In Defense of the Ivory Tower: Why Philosophers Should Stay Out of Politics

Authors

Bas van der Vossen, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-27-2014

Abstract

Many political theorists, philosophers, social scientists, and other academics engage in political activism. And many think this is how things ought to be. In this essay, I challenge the ideal of the politically engaged academic. I argue that, quite to the contrary, political theorists, philosophers, and other political thinkers have a prima facie duty to refrain from political activism. This argument is based on a commonsense moral principle, a claim about the point of political thought, and findings in cognitive psychology.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Philosophical Psychology, volume 28, issue 7, in 2015, available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2014.972353. It may differ slightly from the final version of record.

Recommended Citation

van der Vossen, Bas. “In Defense of the Ivory Tower: Why Philosophers Should Stay Out of Politics.” Philosophical Psychology, vol. 28, no. 7, 2015, pp. 1045-1063. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2014.972353

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

Taylor & Francis