Methods in Political Philosophy

Debates about ‘method’ in political theory/philosophy have become ever more central to the field in recent years. The ideal/nonideal theory debate (O’Neill, Stemplowska, Valentini), the moralism/realism debate (Williams, Geuss, Sleat & Rossi), the facts/principles debate (Cohen, Miller, Ronzoni), and the practice dependence/independence debate (James, Sangiovanni) are among the most-discussed topics in the field’s top journals. The Methods in Political Philosophy sections, previously at the ECPR conferences in Prague (2016), Oslo (2017), Hamburg (2018), Wroclaw (2019) and virtually in 2020 have been well attended. With the help of the previous organisers, we are proposing another year of this section in 2021. We will be proposing a permanent standing group within the next few months.