Mediated theory

A debate in political philosophy–the contours and definition of which have been confused–is between whether political philosophers should do ideal theory. More generally, non- ideal theorists have asserted that ideal theory’s departure from the real world in its modeling choices reinforces oppression and have recommended that political philosophy abandon ideal theory. Many ways have been offered in distinguishing between ideal and non-ideal theory. One way to draw the distinction between the two types of theory is how the real world is modeled: ideal theorists’ models are less isomorphic with the real world in certain ways than the models offered by non-ideal theorists, with allegations by the non-ideal theorists that ideal theorists abstract from reality more profoundly than they do. Although I reject the binary between ideal and non-ideal theory, I focus on this delineation because it best highlights the alleged harm of ideal theory: deviation from certain realities.