Philosophy 101, #4: What are the roles of Political Philosophy?

I have contended in my previous post, Philosophy 101 #3, that value pluralism and its corresponding emergence of conflicts are the main concern of political philosophy. In this post, I would like to discuss the roles of political philosophy with regards to value pluralism.

The American philosopher, John Rawls, has given an interesting account of the roles of political philosophy of which I would like to address three:

1. Political philosophy should be practical
   It must therefore be able to identify an “underlying basis of philosophical and moral agreement” for the purpose of maintaining social order in a divided and pluralistic society;
2. Political philosophy should help us think about the aims, purposes and roles of people in society
   According to Rawls, "it belongs to reason and reflection (both theoretical and practical) to orient us in the (conceptual) space, say, of all possible ends, individual and associational, political and social.” In other words, political philosophy has the role of orientation and should guide us through the social and political space by means of reason and reflection;
3. Political philosophy should be “realistically utopian”
   While it prescribes a utopian society, the society should also be realizable and realistic. It must therefore have ideal and realist elements.

Reference

Rawls, J. (2001). Justice as Fairness: A Restatement.

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