Lorna Finlayson is a junior research fellow at King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Finlayson, who has particular interests in theories of ideology, offers a book on the illusion of dissent in contemporary political philosophy, and more particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world. The author looks at political philosophy as a human institution, which at the same time bears traces of the social world it is embedded in and constructs the world readers live in. She claims that contemporary political philosophy deploys methodological norms that covertly maintain the dominance of the liberal framework. In doing that, this discipline becomes political inside and out. This covert methodological trap is revealed through six case studies. Three of them deal with specific concepts from John Rawls that define legitimate dissent out of existence. The remaining cases deal with feminist challenges to the traditional liberal attitude toward pornography, realist critique of liberal normative theory, and an effort among philosophers to engage in self-reflection and to give an account to their place in the world. The author claims that the liberal political philosophy, in its dominant mode, neither helps transform the world for the better nor helps it be understood better. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

• Introduction / Part I: ‘Normal’ Political Philosophy / 1. There is No Alternative: Constructiveness and Political Criticism / 2. Beware! Beware! The Forest of Sin!: Reluctant Reflections on Rawls / 3. Foul Play: The Norm of Philosophical Charity / Part II: With Radicals Like These… / 4. How to Screw Things with Words: Feminism Unrealised / 5. Nowhere to Run: The Real World in Political Theory / 6. Small and Unsexy: Political Theory in the Real World / Conclusion / Afterword / Bibliography / Index

Lorna Finlayson is a junior research fellow at King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Finlayson, who has particular interests in theories of ideology, offers a book on the illusion of dissent in contemporary political philosophy, and more particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world. The author looks at political philosophy as a human institution, which at the same time bears traces of the social world it is embedded in and constructs the world readers live in. She claims that contemporary political philosophy deploys methodological norms that covertly maintain the dominance of the liberal framework. In doing that, this discipline becomes political inside and out. This covert methodological trap is revealed through six case studies. Three of them deal with specific concepts from John Rawls that define legitimate dissent out of existence. The remaining cases deal with feminist challenges to the traditional liberal attitude toward pornography, realist critique of liberal normative theory, and an effort among philosophers to engage in self-reflection and to give an account to their place in the world. The author claims that the liberal political philosophy, in its dominant mode, neither helps transform the world for the better nor helps it be understood better. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

• Introduction / Part I: ‘Normal’ Political Philosophy / 1. There is No Alternative: Constructiveness and Political Criticism / 2. Beware! Beware! The Forest of Sin!: Reluctant Reflections on Rawls / 3. Foul Play: The Norm of Philosophical Charity / Part II: With Radicals Like These… / 4. How to Screw Things with Words: Feminism Unrealised / 5. Nowhere to Run: The Real World in Political Theory / 6. Small and Unsexy: Political Theory in the Real World / Conclusion / Afterword / Bibliography / Index

Lorna Finlayson is a junior research fellow at King’s College, University of Cambridge.

Finlayson, who has particular interests in theories of ideology, offers a book on the illusion of dissent in contemporary political philosophy, and more particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world. The author looks at political philosophy as a human institution, which at the same time bears traces of the social world it is embedded in and constructs the world readers live in. She claims that contemporary political philosophy deploys methodological norms that covertly maintain the dominance of the liberal framework. In doing that, this discipline becomes political inside and out. This covert methodological trap is revealed through six case studies. Three of them deal with specific concepts from John Rawls that define legitimate dissent out of existence. The remaining cases deal with feminist challenges to the traditional liberal attitude toward pornography, realist critique of liberal normative theory, and an effort among philosophers to engage in self-reflection and to give an account to their place in the world. The author claims that the liberal political philosophy, in its dominant mode, neither helps transform the world for the better nor helps it be understood better. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

• Introduction / Part I: ‘Normal’ Political Philosophy / 1. There is No Alternative: Constructiveness and Political Criticism / 2. Beware! Beware! The Forest of Sin!: Reluctant Reflections on Rawls / 3. Foul Play: The Norm of Philosophical Charity / Part II: With Radicals Like These… / 4. How to Screw Things with Words: Feminism Unrealised / 5. Nowhere to Run: The Real World in Political Theory / 6. Small and Unsexy: Political Theory in the Real World / Conclusion / Afterword / Bibliography / Index