What Makes the Public Special? Political Philosophy, Methodology and Politically Motivated Research

Avner de Shalit argues that philosophers should listen to what the public thinks. He argues that by engaging with people in the streets, political philosophy will improve. Yet, what makes the public special in this regard? This response will do three things. First, it asks whether discussing with th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAustralasian philosophical review Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 75 - 79
Main Author Bender, Felix
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 02.01.2020
Subjects
methodology
Political Philosophy
politics
public opinion
truth
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Summary:Avner de Shalit argues that philosophers should listen to what the public thinks. He argues that by engaging with people in the streets, political philosophy will improve. Yet, what makes the public special in this regard? This response will do three things. First, it asks whether discussing with the public differs in any meaningful way from discussing with other people such as colleagues or students. Second, it questions the methodological approach, asking whether de Shalit's approach provides a legitimate answer to his question. Third, it raises the worry that this approach is prone to doing politics rather than philosophy.
ISSN:2474-0500
2474-0519
DOI:10.1080/24740500.2021.1876418