Reality and Imagination in Political Theory and Practice: On Raymond Geuss' Realism
European Journal of Political Theory, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 204-212, 2009
13 Pages Posted: 29 Feb 2012
Date Written: March 29, 2009
Abstract
Can political theory be action-guiding without relying on pre-political normative commitments? I answer that question affirmatively by unpacking two related tenets of Raymond Geuss’ political realism: the view that political philosophy should not be a branch of ethics, and the ensuing empirically-informed conception of legitimacy. I argue that the former idea can be made sense of by reference to Hobbes’ account of authorization, and that realist legitimacy can be normatively salient in so far as it stands in the correct relation to a theory of justice and problematizes its sources of value through what Geuss terms ‘political imagination’.
Keywords: Authority, Critical Theory, Geuss, Imagination, Legitimacy, Political Realism, Power
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation