Jeff Carroll
Bio:
Jeff’s research examines the philosophy of law and uncovers issues at the intersection of philosophy, politics, and economics. He specializes in justice and democratic theory. His work is featured in The Journal of Politics, Social Theory and Practice, The Independent Review, Erasmus Journal of Philosophy and Economics, and The HEC Forum. He was an Adam Smith Fellow through the Mercatus Center from 2017 to 2021 and he received a Humane Studies Fellowship from 2018 to 2021. In 2020, he was awarded an All-University Graduate Teaching Award.
Thesis Description:
Dynamic Ideal Theory
My dissertation defends a new methodological approach to how we theorize about political normativity. In contrast to many static theories of political normativity that operate analogous to how Google Maps works in travel, I argue for a dynamic methodology that is more analogous to how scientific practice proceeds. This means that theorizing should be highly fallibilistic and, if necessary, revisionistic. Still, this is a form of ideal theorizing that explores the feasibility frontier of what is politically possible. The central aim of the dissertation is to bring together, on the one hand, the need to take seriously the epistemic limitations of human beings as theorists and, on the other, the need to explore and pursue more just ways of organizing our shared political life.
