4 - Global Thought: Political Philosophy in the World Society

Summary

Chapter 3 formulated the philosopher’s role in terms of shared citizenship. Chapters 4–6 develop a global version of this view, according to which the philosopher is a theory-providing global discussant. Some view about the impact of ideas at the global level must be in place for there to be reflection on anything like a genuinely global philosophy or to make good on the implicit assumption that ideas make a difference somehow. The account that I enlist emerges from world society analysis. According to that stance, ideas are causally efficacious, in contrast, say, with materialist understandings in the Marxist tradition. Also, world society analysis seeks to understand the efficacy of ideas in a global context, by way of contrast, for instance, with international relations realists who believe it is mostly interests backed by power that explain change in the international domain. World society analysis has illuminating implications for political philosophy.