invisible hand, or slap in the face? getting real about capitalism

利用什么是最近被称为“现实主义”的政治理论化的方法，这个研究项目的目的是提供一个重要的，但经常被忽视的问题的第一个扩展的答案：当代英美政治理论是否足够重视二十一世纪资本主义的动态？通过对领先的自由主义和自由意志主义思想家概念化他们（和其他人）生活的经济体系的方式进行深入的理论分析，我认为当代许多政治理论倾向于忽视和浪漫化资本主义运作的确切方式。在做出这种独特的智力贡献的同时，（可能促使人们重新评估自由主义、自由意志主义和现实主义的理论复杂性），我希望这个项目的有用性也将超越大学的范围：如果忽视和理想化常常妨碍学术界对资本主义的研究，现实主义的分析也可能对正在进行的关于资本主义相对优点和缺点的公民讨论作出重要贡献。

Utilising what has recently come to be known as a 'realist' approach to political theorising, this research project aims to offer the first extended answer to an important but frequently overlooked question: does contemporary Anglo-American political theory pay sufficient attention to the dynamics of twenty-first century capitalism? Through an in-depth theoretical analysis of the way in which leading liberal and libertarian thinkers conceptualise the economic system under which they (and everyone else) live, I will argue that much contemporary political theory has a tendency to neglect and romanticise the precise ways in which capitalism functions. As well as making this distinct intellectual contribution (potentially prompting re-evaluations of the relative theoretical sophistication of liberalism, libertarianism and realism respectively), the usefulness of the project will also, I hope, extend beyond the confines of the university: if neglect and idealisation are found to often characterise scholarly engagements with capitalism, realist analyses may also make an important contribution to ongoing civic discussion concerning capitalism's relative merits and deficiencies.