This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kacenelenbogen, E. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Epistemological Modesty within Contemporary Political Thought

A Link between Hayek’s Neoliberalism and Pettit’s Republicanism

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, e_kacenelenbogen{at}hotmail.com

In this paper, I expound Philip Pettit’s political thought as an example of a ‘spontaneous and naturalistic’ view of politics and place his account within a liberal tradition of epistemological modesty which Pettit imagines he has transcended. To this end, I highlight the affinities between Pettit’s theory of freedom and a paradigmatically ‘modest’ social theory, namely, Hayek’s theory of the spontaneous social order. In light of the comparison with Hayek, I show that Pettit’s distinction between liberal and republican thought is not as vivid as he suggests. My contention is that the republican ideal of freedom offers not so much the makings of a viable non-liberal theory of political association as the expression, under a ‘new’ language of citizenship, of specifically Hayekian intuitions that lie at the core of contemporary neoliberalism.

Key Words: citizenship • democratic theory • Hayek • neoliberalism • Pettit • republicanism • sovereignty

European Journal of Political Theory, Vol. 8, No. 4, 449-471 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1474885109338000


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?