91视频

Students on a theater trip in Iceland.

Philosophy Program

Talk by Prof. Shmulik Nili (Northwestern University) on Philosophizing the Indefensible: Strategic Political Theory

University Room: C-505
Monday, March 20, 2023 - 10:35 to 11:55

This book asks what distinctive contributions political philosophers might make when reflecting on obvious moral failures in public policy. I defend a particular kind of contribution: I argue that political philosophers can and should craft 鈥渟trategic鈥 arguments for public policy reforms, showing how morally urgent reforms can be grounded, for the sake of discussion, even in problematic premises associated with their opponents. I begin by developing the general contours of this approach, situating it within a broader conception of political philosophy鈥檚 social responsibilities.

Speaker Bio:


Shmuel Nili earned his PhD in political science at Yale University (2016). Nili's work听focuses on links between domestic and global injustice, with special attention to issues like corporate agency, corruption, and abuse of power. His writing on these themes has appeared in听Ethics, the听Journal of Political Philosophy, and the听American Political Science Review. Nili鈥檚 books include 听The People鈥檚 Duty听(Cambridge UP, 2019) and Integrity, Personal and Political听(Oxford UP, 2020).

No registration required.