Review: Contemporary Political Philosophy

If you are interested in acquainting yourself with the field of political philosophy this is one of the best starting points to do so. For many students of political philosophy Will Kymlicka is a household name. One of the reasons is this clearly written book, which outlays many different schools of thought that are influential in today's political philosophy. It provided me a very interesting perspectives on what exactly sets a Rawlsian liberal apart from a socialist, or what is the domain of the political and how feminists, for example, have expanded that notion to make visible power relations within the 'private sphere'. Kymlicka also convinced me that market-libertarian Robert Nozick actually makes little sense at all.

The book illuminates how moral principles have to be informed with an analysis of what are society's essential problems and how society works to give a fully rounded political philosophical theory. The Rawlsian liberal, for example, is not philosophically wedded to capitalism, but normally thinks that it works. Therefore he allows inequality in his theory of distributive justice, if that inequality in the end allows for the biggest 'piece of pie' for the worst-off.

'Contemporary Political Philosophy' has a definite analytical style, which makes comparing different theories in the book easier. This also means that as an introduction to more continental (German and French) political philosophers, even Hannah Arendt, you need to read other books. But the advantage of this particular set-up is that it allows Kymlicka to figure out whether these different political philosophical theories all start from another point of view, another principle, or whether they can all be reduced to essentially coming from the principle of equality. If that were so, there would be a common ground on which philosophers could discuss which theory has made the best account or interpretation of this communal value. Has this been succesful? Is political difference of opinion really fundamentally just a difference in ideas of how to interpret the value of equality? If you would like to know the answer to this question, or if you would like to be armed with the basics in political philosophical theory, go read this book!

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