u003e 2. Synopsis of chapter one\u003cbr\u003e 3. Synopsis of chapter two\u003cbr\u003e 4. Synopsis of chapter three\u003cbr\u003e 5. Who am I to say this?\u003cbr\u003e Part II. Symptom: Interminability: 6. Overview\u003cbr\u003e 7. Three questions: OQ, FQ, SQ\u003cbr\u003e 8. Rawls and a few of his rivals\u003cbr\u003e 9. A reassessment of the problem and a switch in literature\u003cbr\u003e 10. Isaiah Berlin: from value-pluralism, to universal evils, to liberalism\u003cbr\u003e 11. Rawls' second set of answers: from reasonableness to liberalism\u003cbr\u003e 12. United by an ideal of democracy?\u003cbr\u003e 13. United by an ideal of tolerance?\u003cbr\u003e 14. Stuart Hampshire and a second argument from universal evils\u003cbr\u003e 15. Joseph Raz: practical reason as a guide to political morality\u003cbr\u003e 16. Alasdair Macintyre: competing traditions as a guide to morality\u003cbr\u003e 17. Rorty's liberalism by redescription\u003cbr\u003e 18. A variety of further responses: denial, judgement, deferral\u003cbr\u003e 19. Interminability described\u003cbr\u003e the impossibility thesis introduced\u003cbr\u003e 20. The impossibility thesis sustained\u003cbr\u003e 21. Summary of arguments and a sketch of what follows\u003cbr\u003e Part III. Diagnosis: Mentalism: 22. Introduction\u003cbr\u003e 23. What mentalism is\u003cbr\u003e 24. Mentalism's techniques\u003cbr\u003e 25. Three types of mentalist evidence and a synopsis of why mentalism fails\u003cbr\u003e 26.1. The evidence for failure: impartial choices\u003cbr\u003e 26.2. The evidence for failure: considered judgements\u003cbr\u003e 26.3. The evidence for failure: intuitive choices of abstract principle\u003cbr\u003e 27. Normative dissonance in full view\u003cbr\u003e 28. Objections and clarifications\u003cbr\u003e 29. The problem restated\u003cbr\u003e Part IV. Cure: Normative Behaviourism: 30. Introduction\u003cbr\u003e 31. Normative behaviourism: a brief sketch\u003cbr\u003e 32.1. Preliminaries: facts, principles, thoughts, and behavior\u003cbr\u003e 32.2. Preliminaries: reasonable objections, causes\/purposes, reliable tendencies, and the case for experimental optimism\u003cbr\u003e 33. An explanatory theory of social-liberal-democracy's success\u003cbr\u003e 34. The relationship between normative behaviourism, psychological behaviourism, political behaviouralism, and political science more generally\u003cbr\u003e 35. Reasons to be convinced by social-liberal-democracy\u003cbr\u003e 36. Normative behaviourism defended against five objections\u003cbr\u003e 37. Conclusions\u003cbr\u003e Part V. Conclusion: 38. Overview\u003cbr\u003e 39. Reiteration: out of the cave and on the way to Denmark\u003cbr\u003e 40. Clarification by way of a new set of comparisons\u003cbr\u003e 41. Concessions and reflections.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eSubject Areas: Political science \u0026amp; theory [\u003ca title=\"See our other books on Political science \u0026amp; theory\" href=\"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/search?q=%22Political%20science%20\u0026amp;%20theory%20%5BJPA%5D%22\"\u003eJPA\u003c\/a\u003e]\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Cambridge University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46002017009944,"sku":"9781107450523","price":24.59,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0730\/2037\/5320\/products\/9781107450523i.jpg?v=1696754339","url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/is-political-philosophy-impossible-thoughts-and-behaviour-in-normative-political-theory-paperback-9781107450523","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}