JSI Seminar: Social possibility as constraint and social possibility as construct

Speaker: Jayani Nadarajalingam, University of Melbourne

As political and social philosophers, one of our central aims is to work out which of the social facts in our world should be the candidates for change and why. In doing so, we tend to treat some social facts as given whereas we treat others as objects of change. This gives rise to a question: which social facts should we treat as given and which ones as objects of action?

This paper puts forward a way in which we can answer this question in a principled manner. In doing so, it describes two properties of social possibility: social possibility as constraint and social possibility as construct. This then paves the way for an innovative understanding of the ideal/nonideal distinction that is often drawn in contemporary analytic English-language political philosophy.

Speaker

Jayani Nadarajalingam is a lecturer with the Melbourne School of Government at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests lie primarily in political philosophy and constitutional theory. In 2022, she will commence a postdoctoral fellowship in the Melbourne Law School’s Laureate Program in Comparative Constitutional Law (led by Professor Adrienne Stone).

Time: 6-7.30pm AEDT

This is an online event. You will receive Zoom details closer to the day of the event.

CPD Points: 1.5

This event is hosted by the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at The University of Sydney Law School.