What is the Public Philosophy?

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Ceaser presents a genealogy of the term "public philosopy", exploring when it originated, how it has been used in the past, and what meanings it conveys in 2000. He goes on to propose a reconstruction of the term with the aim of integrating it into political science as an analytical concept. By studying past public philosophies, it is possible to identify a matrix of ideas which has tended to shape political life in the United States.