Why (not) political philosophy?

Abstract

Why political philosophy? Why do I read it, teach it and encourage others to engage in it? Simply, because I am driven to it by my practice as a public servant. I have spent a great deal of my working life in meetings where we discuss, decide or make judgements about public policy. I notice how often we express or imply ‘big ideas’ in our discussions with one another, but mostly in an unthinking (even unconscious) way. So we skate over confusions and contradictions in our own and others’ thought and too frequently talk past each other.