Public Philosophy in a New Key: Volume 1, Democracy and Civic Freedom

Two ambitious volumes from one of the world's leading political philosophers presenting a new kind of political and legal theory.

James Tully (Author)

9780521449618, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 18 December 2008

386 pages
23.4 x 15.6 x 2.1 cm, 0.73 kg

'Tully regards his political philosophy as a public philosophy, engaged in a constant dialogue with political agents. Where and how this dialogue takes place and which political effects it will have are questions beyond its control. The gap between theory and practice thus turns out to be a limit even for a theory that, as far as possible, conceives of itself as practice. Tully's work is exemplary in pushing this limit in ways from which both theory and practice can learn a great deal.' Constellations

These two ambitious volumes from one of the world's most celebrated political philosophers present a new kind of political and legal theory that James Tully calls a public philosophy, and a complementary new way of thinking about active citizenship, called civic freedom. Professor Tully takes the reader step-by-step through the principal debates in political theory and the major types of political struggle today. These volumes represent a genuine landmark in political theory from the author of Strange Multiplicity, one of the most influential and distinctive commentaries on politics and the contemporary world published in recent years. This first volume of Public Philosophy in a New Key consists of a presentation and defence of a contextual approach to public philosophy and civic freedom, and then goes on to study specific struggles over recognition and distribution within states.

Dedication
Acknowledgements
Credits
Introduction
Public philosophy and civic freedom: a guide to the two Volumes
Part I. Approaching Practice: 1. Public philosophy as a critical activity
2. Situated creatively: Wittgenstein and political philosophy
3. To think and act differently: comparing critical ethos and critical Theory
Part II. Democracy and Recognition: 4. The agonistic freedom of citizens
5. Reimagining belonging in diverse societies
6. Multinational democracies: an introductory sketch
Part III. Indigenous Peoples: 7. The negotiation of reconciliation
8. The struggles of indigenous peoples for and of freedom
Conclusion: 9. Recognition, distribution and civic freedom: the emergence of a new field
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], Social & political philosophy [HPS]