The Stability of the Just Society: Why Fixed Point Theorems Are Beside the Point

Abstract

Political theorists have invested significant effort in studying the attributes of desirable social-moral states of affairs. Schaefer (forthcoming) aims to show that “static political theory” of this kind rests on shaky foundations. His argument revolves around an application of an abstruse mathematical theorem — Kakutani’s fixed point theorem — to the social-moral domain. We show that Schaefer has misunderstood the implications of this theorem for political theory. Theorists who wish to study the attributes of social-moral states of affairs should carry on, secure in the knowledge that Kakutani’s theorem poses no threat to this enterprise.