On the Relationship between Political Philosophy and Empirical Sciences

Bibliographic Data

ID11308276
AuthorsThomas Schramme (0000-0001-6319-6635, corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume30
Issue2
Pages613-626
Publication date2008-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnalyse & Kritik (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0171-5860 • E-ISSN: 2365-9858
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/auk-2008-0214
OpenAlexW2405395693
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited12

In this paper, I will focus on the role that findings of the empirical sciences might play in justifying normative claims in political philosophy. In the first section, I will describe how political theory has become a discipline divorced from empirical sciences, against a strong current in post-war political philosophy. I then argue that Rawls’s idea of reflective equilibrium, rightly interpreted, leads to a perspective on the matter of justification that takes seriously empirical findings regarding currently held normative beliefs of people. I will finally outline some functions that empirical studies might have in political philosophy

Economics · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Epistemology · Focus (optics · Normative · Perspective (graphical · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Reflective equilibrium · Social science · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics

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