An Introduction to Political Philosophy

384 Pages·2019·5.145 MB·English

by  Colin Bird

CAMBRIDGE INTRODUCTIONS TO PHILOSOPHY
An Introduction to
Political Philosophy
SECOND EDITION
COLIN BIRD

i
An Introduction to Political Philosophy

Now revised and updated and containing several entirely new chapters,
this book provides a comprehensive introduction to political philosophy.
It discusses historical and contemporary figures and covers a vast range
of topics and debates, including immigration, war, national and global
economics, the ethical and political implications of climate change, and
the persistence of racial oppression and injustice. It also presents access-
ible, nontechnical discussions of perfectionism, utilitarianism, theories
of the social contract, and the Marxian tradition of social criticism. Real-
life examples introduce students to ways of using philosophical reflection
and debates, and open up new perspectives on politics and political issues.
Throughout, this book challenges readers to think critically about political
arguments and institutions that they might otherwise take for granted. It
will be a vital and provocative resource for any student of philosophy or
political science.
COLIN BIRD is Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia. He
is the author of The Myth of Liberal Individualism (Cambridge, 1999), and his
work has also appeared in numerous major academic journals including
Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, the American Political Science Review, Political
Theory, Polity, and the European Journal of Philosophy.
ii
iii
An Introduction to Political Philosophy

Second Edition
COLIN BIRD
University of Virginia
iv
University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
314–3 21, 3rd Floor, Plot 3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre,
New Delhi – 110025, India
79 Anson Road, #06- 04/ 06, Singapore 079906
Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge.
It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of
education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence.
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title:  www.cambridge.org/ 9781108423434
DOI:  10.1017/ 9781108526067
© Colin Bird 2006, 2019
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2006
Reprinted 2010
Second edition 2019
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A.
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bird, Colin, author.
Title: An introduction to political philosophy / Colin Bird.
Description: Second edition. | Cambridge; New York, NY: Cambridge
University Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018048988 | ISBN 9781108423434 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781108437554 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Political science – Philosophy.
Classifi cation: LCC JA71.B528 2019 | DDC 320.01–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018048988
ISBN 978- 1- 108- 42343- 4 Hardback
ISBN 978- 1- 108- 43755-4 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of URLs for external or third- party internet websites referred to in this publication
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
v
Contents

Preface to the Second Edition page xi
Introduction 1
The Quest for Justification 3
Ideas and Concepts in Political Life 4
“Theory and Practice” 5
The Plan of the Book 7
Part I Politics and Critical Morality
1 Forms of Political Criticism 11
Exposing the Pipes 11
Defusing and Mobilizing Arguments 12
Subjective and Objective 14
Defusing Skepticism, Mobilizing Criticism 16
Pacifica and Atlantis 23
Positive and Critical Morality 27
Critical Morality as Introspective 32
Critical Morality as Historical 35
2 The Common Good 40
The Idea of a “Common Good” 40
Why Politics Excludes Slavery 43
The Common Good in Politics 44
Public and Private 46
Down with Liberal Democracy 49
Some Replies 52
Perfectionism 56
vi
vi Contents
3 Classical Utilitarianism 59
The Utility Principle 60
Indirect Utilitarianism 62
Expanding the Circle 65
Perfectionism and Hedonism 68
Rational Ends and Rational Constraints 70
4 Utilitarian Critical Morality: Implications and Problems 73
Sympathy and Commensurability 74
Preference- Satisfaction 76
Desirable Consciousness 78
Utilitarian Common Goods 80
The Experience Machine 84
The Separateness of Persons 86
5 The Social Contract 90
Peace in Our Time 91
Politics as Conflict Resolution 92
The Hobbesian Contract 95
The Rational Will 98
Empirical Issues 100
The Lockean Critique 101
Problems with Locke’s Account 103
Doubts about Natural Rights 105
6 Contractualism 2.0 109
The General Will 111
The Theory of Rawls 113
Reflective Equilibrium 116
Intuitions and Their Status 117
Part II Topics in Political Philosophy
7 Property and Wealth 123
Property, Equality, Merit 124
Distributive Justice? 126
Hayek and Spontaneous Order 127
Liberty and Patterns 129
The Entitlement Theory 130
Assessing the Libertarian Challenge 133
Misfortune and Injustice 134
vii
Contents vii
Blame- Responsibility and Remedy- Responsibility 137
Justice and Responsibility 140
The Famine- Relief Argument 143
Possible Replies Rejected 145
Dividing Responsibilities 148
8 Economic Justice 151
Some Initial Leads 152
Rawls on Social Justice 154
The Difference Principle 157
The Desert Objection 159
The Common Assets Objection 163
The Relevance of Coercion 166
The Sufficiency Objection 168
Global Distributive Justice? 170
Particularism and Cosmopolitanism 172
Coercion and Autonomy 174
Problems with the Coercion Argument 175
9 The Significance of Borders 178
International Migration 180
Authority: General Features 181
Territory 185
Membership 190
The Claims of Migrants 192
Exclusion from Membership 194
Exclusion from Territory 199
10 Responsibility for the Environment 206
The Place of Political Philosophy 208
The Prudential Dilemma 212
The Place of Justice 215
Climate Change Skepticism 221
Answering the Skeptics 223
How Bad Will It Be? 227
11 War 233
Three Views 234
War and Justice 235
The Just War Criteria 236
In bello and ad bellum 239
viii
viii Contents
Just Cause 240
The Claims of Peace 244
Killing in Self- Defense 246
Killing Combatants 249
Realism 251
The “War System” 254
An Uncertain Future 258
12 Liberty 260
Berlin’s Wall 260
An Ideological Distinction? 262
Two Families of Ideas 264
The Modalities of Positive Freedom 266
Forms of Unfreedom: Coercion 269
Domination 273
Oppression 277
Sweatshops 281
13 Democratic Rule 285
What Is Democracy? 285
The Complexity of Democratic Forms 286
Democratic Ideals 289
The Positive Arguments 290
The Defensive Arguments 292
The Common G ood Justification 294
The Argument from Self- Government 298
The Argument from Egalitarian Justice 301
The Conflict Resolution Argument 302
Safeguarding Liberty against Power 304
Part III Changing the World: Ideal Futures
and Past Injustices
14 Critical Enlightenment, Ideology, and Materialism 309
What Is Critical Enlightenment? 311
How to Change the World 315
Marx’s Doubts: Ideology and Materialism 316
Moralizing Criticism 319
The Blueprint Model 324
Change and Reconciliation 328