specializes in moral and political philosophy, moral psychology, and experimental philosophy, and has published numerous articles in these areas in journals including Philosophical Studies, Journal of Moral Philosophy, American Philosophical Quarterly, and Oxford Studies in Experimental Philosophy.
Lindauer applied the "Page 99 Test" to his new book, The Fruitfulness of Normative Concepts, with the following results:
The Fruitfulness of Normative Concepts develops a theory of the different ways in which moral and political concepts, like ‘justice’ and ‘solidarity,’ are supposed to help us solve practical problems in the real world – how they can be “fruitful” for this purpose. They can do so by motivating the right kinds of actions, preventing the wrong kinds, helping us fight back against problematic social phenomena like bias and prejudice, generating consensus, and guiding action. Page 99 of the book sits in the middle of Chapter 3, where I am responding to key objections and challenges, which was maybe the most fun chapter to write.Visit Matthew Lindauer's website.
At the top of page 99, I’m considering the challenge of what to do when these different aspects of problem solving conflict with one another. For example, what if a given conception of justice would be widely accepted by the general public but not very useful to activists and other people who are most committed to fighting injustice? I first note that the fact of competing demands is not a unique issue for my theory – ordinary life is full of them, too (take the balancing act of being a good parent and a reliable friend). But I also think my view helps us make progress on how to approach these philosophical tradeoffs. Insofar as those most engaged in a struggle are getting to the heart of a practical problem and likely to generate a workable solution, it may be that it matters more that a conception of justice empowers them rather than achieving the broadest consensus possible. Still, if we care about practical problem solving we will have to keep the value of achieving buy-in from the broader public in mind, as well as the fact that generating consensus among those most committed to promoting justice will often be important.
The Page 99 Test works well for this book, in part, because I am arguing for the importance of bringing multiple approaches together to understand the practical problems that we face – it would be very hypocritical not to explore an approach like this one. While the 99th page lies in the middle of a chapter defending rather than articulating my theory of normative fruitfulness, I think chapters like this one can be very important for strength testing and understanding the contours of a theory. A reader who picked up the book at page 99 would get a sense of how my view handles some challenges that scientifically-informed theories of morality and justice face. And whether they ultimately agreed with me or not, I also hope that they would get a sense of my openness to critical engagement and revision, which are to my mind the most important aspects of a scientific worldview, particularly one that aims to address practical problems that we face in this moment.
--Marshal Zeringue
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