Philip Pettit, “On The People’s Terms: A Republican Theory and Model of Democracy” (Cambridge UP, 2012)
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Hello everyone, and welcome to the New Books and Philosophy channel of the New Books Network. My name is Robert Talise. I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co host the channel with Carrie Figder. Today I'll be talking with Philip Pettit about his book. On the people's terms, a Republican theory and model of democracy Which is newly published by Cambridge University Press. Philip Pettit is the Lawrence S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics and Human Values. At Princeton University. In political philosophy, republicanism is the name of a distinctive framework for thinking about politics. At its core is a distinctive conception of freedom, according to which freedom consists in non domination, that is.
in not being subject to the arbitrary will of another. This republican conception of the free person Contrasts with a competing view. according to which freedom is primarily a property not of persons, but of choices. On this view One is free insofar as one enjoys the absence of interference. Now, for the past few decades. Philip has been engaged in a sustained effort to recapture and revive this Republican insight as to the nature of freedom. In a series of articles and books, he has developed and defended the Republican view of freedom and drawn out its implications for politics and law. In his new book on the people's terms. Pettit elaborates further his Republican ideal. By articulating a conception of democracy to accompany
The fundamental commitment to non-domination. The book examines the full range of topics one would expect. justice to legitimacy and democratic institutional design. This is a highly detailed and, I would say, meticulously argued book. And there's a lot to discuss. So let's turn to the interview. Hello Philip Pettit.
Hello Bob.
How are you doing today?
Fine, thank you very much.
Well, thank you so much for joining us on New Books in Philosophy.
Pleasure.
Today, my guest is Philip Pettit. His new book is titled On the People's Terms A Republican Theory. N model of democracy. This book is based on Philip Seeley lectures and has just been published by Cambridge University Press. Now As those who know Philip's work will know well by now. Um Philip has been for a long time engaged in the project. of rediscovering and reinvigorating an old tradition in political philosophy. Um that was um somewhat abandoned uh in the modern period. This tradition uh is classical republicanism. uh as developed in the Roman period and somewhat resuscitated in the American colonial period. Um, at the heart of Phillips republicanism is a theory of freedom. That associates freedom with non domination.
Philip has been working out these republican ideas uh for two decades or more.
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