ABSTRACT

It was Kurt Lewin who famously said there is nothing as practical as a good theory. This was a statement about the impact of explanatory theories on practice in the world. Philip Pettit and John Braithwaite in their contribution to this volume take Lewin a step further. They argue that normative theory is improved by being responsive to good explanatory theory and vice versa. There is nothing as practical as a good philosophy and the best philosophy is informed by practice.