Niklas Möller
Biographic Data
| ID | 3873318 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Niklas Möller |
| GIVEN NAMES | Niklas |
| FAMILY NAME | Möller |
| SIGNATURE | MOLLER N |
| AFFILIATIONS | KTH Royal Institute of Technology |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
We Can Believe Quasi-Realism
According to one influential line of thought, quasi-realism is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, if the quasi-realist project of saying everything the realist wants to say is successful, quasi-realism collapses into realism. On the other hand, if the quasi-realist stops short of saying everything the realist wants to say, quasi-realism fails to realize its explanatory ambitions. In a recent paper, Bart Streumer argues that there is a way for…
Algorithmic Fairness and Feasibility
The “impossibility results” in algorithmic fairness suggest that a predictive model cannot fully meet two common fairness criteria – sufficiency and separation – except under extraordinary circumstances. These findings have sparked a discussion on fairness in algorithms, prompting debates over whether predictive models can avoid unfair discrimination based on protected attributes, such as ethnicity or gender. As shown by Otto Sahlgren, however, t…
The Importance and Limitation of Epistemic Norms in Political Theory
One recent debate in political theory centers on the question of whether there is a distinctively political normativity. According to an influential view, there is a distinctive set of norms that applies specifically to political actions and decisions, which are not grounded in moral normativity. On one version of this non-moral view, political theory is grounded in epistemic normativity (and thus epistemic norms). Theorists identifying as “radic…
Why Normative Behaviourism Does Not Improve Political Realism
Focusing on ‘real actions’ of ‘real people’, normative behaviourism turns facts about observable patterns of behaviour into grounds for specific normative political principles. For this reason, this way of doing normative political theory has strong political realist credentials, given its methods, values and ambitions. In fact, according to its supporters, normative behaviourism is an improvement of political realism since it solves two problems…
What is distinctive of political normativity? From domain view to role view
In the last couple of years, increased attention has been directed at the question of whether there is such a thing as a distinctively political normativity. With few exceptions, this question has so far only been explored by political realists. However, the discussion about a distinctively political normativity raises methodological and meta-theoretical questions of general importance for political theory. Although the terminology varies, it is …
Does Normative Behaviourism Offer an Alternative Methodology in Political Theory
A central distinction for Jonathan Floyd is that between the traditional method of pursuing political theory conducted by mainstream theorists, which he calls ‘mentalism’, and his suggested method, so-called ‘normative behaviourism’. While the former relies on patterns of thought (e.g. intuitions, value commitments, principles or considered judgements) to justify normative theories, the latter instead relies on patterns of behaviour. Floyd argues…
Distinctively Political Normativity in Political Realism: Unattractive or Redundant
Political realists’ rejection of the so-called ‘ethics first’ approach of political moralists (mainstream liberals), has raised concerns about their own source of normativity. Some realists have responded to such concerns by theorizing a distinctively political normativity. According to this view, politics is seen as an autonomous, independent domain with its own evaluative standards. Therefore, it is in this source, rather than in some moral val…
Is Ideal Theory Useless for Nonideal Theory
Ever since the debate between ideal and nonideal theory emerged in political theory, a "strong position" has been defended, which holds that ideal theory is useless for theorizing what ought to be done to make our actual societies more just. Varieties of this position have been put forward, but the criticism has been underdeveloped. In the last couple of years, however, the strong position has been defended in a more systematic way and on other g…
A World of Possibilities: The Place of Feasibility in Political Theory
Although the discussion about feasibility in political theory is still in its infancy, some important progress has been made in the last years to advance our understanding. In this paper, we intend to make a contribution to this growing literature by investigating the proper place of feasibility considerations in political theory. A motivating force behind this study is a suspicion that many presumptions made about feasibility in several current …
Political Legitimacy for Our World: Where Is Political Realism Going
A common denominator of recent proposals suggested by political realists has been a rather pessimistic view of what we may rightfully demand of political authorities in terms of legitimacy. In our analysis, three main justificatory strategies are utilized by realists, each supposedly generating normative premises for this “low bar conclusion.” These strategies make use of the concept of politics, the constitutive features of politics, and feasibi…
Why Democracy Cannot Be Grounded in Epistemic Principles
In recent years, philosophers influenced by Peirce's pragmatism have contributed to the democracy debate by offering not simply a justification of democracy that relies on epistemic as well as mora
What distinguishes the practice-dependent approach to justice
The practice-dependent approach to justice has received a lot of attention in post-millennium political philosophy. It has been developed in different directions and its normative implications have been criticized, but little attention has been directed to the very distinction between practice-dependence and practice-independence and the question of what theoretically differentiates a practice-dependent account from mainstream practice-independen…
Why Political Realists Should Not Be Afraid of Moral Values
In a previous article, we unpacked the so-called first premise-the idea that ethics is prior to politics when theorizing political legitimacy-that is denied by political realists. We def ...
What not to expect from the pragmatic turn in political theory
The central ideas coming out of the so-called pragmatic turn in philosophy have set in motion what may be described as a pragmatic turn in normative political theory. It has become commonplace among political theorists to draw on theories of language and meaning in theorising democracy, pluralism, justice, etc. The aim of this paper is to explore attempts by political theorists to use theories of language and meaning for such normative purposes. …
Political Legitimacy in the Real Normative World: The Priority of Morality and the Autonomy of the Political
According to what has recently been labeled ‘political realism’ in political theory, ‘political moralists’ such as Rawls and Dworkin misconstrue the political domain by presuming that morality has priority over politics, thus overlooking that the political is an autonomous domain with its own distinctive conditions and normative sources. Political realists argue that this presumption, commonly referred to as the ‘ethics first premise’, has to be …
Practices and Principles: On the Methodological Turn in Political Theory
The question of what role social and political practices should play in the justification of normative principles has received renewed attention in post-millennium political philosophy. Several current debates express dissatisfaction with the methodology adopted in mainstream political theory, taking the form of a criticism of so-called 'ideal theory' from 'non-ideal' theory, of 'practice-independent' theory from 'practice-dependent' theory, and …
Debate: B random and Political Philosophy
We Can Believe the Error Theory
Three Failed Charges against Ideal Theory
An intensified discussion on the role of normative ideals has re-emerged in several debates in political philosophy. What is often referred to as ‘ideal theory’, represented by liberal egalitarians such as John Rawls, is under attack from those that stress that political philosophy at large should take much more seriously the non-ideal circumstances consisting of relations of domination and power under which normative ideals, principles and ideas…
Political Legitimacy in the Real Normative World: The Priority of Morality and the Autonomy of the Political
According to what has recently been labeled ‘political realism’ in political theory, ‘political moralists’ such as Rawls and Dworkin misconstrue the political domain by presuming that morality has priority over politics, thus overlooking that the political is an autonomous domain with its own distinctive conditions and normative sources. Political realists argue that this presumption, commonly referred to as the ‘ethics first premise’, has to be …
Political Legitimacy for Our World: Where Is Political Realism Going
A common denominator of recent proposals suggested by political realists has been a rather pessimistic view of what we may rightfully demand of political authorities in terms of legitimacy. In our analysis, three main justificatory strategies are utilized by realists, each supposedly generating normative premises for this “low bar conclusion.” These strategies make use of the concept of politics, the constitutive features of politics, and feasibi…
What not to expect from the pragmatic turn in political theory
The central ideas coming out of the so-called pragmatic turn in philosophy have set in motion what may be described as a pragmatic turn in normative political theory. It has become commonplace among political theorists to draw on theories of language and meaning in theorising democracy, pluralism, justice, etc. The aim of this paper is to explore attempts by political theorists to use theories of language and meaning for such normative purposes. …
Is Ideal Theory Useless for Nonideal Theory
Ever since the debate between ideal and nonideal theory emerged in political theory, a "strong position" has been defended, which holds that ideal theory is useless for theorizing what ought to be done to make our actual societies more just. Varieties of this position have been put forward, but the criticism has been underdeveloped. In the last couple of years, however, the strong position has been defended in a more systematic way and on other g…
Practices and Principles: On the Methodological Turn in Political Theory
The question of what role social and political practices should play in the justification of normative principles has received renewed attention in post-millennium political philosophy. Several current debates express dissatisfaction with the methodology adopted in mainstream political theory, taking the form of a criticism of so-called 'ideal theory' from 'non-ideal' theory, of 'practice-independent' theory from 'practice-dependent' theory, and …
Does Normative Behaviourism Offer an Alternative Methodology in Political Theory
A central distinction for Jonathan Floyd is that between the traditional method of pursuing political theory conducted by mainstream theorists, which he calls ‘mentalism’, and his suggested method, so-called ‘normative behaviourism’. While the former relies on patterns of thought (e.g. intuitions, value commitments, principles or considered judgements) to justify normative theories, the latter instead relies on patterns of behaviour. Floyd argues…
Debate: B random and Political Philosophy
A World of Possibilities: The Place of Feasibility in Political Theory
Although the discussion about feasibility in political theory is still in its infancy, some important progress has been made in the last years to advance our understanding. In this paper, we intend to make a contribution to this growing literature by investigating the proper place of feasibility considerations in political theory. A motivating force behind this study is a suspicion that many presumptions made about feasibility in several current …
What distinguishes the practice-dependent approach to justice
The practice-dependent approach to justice has received a lot of attention in post-millennium political philosophy. It has been developed in different directions and its normative implications have been criticized, but little attention has been directed to the very distinction between practice-dependence and practice-independence and the question of what theoretically differentiates a practice-dependent account from mainstream practice-independen…
We Can Believe the Error Theory
Why Normative Behaviourism Does Not Improve Political Realism
Focusing on ‘real actions’ of ‘real people’, normative behaviourism turns facts about observable patterns of behaviour into grounds for specific normative political principles. For this reason, this way of doing normative political theory has strong political realist credentials, given its methods, values and ambitions. In fact, according to its supporters, normative behaviourism is an improvement of political realism since it solves two problems…
What is distinctive of political normativity? From domain view to role view
In the last couple of years, increased attention has been directed at the question of whether there is such a thing as a distinctively political normativity. With few exceptions, this question has so far only been explored by political realists. However, the discussion about a distinctively political normativity raises methodological and meta-theoretical questions of general importance for political theory. Although the terminology varies, it is …
Three Failed Charges against Ideal Theory
An intensified discussion on the role of normative ideals has re-emerged in several debates in political philosophy. What is often referred to as ‘ideal theory’, represented by liberal egalitarians such as John Rawls, is under attack from those that stress that political philosophy at large should take much more seriously the non-ideal circumstances consisting of relations of domination and power under which normative ideals, principles and ideas…
Debate: B random and Political Philosophy
We Can Believe the Error Theory
Why Political Realists Should Not Be Afraid of Moral Values
In a previous article, we unpacked the so-called first premise-the idea that ethics is prior to politics when theorizing political legitimacy-that is denied by political realists. We def ...
What not to expect from the pragmatic turn in political theory
The central ideas coming out of the so-called pragmatic turn in philosophy have set in motion what may be described as a pragmatic turn in normative political theory. It has become commonplace among political theorists to draw on theories of language and meaning in theorising democracy, pluralism, justice, etc. The aim of this paper is to explore attempts by political theorists to use theories of language and meaning for such normative purposes. …
Political Legitimacy in the Real Normative World: The Priority of Morality and the Autonomy of the Political
According to what has recently been labeled ‘political realism’ in political theory, ‘political moralists’ such as Rawls and Dworkin misconstrue the political domain by presuming that morality has priority over politics, thus overlooking that the political is an autonomous domain with its own distinctive conditions and normative sources. Political realists argue that this presumption, commonly referred to as the ‘ethics first premise’, has to be …
Practices and Principles: On the Methodological Turn in Political Theory
The question of what role social and political practices should play in the justification of normative principles has received renewed attention in post-millennium political philosophy. Several current debates express dissatisfaction with the methodology adopted in mainstream political theory, taking the form of a criticism of so-called 'ideal theory' from 'non-ideal' theory, of 'practice-independent' theory from 'practice-dependent' theory, and …
Why Democracy Cannot Be Grounded in Epistemic Principles
In recent years, philosophers influenced by Peirce's pragmatism have contributed to the democracy debate by offering not simply a justification of democracy that relies on epistemic as well as mora
What distinguishes the practice-dependent approach to justice
The practice-dependent approach to justice has received a lot of attention in post-millennium political philosophy. It has been developed in different directions and its normative implications have been criticized, but little attention has been directed to the very distinction between practice-dependence and practice-independence and the question of what theoretically differentiates a practice-dependent account from mainstream practice-independen…
Political Legitimacy for Our World: Where Is Political Realism Going
A common denominator of recent proposals suggested by political realists has been a rather pessimistic view of what we may rightfully demand of political authorities in terms of legitimacy. In our analysis, three main justificatory strategies are utilized by realists, each supposedly generating normative premises for this “low bar conclusion.” These strategies make use of the concept of politics, the constitutive features of politics, and feasibi…
A World of Possibilities: The Place of Feasibility in Political Theory
Although the discussion about feasibility in political theory is still in its infancy, some important progress has been made in the last years to advance our understanding. In this paper, we intend to make a contribution to this growing literature by investigating the proper place of feasibility considerations in political theory. A motivating force behind this study is a suspicion that many presumptions made about feasibility in several current …
Distinctively Political Normativity in Political Realism: Unattractive or Redundant
Political realists’ rejection of the so-called ‘ethics first’ approach of political moralists (mainstream liberals), has raised concerns about their own source of normativity. Some realists have responded to such concerns by theorizing a distinctively political normativity. According to this view, politics is seen as an autonomous, independent domain with its own evaluative standards. Therefore, it is in this source, rather than in some moral val…
Is Ideal Theory Useless for Nonideal Theory
Ever since the debate between ideal and nonideal theory emerged in political theory, a "strong position" has been defended, which holds that ideal theory is useless for theorizing what ought to be done to make our actual societies more just. Varieties of this position have been put forward, but the criticism has been underdeveloped. In the last couple of years, however, the strong position has been defended in a more systematic way and on other g…
What is distinctive of political normativity? From domain view to role view
In the last couple of years, increased attention has been directed at the question of whether there is such a thing as a distinctively political normativity. With few exceptions, this question has so far only been explored by political realists. However, the discussion about a distinctively political normativity raises methodological and meta-theoretical questions of general importance for political theory. Although the terminology varies, it is …
Does Normative Behaviourism Offer an Alternative Methodology in Political Theory
A central distinction for Jonathan Floyd is that between the traditional method of pursuing political theory conducted by mainstream theorists, which he calls ‘mentalism’, and his suggested method, so-called ‘normative behaviourism’. While the former relies on patterns of thought (e.g. intuitions, value commitments, principles or considered judgements) to justify normative theories, the latter instead relies on patterns of behaviour. Floyd argues…
Why Normative Behaviourism Does Not Improve Political Realism
Focusing on ‘real actions’ of ‘real people’, normative behaviourism turns facts about observable patterns of behaviour into grounds for specific normative political principles. For this reason, this way of doing normative political theory has strong political realist credentials, given its methods, values and ambitions. In fact, according to its supporters, normative behaviourism is an improvement of political realism since it solves two problems…
Algorithmic Fairness and Feasibility
The “impossibility results” in algorithmic fairness suggest that a predictive model cannot fully meet two common fairness criteria – sufficiency and separation – except under extraordinary circumstances. These findings have sparked a discussion on fairness in algorithms, prompting debates over whether predictive models can avoid unfair discrimination based on protected attributes, such as ethnicity or gender. As shown by Otto Sahlgren, however, t…
The Importance and Limitation of Epistemic Norms in Political Theory
One recent debate in political theory centers on the question of whether there is a distinctively political normativity. According to an influential view, there is a distinctive set of norms that applies specifically to political actions and decisions, which are not grounded in moral normativity. On one version of this non-moral view, political theory is grounded in epistemic normativity (and thus epistemic norms). Theorists identifying as “radic…
We Can Believe Quasi-Realism
According to one influential line of thought, quasi-realism is faced with a dilemma. On the one hand, if the quasi-realist project of saying everything the realist wants to say is successful, quasi-realism collapses into realism. On the other hand, if the quasi-realist stops short of saying everything the realist wants to say, quasi-realism fails to realize its explanatory ambitions. In a recent paper, Bart Streumer argues that there is a way for…
Political science (17 works) · Epistemology (16 works) · Law (16 works) · Philosophy (15 works) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (14 works) · Politics (14 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Law (11 works) · Normative (11 works) · Political philosophy (11 works)