Abstract/Summary

Should political philosophers try to conceive of the world along ideal or realist lines in their normative theories? This article interrogates David Estlund's endorsement of aspirational theory, in light of Joseph Raz's account of the social dependence of value. The argument advanced is that abstract aspirational analysis, without close attention to its 'concessive layer' grounded in facts and institutional realities, is incapable of generating meaningful prescriptions for political action.