Republicanism, philosophy of freedom, and the history of ideas

an interview with Philip Pettit

Maria Dimova-Cookson

pp. 155-169

in: Gary Browning, Raia Prokhovnik, Maria Dimova-Cookson (eds), Dialogues with contemporary political theorists, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

Maria Dimova-Cookson: Professor Pettit, thank you very much for agreeing to an interview. There are many things I would like to ask you, but I would start with a question on your republican theory of liberty. This is not only due to the fact that this is where my research interests lie, but because this theory has exerted tremendous influence on contemporary political theory. It has made you a leading figure in contemporary liberal scholarship of freedom where your influence, and indeed popularity, compares to that of Isaiah Berlin. My first question is about how you got to republican liberty. Your paper "Freedom as Antipower" appeared in Ethics in 1996 and then your book Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government came out in 1997. However, as far as I can see, the theme of republicanism does not feature prominently in your previous work.

Cited authors

Pettit Philip

Dimova-Cookson Maria

Berlin Isaiah