Abstract

In debates among theorists of justice, one area of contention is between so-called ideal and nonideal theorists. For nonideal theorists, ideal theory masks injustice, is cognitively blinkered, and is ideological. This chapter considers the claims of nonideal theory not primarily in themselves but rather in how they relate to and fuel a particular approach to pragmatism, and, in particular, to Dewey’s work. Elizabeth Anderson, José Medina, Gregory Pappas, Jack Knight, James Johnson, and others invoke Dewey as a source and inspiration for this nonideal approach. This chapter argues that there are resources for a nonideal conception of justice, ethics, and political theory in Dewey’s pragmatism, which are embedded within his account of inquiry and agency. However, the latter also contains a specific positive conception of the role of ideals in inquiry, which allow us to understand his treatment of political ideals.