Realism, Human Action and Politics. On the Political Dimension of Individual Choices

This essay considers the consequences of recent debates on realism in epistemology and ethics on political philosophy, and for political action. It is argued here that reference to the good in political discourse is both unavoidable and recommendable. Further, it is argued that considerations of the role of the good in individual and political action suggest that a political community has a relative ontological substantiality, half-way between those affirmed by individualistic and organicist views.