Why It's OK to Ignore Politcs

189 Pages·0.956 MB·English

by  Jason Brennan

Why It’s OK
to Ignore Politics
Do you feel like you’re the only person at your office without
an “I Voted!” sticker on Election Day? It turns out that you’re
far from alone—100 million eligible U.S. voters never went to
the polls in 2016. That’s about 35 million more than voted for
the winning presidential candidate.
In this book, Christopher Freiman explains why these
100 million need not feel guilty. Why It’s OK to Ignore Politics argues
that you’re under no obligation to be politically active. Freiman
addresses new objections to political abstention as well as
some old chestnuts (“But what if everyone stopped voting?”).
He also synthesizes recent empirical work showing how
our political motivations distort our choices and reasoning.
Because participating in politics is not an effective way to do
good, Freiman argues that we actually have a moral duty to
disengage from politics and instead take direct action to make
the world a better place.
Key Features
• Makes the case against a duty of political participation for
a nonexpert audience
• Presupposes no knowledge of philosophy or political
science and is written in a style free of technical jargon
• Addresses the standard, much- repeated arguments for
why one should vote (e.g., one shouldn’t free ride on the
efforts of others)
• Presents the growing literature on politically motivated
reasoning in an accessible and entertaining way
• Covers a significant amount of new ground in the debate
over a duty of political participation (e.g., whether
participating absolves us of our complicity in state
injustice)
• Challenges the increasingly popular argument from
philosophers and economists that swing state voting is
effective altruism
• Discusses the therapeutic benefits of ignoring politics—
it’s good for you, your relationships, and society as a
whole
Christopher Freiman is Associate Professor of Philosophy at
William & Mary. He is the author of Unequivocal Justice (2017).
Why It’s OK: The Ethics and Aesthetics of
How We Live
Philosophers often build cogent arguments for unpopular
positions. Recent examples include cases against marriage and
pregnancy, for treating animals as our equals, and dismissing
some popular art as aesthetically inferior. What philosophers
have done less often is to offer compelling arguments for
widespread and established human behavior, like getting
married, having children, eating animals, and going to the
movies. But if one role for philosophy is to help us reflect
on our lives and build sound justifications for our beliefs
and actions, it seems odd that philosophers would neglect
arguments for the lifestyles most people—including many
philosophers—actually lead. Unfortunately, philosophers’
inattention to normalcy has meant that the ways of life that
define our modern societies have gone largely without defense,
even as whole literatures have emerged to condemn them.
Why It’s OK: The Ethics and Aesthetics of How We Live
seeks to remedy that. It’s a series of books that provides
accessible, sound, and often new and creative arguments for
widespread ethical and aesthetic values. Made up of short
volumes that assume no previous knowledge of philosophy
from the reader, the series recognizes that philosophy is just
as important for understanding what we already believe as
it is for criticizing the status quo. The series isn’t meant to
make us complacent about what we value; rather, it helps and
challenges us to think more deeply about the values that give
our daily lives meaning.
Titles in Series:
Why It’s OK to Want to Be Rich
Jason Brennan
Why It’s OK to Be Of Two Minds
Jennifer Church
Why It’s OK to Ignore Politics
Christopher Freiman
Why It’s OK to Make Bad Choices
William Glod
Selected Forthcoming Titles:
s
olitic WChhrisyti eI tJ.’ sH OarKtle yto Get Married
P
e
r
o Why It’s OK to Love Bad Movies
n
g
o I Matthew Strohl
K t
O Why It’s OK to Eat Meat
s
y It’ Dan C. Shahar
h
W
Why It’s OK to Mind Your Own Business
Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke
Why It’s OK to Be Fat
Rekha Nath
Why It’s OK to Be a Moral Failure
Robert Talisse
For further information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Why- Its- OK/book- series/WIOK
CHRISTOPHER FREIMAN
Why It’s OK
to Ignore Politics
First published 2021
by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2021 Taylor & Francis
The right of Christopher Freiman to be identified as author of this
work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1 - 138- 38899-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 138- 38900-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 003- 03965-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Joanna MT Pro and DIN pro
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Mary,
for making my life immeasurably better

Contents
Acknowledgments xii
Introduction 1
In Pursuit of Political Wisdom One 9
Information About Particulars 10
Social Science 13
The Illusion of Explanatory Depth 15
Can We Take a Shortcut? 18
Moral Questions 21
We’re All Partisan Hacks Two 25
s
t
n
Politically Motivated Reasoning 28 e
t
n
The Case for Humility 33 o
C
Maybe Everyone Else is a Partisan Hack 36
Is It Hopeless? 39
The Costs and Benefits of Political Three 43
Participation
The Effectiveness of Political Action 44
Your Participation Doesn’t Promote Your Interests 46
The Public Interest 47
Other Kinds of Consequences 47