Swift, Adam;
(2025)
Philosophy as Democratic Underlabour.
In: Archard, David, (ed.)
"The point is to change it: Essays on philosophy in public life.
(pp. 51-58).
Nuffield Foundation: London, UK.
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Abstract
To the best of my knowledge it was Stuart White who first suggested that political philosophy can be seen as a kind of ‘democratic underlabouring’[2]. White was riffing on John Locke, for whom it was ‘master-builders’ such as Boyle and Newton whose ‘mighty designs, in advancing the sciences, will leave lasting monuments to the admiration of posterity’[3]. For philosophers like himself ‘it is ambition enough to be employed as an under-labourer in clearing the ground a little, and removing some of the rubbish that lies in the way to knowledge’. To regard philosophy as democratic underlabour retains Locke’s insistence on its modest, ancillary role but changes the goal. Rather than preparing the path for knowledge, philosophical groundwork is necessary for our democratic processes to work well.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Philosophy as Democratic Underlabour |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/evidence-and-im... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Political Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10217052 |
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