Does Political Theory Still Exist?

Abstract

This paper explores the relevance of political theory despite the indications that testify to its decline. The paper assumes that the inability to give final answers to the questions posed by political theory is one of the most distinctive features of philosophical inquiry. Such questions are associated with value judgments, and such terms as power, sovereignty, freedom, right and justice entail significant normative dimensions in our contemporary life. As for the attempt to transform political theory into an applied science, it entails a celebration of one dominant paradigm based on solid facts and on reductionist metaphors that might distort reality. The paper concludes that imaginative insight is indispensable for an understanding of the various conceptions of human nature as well as the paradigms incorporated in dominant political outlooks.