Dilek Huseyinzadegan, "Kant’s Nonideal Theory of Politics" (Northwestern UP, 2019)
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What is the book *Kant’s Non‑Ideal Theory of Politics* about and why is it relevant?
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Hello, and welcome to New Books in Philosophy, a podcast channel at the New Books Network. I'm Sarah Tyson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Denver, and I'm co-host of the channel along with Carrie Fichtor, Robert Talise, and Alexis McLeod. Together we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books, drawing from a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Dalek Hussein Zidegan, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Emory University. Her book, Kant's Non Ideal Theory of Politics, is just out from Northwestern University Press. In Kant's non ideal theory of politics, Hussein Zeitigan analyzes Kant's political writing by attending to the role of history, anthropology, and geography in his thoughts.
She shows that Kant employs teleology as a means to orient us within the chaotic contingency of experience in order to plan and navigate a path to just political orders from our current conditions. Teleology, far from functioning as a deterministic principle in Kant's work, Provides a way to think through issues such as the importance of our historical narratives, cultural differences, and geographic limitations for politics. Hussein Zeitigan argues that Kant proposes cosmopolitanism as the proper path for politics, not because it is itself a political ideal, but because, given where we've been, what we're capable of, and the conditions in which we act, cosmopolitanism offers the most promising means of achieving the ultimate aim of politics, which is peace.
Further, Husayn Zeitigan shows that understanding the relationship of non ideal to ideal theory in Kant's work exposes how Eurocentrism, racism, and sexism operate in his political theory, and how we can and must theorize differently. Welcome to New Books in Philosophy Delek. Hi, Sarah. It's good to be here. Thanks so much for joining us today.
How does Dilek Huseyinzadegan explain Kant’s use of teleology in political thought?
Um, I thought I'd start with having you tell us a bit about yourself, um your background as a philosopher and your interests in how you came to write this particular book.
Uh thanks uh first of all for inviting me. I'm very excited to talk about my book with you. Um so I am currently an associate professor of philosophy at Emory University. Uh I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. I did my PhD at DePaul University in Chicago. And um my background in philosophy was analytic um while I was in Turkey, but then my PhD training has been in continental philosophy, especially in sociopolitical philosophy. Um, I always wondered, I mean, the things that uh brought me to this book are kind of um different, but my interests have always been social political philosophy, especially the under-researched areas such as non-ideal theory or feminist political theory, uh decolonial political theory, etcetera.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the book *Kant’s Non‑Ideal Theory of Politics* about and why is it relevant?
0:00–3:09
2
How does Dilek Huseyinzadegan explain Kant’s use of teleology in political thought?
3:09–8:12
3
Why does the author argue that cosmopolitanism is a means, not an end, for Kant?
8:12–14:06
4
What role do history, anthropology, and geography play in Kant’s non‑ideal theory?
14:06–21:39
5
How does Kant’s philosophy reveal Eurocentrism, racism, and sexism in his political theory?
21:39–28:09
6
What is Kant’s concept of hospitality and how does it relate to commercial colonialism?
28:09–35:30
7
How can we reinterpret Kant’s ideas to address the ‘afterlife of coloniality’?
35:30–42:19
8
What future research does Huseyinzadegan plan on sovereignty, autonomy, and global‑south political concepts?
42:19–55:18
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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