Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

The eyeball test

by
August 2014, no. 363

Just Freedom: A moral compass for a complex world by Philip Pettit

W.W. Norton & Co. (Wiley), $33.95 hb, 278 pp

The eyeball test

by
August 2014, no. 363

In a recent Prospect interview, distinguished Princeton and ANU scholar Philip Pettit described political philosophy as a conversation around various themes. Some voices focus on power or freedom, others on democracy or the nature of the state. The conversation should extend beyond the academy, argued Pettit, to embrace public intellectuals, journalists, commentators, political scientists, activists, and government. 

Above all, Pettit suggests, political philosophy should be engaged. Aim to understand and move the world. Political philosophy is a guide to what we can do, alone and together. Hence Just Freedom, a volume with intentions captured in the subtitle: A Moral Compass for a Complex World. Amid the noise of political life, Pettit offers principles to shape decisions. For him, justice is freedom, freedom justice. Be clear about what constitutes justice, and you have a robust basis for decisions about life, political communities, and global sovereignty.

You May Also Like

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.