Raymond Geuss' radicalization of realism in political theory

J. Prinz*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Raymond Geuss has been viewed as one of the figureheads of the recent debates about realism in political theory. This interpretation, however, depends on a truncated understanding of his work of the past 30 years. I will offer the first sustained engagement with this work (in English and German) which allows understanding his realism as a project for reorienting political theory, particularly the relationship between political theory and politics. I interpret this reorientation as a radicalization of realism in political theory through the combination of the emphasis on the critical purpose of political theory and the provision of practical, contextual orientation. Their compatibility depends on Geuss' understanding of criticism as negative, of power as detoxified' and of the critical purchase of political theory as based on the diagnostic engagement with its context. This radicalization particularly challenges the understanding of how political theory relates to its political context.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)777-796
Number of pages20
JournalPhilosophy and Social Criticism
Volume42
Issue number8
Early online dateMay 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2016
Externally publishedYes

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