Contrasting Approaches and Ways Forward

Abstract This final chapter of the book concludes by stepping back from the theory of normative fruitfulness and case studies to reflect on the broader upshots of adopting the type of approach to moral and political philosophy that Lindauer advocates for. In particular, he contrasts this approach with that of theorists who do not engage with empirical research in these areas of philosophy and offers an irenic suggestion for how these approaches, as long as they make room for one another, might be brought together in illuminating issues in moral and political philosophy. Indeed, he argues that it is a consequence of the theory of normative fruitfulness that there is an important role for more traditional theoretical work in these areas, so long as that work is not conceived of in a way that makes empirical engagement and scrutiny off limits. Lindauer concludes by mentioning a number of other areas of philosophical inquiry where the dimensions of normative fruitfulness that he delineates are relevant to our theorizing, suggesting further directions for empirically informed philosophy attuned to the practical roles that our concepts can play.