Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This book addresses some of the issues of theory and practice by examining three main themes: the first is concerned with the philosophically core issue of conceptual pluralism and its implications for questions of truth and intelligibility; the second with the connections between pluralism and liberal ethical and political outlooks; and the third, with the implications of pluralism for both the more abstract, as well as concrete and practical issues, of political obligation in liberal democracies. The developments in science to which William James draws attention have gone hand in hand with philosophical discussions of the relationship between human thought and the world. James regards conceptual map-making as a means of adaptation to 'an immense environment'. O'Shea suggests that representation as adaptation lends plausibility to James's notorious identification of 'true' and 'useful'. Iseult Honohan identifies an alternative to the standard liberal pluralist model.