IPSA RC31 Public Lecture: “Do Political Philosophers Really Have Methods?” by Jonathan Floyd, University of Bristol, October 30, 16:00-

Date and time:  30 October 2026, 4pm–5.30pm

Venue: Conference Room 1, 3rd Floor, International Conference Center, Waseda University. Google Maps

Speaker: Jonathan Floyd, Professor of Political Theory, University of Bristol

Title: “Do Political Philosophers Really Have Methods?”

Abstract:
“The point of this lecture is to explain how we might talk about ‘methods’ and ‘methodology’ in political philosophy as well as why you might want to. Starting with the puzzle of the ‘Pure Thinker’ – an individual who believes they neither have nor need any ‘methods’ – I go on to explain not only why we do have such methods, but also how they can be understood in terms of the ‘tasks’ they serve, and in turn the wider ‘question’ of political philosophy those tasks address. Following that explanation, I then set out the benefits of reflecting on such things, which is to say the benefits of doing ‘methodology’. These include better self-understanding and in turn collaboration, but also, more distinctively, the need to find a ‘balance’ between the different methods we end up using, given the different ‘risks’ each of them carries. Most of us, these days, are what I will call ‘mixed methods theorists’, and it is important that none of us ends up relying on any one of those methods too much.”

Bio:
Jonathan Floyd is Professor of Political Theory at the University of Bristol. He has worked extensively on the nature, methods, and purposes of political philosophy, and he is currently finishing a monograph on methods and methodology for Oxford University Press. His previous publications include What’s the point of political philosophy? (Polity, 2019), Is Political Philosophy Impossible? Thoughts and Behaviour in Normative Political Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and Political Philosophy versus History? Contextualism and Real Politics in Contemporary Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2011, co-edited with Marc Stears). Together with Humeira Iqtidar (King’s College London), Jonathan serves as Co-chair of IPSA Research Committee 31 Political Philosophy.

Language: English

Format: In person. No recording or online participation.

Audience: Public. No registration required.

Organizers: IPSA RC 31 Political Philosophy and WINPEC, Waseda University

Contact: Kei Hiruta ([email protected])