Political Theory as a Normative Engagement: Revisiting Plamenatz’s Rebuttal of Escapism Introduction Political theory has long oscillated between two poles: one that casts it as an abstract, speculative enterprise divorced from the pragmatics of political life, and another that defends its role as a critical and normative engagement with the foundational questions of justice, power, … Continue reading To what extent can political theory be conceptualized not as an escapist intellectual pursuit, but as a rigorous and normative engagement with the moral, philosophical, and structural dilemmas of political life, as asserted by Plamenatz?