Juha Räikkä’s essay collection Social Justice in Practice has been published by Springer last week. The book has twelve chapters. Some of the chapters are revised versions of previously published articles. Others are new papers, including the chapter that criticizes the so-called pragmatic turn in political philosophy. Those who support the “pragmatic turn” argue that political philosophy should have a clear practical relevance so that the redommendations of political theories would have an action-guiding character, here and now. Räikkä points out that much of what political philosophers say is really meant to guide our thoughts rather than the actions of those who make political decisions today, and that there is an excellent justification for this practice (a justification which is based on the analysis of the notion of feasibility). By having an influence on ideas and ideals people have, political philosophy may indeed have action-guiding results, but only in the long run. As Kant once said, “we shall have been long dead and buried when the fruits we helped to sow are harvested”.
The eBook is available at the UTU electronic library. The announcement of the book is available on publisher’s website.
