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This article argues that Bernard Williams' Critical Theory Principle (CTP) is in tension with his realist commitments, i.e., deriving political norms from practices that are inherent to political life. The Williamsian theory of legitimate state power is based on the central importance of the distinction between political rule and domination. Further, Williams supplements the normative force of his theory with the CTP, i.e., the principle that acceptance of a justification regarding power relations ought not to be created by the very same coercive power. I contend that the CTP is an epistemic criterion of reflective (un)acceptability which is not strictly connected to the question of whether people are dominated or not. I show that there are cases of non-domination that fail the epistemic requirements of the CTP.

The first reference work to explore the 2000-year history of political realism and reassess its place in today's worldDownload an ebook of the chapter abstracts and notes on contributors (pdf)Political realism is a highly diverse body of international relations theory. This substantial reference work examines political realism in terms of its history, its scientific methodology and its normative role in international affairs.Split into three sections, it covers the 2000-year canon of realism: the different schools of thought, the key thinkers and how it responds to foreign policy challenges faced by individual states and globally. It brings political realism up-to-date by showing where theory has failed to keep up with contemporary problems and suggests how it can be applied and adapted to fit our new, globalised world order.Key FeaturesThe first volume to offer a full, balanced guide to Political Realism: its history and its normative role in international affairsCovers the main thinkers, from Thucydides through Niccolò Machiavelli to Isaiah BerlinEngages with the major foreign policy issues of our times, such as strategic deterrence, nationalism, terrorism, cyber security, climate change, the open society and religionConsiders political realism in non-Western contexts, including Israel, Russia and ChinaIncludes political realism's ground-up growth and interpretation outwith Western contextsContributorsUriel Abulof, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.Christopher Adair-Toteff, Zeppelin University, Germany.Erica Benner, Yale University, USA.John Bew, King's College London, UK.Todd Breyfogle, Aspen Institute, Washington, D.C., USA.Joshua Cherniss, Georgetown University, USA.Alan Chong, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore.Lindsay P. Cohn, U.S. Naval War College, USA.Kody W. Cooper, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USA.Marzieh Kouhi Esfahani, Durham University, UK.Markus Fischer, California State University, Fullerton, USA.Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.Stuart Gray, Politics at Washington and Lee University, USA.Robert Howse, New York University School of Law, USA.David Martin Jones, University of Queensland, Australia and King's College London, UK.Menno R. Kamminga, University of Groningen, Netherlands.Peter Iver Kaufman, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and University of Richmond, USA.David Kerr, Durham University, UK.Paul Kirkland, Carthage College, Wisconsin, USA.Douglas B. Klusmeyer, American University, Washington, DC, USA.Konstantinos Kostagiannis, University of Maastricht, Netherlands.Ayelet Haimson Lushkov, University of Texas at Austin, USA.Cecelia Lynch, University of California, Irvine, USA.David Mayers, Boston University, USA.Kenneth B. McIntyre, Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, USA.Neville Morley, University of Exeter, UK.John Mueller, Mershon Center for International Security Studies and Ohio State University, USA.Masashi Okuyama, International Geopolitica

Jeremy Bentham is usually seen as an anti-realist political thinker, or a proponent of what Bernard Williams has termed 'political moralism'. This article questions that prevalent view and suggests instead that there are good grounds for considering Bentham a political realist. Bentham's political thought has considerable commonalities with that of the sociologist and political realist Max Weber: both agree that politics is a unique domain of human activity defined by its association with power; that consequently, ethical conduct is unavoidably inflected by power in politics; that a commitment to truth in politics can only ever be contingent; and that politics has a set of basic conditions that it would be not only misguided but dangerous to attempt to transcend. Whilst it is often held that Bentham advanced a reductive framework for understanding politics, in fact, his utilitarianism was a far more realistic approach to political ends and means than has generally been acknowledged, and one that contemporary political theory realists would benefit from taking seriously.