Journal article

Beyond the nonideal: Why critical theory needs a utopian dimension

Published in Journal of Social Philosophy

Abstract

“Ideal theorists” in contemporary liberal political theory argue that we can only arrive at a conception of what our most important political values require by reference to an imagined ideal state of affairs and that we must therefore, to some extent, engage in utopian thinking. Critical theorists, from Marx and the Frankfurt School, have traditionally been highly skeptical towards using idealizations in this way. This skepticism is mirrored by contemporary authors, such as Charles Mills. I argue that most of their critical arguments make a principled case only against ahistorical, decontextualized projects of utopian idealization, but not against ideal theorizing as such. Critical theories do not need to reject ideal theorizing. On the contrary: The method of immanent critique that is specific to critical theory allows for a conception of an ideal state of affairs that emerges from its diagnosis of social contradictions. I conclude that critical theories can (and should) incorporate some aspects of ideal theorizing and its utopian reference to a better society.

Publication details

Publication link
View publication
Volume
56
Issue
1
Pages
60-79

Bibliometrics

OpenAlex

View record
Citation count
6
Collected 2026-08-22
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.96
Collected 2026-08-22
Citation percentile
96.2%
Percentile among comparable publications of the same age and field.

About FWCI: Field-Weighted Citation Impact compares citations received with the number expected for a work of the same type, year, and subfield. A value of 1.0 represents the world average.

Google Scholar

View record
Citation count
14
Collected 2026-08-16