Abstract
Modus vivendi theories are caught in an uneasy relationship with a substantive, normative pluralism of toleration and a conceptual and structural awareness of the unavoidability of sociopolitical diversity and contestation. The chapter explores the semantic space occupied by modus vivendi and the kind of political thinking it represents, in particular as a variant of the quest for order and the inevitability of ranking priorities. The implicit boundary drawn by ‘modus vivendi’ theorists between solid blocs of ideas and practices is questioned. When larger magnification orders are employed, points of contact and intertwining may reveal a messiness with which conventional modus vivendi approaches cannot engage. Modus vivendi would consequently benefit from a micro-analysis of its various components instead of being subject to broad-brush treatment, particularly in view of a morphological approach to political concepts. Modus vivendi is also examined in contrast to consensus theories, compromise theories, and agonism, and some of its different forms—fragmentation, segmentation, and asymmetry—are discussed. Finally, modus vivendi is interrogated as an interpretative rather than a prescriptive thought-practice, relating it to a realism based on the ascertainable core characteristics of the political.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Billed by The Guardian as ‘the most ill-judged publicity stunt of the general election’ (Perraudin 2015).
References
Belfort Bax, E. (1891). Preface, Outlooks from a new standpoint. Accessed April 13, 2011, from http://www.marxists.org/archive/bax/1891/outlooks/00-preface.htm
Connolly, W. E. (1995). The ethos of pluralization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Dallmayr, F. (Ed.). (1999). Border crossings. Lanham, MA: Lexington Books.
Flathman, R. E. (2005). Pluralism and liberal democracy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Fossen, T. (2018). Modus Vivendi beyond the social contract: Peace, justice, and survival in realist political theory. In J. Horton, M. Westphal, & U. Willems (Eds.), The political theory of modus vivendi. Heidelberg: Springer.
Fraser, D. (2000). The postwar consensus: A debate not long enough? Parliamentary Affairs, 53, 347–362.
Freeden, M. (2005). Liberal languages: Ideological imaginations and twentieth century progressive thought. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Freeden, M. (2012). Interpretative realism and prescriptive realism. Journal of Political Ideologies, 17, 1–11.
Freeden, M. (2013). The political theory of political thinking: The anatomy of a practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Freeden, M. (2015). Liberalism: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Freeden, M. (2018a). Compromise and political language. In C. Rostbøll & T. Scavenius (Eds.), Compromise and disagreement in contemporary political theory (pp. 163–178). New York: Routledge.
Freeden, M. (2018b). Political realism: A reality check. In M. Sleat (Ed.), Politics recovered: Essays on realist political thought. Columbia: Columbia University Press.
Freeden, M., & Vincent, A. (Eds.). (2013). Comparative political thought: Theorizing practices. Abingdon: Routledge.
Fröhlich, S. (1996). The role of political ideologies in the german constitution of 1949. Journal of Political Ideologies, 1, 277–302.
Gray, J. (2000). Two faces of liberalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Horton, J. (2006). John Gray and the political theory of Modus Vivendi. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 9, 155–169.
Horton, J. (2010). Realism, liberal moralism and a political theory of modus vivendi. European Journal of Political Theory, 9, 431–448.
Horton, J. (2018). Modus vivendi and political legitimacy. In J. Horton, M. Westphal, & U. Willems (Eds.), The political theory of modus vivendi. Heidelberg: Springer.
Jones, P. (2017). The political theory of modus vivendi. Philosophia, 14, 443–461.
McCabe, D. (2010). Modus vivendi liberalism: Theory and practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Morgenthau, H. J. (1962). Politics among nations: The struggle for power and peace (3rd ed.). New York: Alfred. A. Knopf.
Mouffe, C. (2005). On the political. London: Routledge.
Perraudin, F. (2015, December 22). The Ed Stone: where is Ed Miliband’s monumental folly now? The Guardian.
Rawls, J. (1996). Political liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press.
Swift, A. (2008). The value of philosophy in non-ideal circumstances. Social Theory and Practice, 34, 363–387.
Tully, J. (2008). Public philosophy in a new key: Volume 1: Democracy and civic freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Walzer, M. (1983). Spheres of justice. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Wendt, F. (2016). On realist legitimacy. Social Philosophy and Politics, 32, 227–245.
Williams, B. (2003). In the beginning was the deed. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Freeden, M. (2019). Political Thought Between Finality and Indeterminacy. In: Horton, J., Westphal, M., Willems, U. (eds) The Political Theory of Modus Vivendi. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79078-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-79078-7_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-79077-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-79078-7
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)