Some Consequences of Michael Thompson’s Life and Action for Social Philosophy

In this paper I evaluate the relevant contribution which the philosophical picture of practical thought articulated by Thompson could offer to contemporary social philosophy. First, Thompson’s overall strategy furnishes us with a conceptual framework to argue against bald anti-naturalism in social philosophy.Furthermore, A second relevant contribution of Thompson’s work to the field of social philosophy consists in extending the notion of agency beyond the limits of contemporary action theory. A third relevant contribution concerns the fact that Thompson’s framework could help us to gain some distance from the obsession of ‘normativism’ which is dominant in current political philosophy and social ontology. Finally, I criticize Thompson’s overextension of an anti-individualist approach to life and action, which leads him to underestimate the role that individuality plays in human practice. The thread of individuality leads me to criticize Thompson’s identification of disposition and practice.