This essay considers the consequences of recent debates on realism in epistemology and ethics
on political philosophy, and for political action. It is argued here that reference to the good in
political discourse is both unavoidable and recommendable. Further, it is argued that
considerations of the role of the good in individual and political action suggest that a political
community has a relative ontological substantiality, half-way between those affirmed by
individualistic and organicist views.
