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Ideal Theory as Conceptual Asymptotics

Sat, September 1, 2:00 to 3:30pm, Hynes, 200

Abstract

This paper draws an analogy between ideal theory as an intellectual exercise and the convention in quantitative methodology of proving the asymptotic properties of statistical estimators. My aim is to show, using an extended example drawn from Rousseau's On The Social Contract, how ideal theory is akin to "conceptual asymptotics". Put differently, I wish to show that ideal theory is an exercise in probing political concepts "in the limit" for the purposes of improving our understanding and application of these concepts, in the way that the proving the asymptotic properties of estimators is meant to improve our understanding and application of statistical methods. The upshot is a reconceptualization of ideal theory in terms that are familiar to quantitative social scientists with the aim of exposing a neglected area of methodological continuity across subfields.

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