John Christman, “The Politics of Persons: Individual Autonomy and Socio-historical Selves” (Cambridge UP, 2011)
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What is the book “The Politics of Persons” about and why is it relevant to political philosophy?
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Welcome to the New Books in Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talise and I'm co host of the channel along with Carrie Figter. In our bi monthly podcast, we talk to philosophers about their newly published books. Today I'll be talking with Professor John Crispin. His book, The Politics of Persons, has just come out in paperback with Cambridge University Press. John Christman is professor of philosophy, political science, and women's studies. At the Pennsylvania State University. Contemporary political philosophy is fundamentally concerned with justice, freedom, equality, and authority. In developing theories of such matters, political philosophers often rely upon distinctive, yet often tacit conceptions of the self and individual autonomy.
Familiar forms of liberal political theory are sometimes criticized for assuming an objectionably atomistic or disembodied view of selves. Traditional liberalism envisions self interested and self sufficient, rational deliberators who enter into social relations only after performing very sophisticated calculations of the costs and benefits of doing so. According to a long standing tradition of criticism. This image of the self is objectionably blind to the social nature of human subjectivity. On these views, selves are fundamentally relational. They emerge out of particular social and historical contexts. Accordingly, on these views, traits which traditional liberalism aspires to ignore or discount, traits such as gender, ethnicity, and physical ability are
become central to political theory. Yet, as Christman argues in his book, Opponents of liberalism have not yet managed to develop a viable political theory in alternative to liberalism. And moreover, Crisman thinks that there is a version of liberalism. That can recognize the social, relational, and historical dimensions of selves. In the politics of persons, Crisman develops and defends a kind of liberalism. That places at its center a distinctive conception of individual autonomy rooted in a socio historical conception of the self. Let's turn to the interview. Hello, John Christman. Um hi Bob. How are you doing today?
I'm doing good. I'm doing good. Thanks uh for including me. How are you doing?
I'm doing fine. Uh so welcome to New Books in Philosophy. Um my uh my um guest today is John Chrisman. He's the author of the book The Politics of Persons. Which was published in paperback this year with Cambridge University Press. This book is centrally aimed at developing a conception of the self. and a theory of individual autonomy that gives proper weight to the social and historical dimensions of human agency. Along the way, Chrisman addresses many of the central issues in moral and political theory.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the book “The Politics of Persons” about and why is it relevant to political philosophy?
0:00–8:54
2
How does John Christman describe the traditional liberal view of the self and its limitations?
8:54–20:37
3
What personal and academic experiences shaped Christman’s interest in autonomy?
20:37–48:22
4
How does Christman define a socio‑historical conception of autonomy?
48:22–1:04:09
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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