Philosophy Postgrad Work-In-Progress Seminar Ben Herscovitch, ‘Rawlsian Political Justice & The Coordination Problem Of Political Philosophy'
Monday August 10, 3.30-5.00pm, Philosophy Common Room. At the next PG WIP Seminar this Monday, Benjamin Herscovitch will present a paper entitled ‘Rawlsian Political Justice & The Coordination Problem Of Political Philosophy’. Here is his abstract: 'One of the most pressing questions of political philosophy concerns the appropriate response to diversity. Solutions that demand the imposition of the means of organising society recommended by a specific account of justice are deeply problematic. However, a thoroughly laissez-faire approach to diversity seems similarly unpalatable. In this paper I will argue that this coordination problem of political philosophy is best solved by means of an account of political justice that equates the politically just with whatever happens to embody the substance of the overlapping consensus of normative commitments of the relevant subjects. The claim that something approximating equilibrium between competing interests and conceptions of the good can be reached by means of this account of political justice will be made on the basis of an appropriation and extension of the meta-political thesis that undergirds John Rawls' post-1980 work. In making use of the meta-political thesis at the heart of Rawls' political justification of the liberal principles of justice, I will advance an unorthodox (and some would say manifestly incorrect) conventionalist reading of Rawls, which has him concerned specifically with existing practices. Finally, drawing on the Pufendorfian and Althusiusian federalist tradition, I will argue that a (con-)federalist architecture with a weak federal government best maps political justice, and so best solves the coordination problem of political philosophy.' Everyone (including non-postgrads) is welcome to attend. If you would like to present or require further information, please contact Nick Malpas at [email protected]. The format is 30 minutes for presentations followed by 1 hour of discussion. Since the primary aim of this seminar is to generate discussion, presentations need not be particularly polished or formal. The following Monday (August 17) the PG WIP seminar will NOT take place as the Common Room will be used for a staff meeting. We will resume the week following (Monday, August 24th), when Nick Malpas will be talking about 'Hannah Arendt and the Autonomy of the Political'.
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