chapter 6
...................................................................................................................................................AFTER THE
LINGUISTIC TURN:
POST-STRUCTURALIST
AND LIBERAL
PRAGMATIST
POLITICAL THEORY
...................................................................................................................................................paul patton
AtWrst glance, post-structuralist philosophy and liberal political theory appear
profoundly diVerent enterprises: one is a primarily critical enterprise while
the other is predominantly reconstructive. A common self-understanding
of contemporary liberal theory perceives its aim as setting out rational
principles that sustain the central institutions of a just and democratic society
and cohere with our considered moral intuitions. Providing support for
oppressive institutions or policies that conXict with our egalitarian intuitions
is an argument against a given theory. Conversely, agreement with our