ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses 'map the logical geography' of political philosophy. It is first necessary to understand something of the history of modern political philosophy. Furthermore, if we take seriously the fact-value distinction, and all that it implies for questions concerning human nature, it is difficult to know how political philosophy, at least as the subject has traditionally been conceived, could long survive this strict bifurcation. The chapter examines this debate for now, it is sufficient to note that if we deny, with Kant, that considerations of human nature have any bearing on moral theory, then moral philosophy must be radically reformed. It argues political philosophy must be grounded in an understanding of the world in which we live. It is only to make the point that the positing of normative positions, and the problems of justification associated with such questions, has always been an integral part of political philosophy, and that such questions are simply beyond the ken of science.
