Dreams of a Final Normative Theory: An Essay on the Changing Role of Utopia in Contemporary Political Thought

Ferenc Huoranszki*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Book/Report typesChapterpeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

It seems to be a natural task for any normative social theory to provide an account of the basic structure of a political community in which human beings can flourish. To the extent that this structure represents an ideal, it also seems natural to interpret normative social theory as a rationally grounded utopia. Nevertheless, it is a striking feature of contemporary practical philosophy that “being utopistic” often counts as a criticism about any normative project, while the popularity of dystopias representing the gloomy future of human societies grows. The chapter is an attempt to understand this phenomenon from the perspective of ethics and philosophy in general.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationUtopia and Democracy
EditorsZsolt Czigányik, Iva Dimovska
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages55-72
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)978-3-031-89913-3
ISBN (Print)978-3-031-89912-6, 978-3-031-89915-7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2025

Publication series

NamePalgrave Studies in Utopianism
VolumePart F925
ISSN (Print)2946-4471
ISSN (Electronic)2946-448X

Keywords

  • Dystopia
  • Explanation
  • Happiness
  • Ideals
  • Normative theory
  • Rights
  • Utopia

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