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1Alasdair Macintyre : After virtue and afterIn John Horton & Susan Mendus (eds.), After Macintyre: Critical Perspectives on the Work of Alasdair Macintyre, University of Notre Dame Press. 1994.
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51John Locke's Letter on Toleration in Focus (edited book)Routledge. 1991.Though several editions of Locke's Letter of Toleration art available, the unique value of this volume lies in the fact that it conbines both the text of the Letter and interpretative, critical essays. Several essays are reprints of the most important articles on the Letter , but there is also new material , specially commissioned for the volume and published here for the first time. Given the importance of Locke's Letter on Toleration , this volume will be welcomed by both students and teachers…Read more
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125Aspects of toleration: philosophical studies (edited book)Methuen. 1985.Introduction JOHN HORTON AND SUSAN MENDUS The essays in this volume are concerned with the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in the idea of ...
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1032After Macintyre: Critical Perspectives on the Work of Alasdair Macintyre (edited book)University of Notre Dame Press. 1994.After MacIntyre contains original essays by leading moral and political philosophers who assess both the merits and limitations of Alasdair MacIntyre's work. Among the themes explored here are MacIntyre's historical arguments about the sources of the failure of modernity; the validity and relevance of his attempt to reinstate the ideas of Aristotle and Aquinas as central to any satisfactory moral understanding; the effectiveness of his critique of modern liberalism; and the adequacy of key conce…Read more
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49What Might it Mean for Political Theory to Be More ‘Realistic’?Philosophia 45 (2): 487-501. 2017.This paper explores two different versions of ‘the realist turn’ in recent political theory. It begins by setting out two principal realist criticisms of liberal moralism: that it is both descriptively and normatively inadequate. It then pursues the second criticism by arguing that there are two fundamentally different responses among realists to the alleged normative inadequacy of ideal theory. First, prescriptive realists argue that the aim of realism is to make political theory more normative…Read more
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121Review article: Peggy Lee’s question: Charles Taylor, secularism and the meaning of lifeEuropean Journal of Political Theory 10 (1): 113-121. 2011.
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12Modus Vivendi and Political LegitimacyIn John Horton, Manon Westphal & Ulrich Willems (eds.), The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi, Springer Verlag. pp. 131-148. 2018.In this paper I seek to explore how the idea of modus vivendi might help us to understand political legitimacy. A suitable conception of modus vivendi, I suggest, can represent a way of underpinning a viable and attractive account of political legitimacy. On my account a modus vivendi is basically a set of arrangements that are accepted as basis for conducting affairs by those who are party to them. Political legitimacy, I argue, is ultimately rooted in the judgements of those subject to it, but…Read more
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25Book Review: Defending Associative Obligations, by Jonathan SeglowDefending Associative Obligations, by SeglowJonathan. New York: Routledge, 2013. xi + 215 pp (review)Political Theory 44 (4): 597-600. 2016.
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31Review of Ian Harris: The mind of John Locke: a study of political theory in its intellectual setting (review)Ethics 106 (3): 644-645. 1996.
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68John Locke: A Letter Concerning Toleration -- In FocusPhilosophical Quarterly 43 (173): 539. 1993.
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50The Good, the Bad, and the ImpartialUtilitas 8 (3): 307. 1996.In Justice as Impartiality Brian Barry seeks to present ‘a universally valid case in favour of liberal egalitarian principles’. It is an ambitious enterprise undertaken with originality, vigour, and wit; and containing a wealth of interesting argumentation. If, ultimately, Barry fails in the task he sets himself, as I shall argue he does, the attempt is none the less highly instructive; not only because of the many local successes in his arguments with proponents of alternative theories and his …Read more
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58Politics, Innocence and the Limits of Goodness. P. Johnson, London, Routledge, 1988, pp. 283Utilitas 1 (2): 316. 1989.
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122Realism, liberal moralism and a political theory of modus vivendiEuropean Journal of Political Theory 9 (4): 431-448. 2010.This article sets out some of the key features of a realist critique of liberal moralism, identifying descriptive inadequacy and normative irrelevance as the two fundamental lines of criticism. It then sketches an outline of a political theory of modus vivendi as an alternative, realist approach to political theory. On this account a modus vivendi should be understood as any political settlement that involves the preservation of peace and security and is generally acceptable to those who are par…Read more
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24Rawls in BritainEuropean Journal of Political Theory 1 (2): 147-161. 2002.This article discusses the reception of Rawls's work in Britain. A number of difficulties are first identified in attempting to distinguish a distinctively British context of reception. Because of the extensive commonality with British political theory, Rawls's work was almost instantly absorbed within political theory in Britain. Important early criticisms focused on Rawls's methodology, his conception of the original position and his treatment of liberty. Reactions on the left indicated a fail…Read more
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133Review article: The smartest guys in the room: Cohen and Sen on justiceEuropean Journal of Political Theory 10 (3): 430-437. 2011.
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173Political legitimacy, justice and consentCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 15 (2): 129-148. 2012.What is it for a state, constitution or set of governmental institutions to have political legitimacy? This paper raises some doubts about two broadly liberal answers to this question, which can be labelled ?Kantian? and ?libertarian?. The argument focuses in particular on the relationship between legitimacy and principles of justice and on the place of consent. By contrast with these views, I suggest that, without endorsing the kind of voluntarist theory, according to which political legitimacy…Read more
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14Coping in Politics with Indeterminate Norms: A Theory of Enlightened LocalismContemporary Political Theory 3 (3): 342-343. 2004.
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19A Qualified Defence of Oakeshott’s Politics of ScepticismEuropean Journal of Political Theory 4 (1): 23-36. 2005.This article critically assesses Oakeshott’s conception of a politics of scepticism. It presents a broadly sympathetic account of this conception, but in doing so argues that the way in which he tries categorically to distinguish the politics of scepticism from the politics of faith is unsuccessful. As a consequence, it is argued that a politics of scepticism is quite consistent with a reformist, social democratic politics. Oakeshott’s approach to political theory is also compared favourably wit…Read more
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39John Gray: A Political Theorist Of and Against Our TimesCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 9 (2): 113--115. 2006.(2006). John Gray: A Political Theorist Of and Against Our Times. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy: Vol. 9, The Political Theory of John Gray, pp. 113-115
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94John Gray and the Political Theory of Modus VivendiCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 9 (2): 155-169. 2006.(2006). John Gray and the Political Theory of Modus Vivendi. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy: Vol. 9, The Political Theory of John Gray, pp. 155-169
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39Relativism, reality and philosophyHistory of the Human Sciences 13 (1): 19-36. 2000.This article explores Peter Winch’s account of the relationship between language and reality. It defends Winch against some common misunderstandings of his views but identifies two problematic areas. The first concerns the internal coherence of his account of philosophy. The second relates to the issue of rejecting particular ways of life or cultural practices as erroneous or illusory. One source of these problems is a tension between Winch’s official conception of philosophy and his own commitm…Read more
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117Rawls, Public Reason and the Limits of Liberal JustificationContemporary Political Theory 2 (1): 5-23. 2003.This article is a contribution to a critical exploration of the liberal project of normatively justifying basic political principles. The specific focus is John Rawls's use of the idea of public reason. After briefly discussing the evolution of Rawls's ideas from A Theory of Justice to his most recent writings, the key components of his conception of public reason are set out. Two principal lines of criticism are developed. The first is that the criteria of legitimacy Rawls establishes for a dem…Read more
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672. Toleration as a VirtueIn David Heyd (ed.), Toleration: An Elusive Virtue, Princeton University Press. pp. 28-43. 1998.
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23Conceptualising tolerationCritical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 23 (2): 191-196. 2020.
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30Community and conflict: The sources of liberal solidarityContemporary Political Theory 10 (1): 125-128. 2011.