Abstract
This article looks at different conceptions of what political philosophy is as a vocation, with an eye on the question of what is the point of writing books specifically on global justice. The occasion for reflecting on this question is a particular line of criticism that has been advanced against my 2012 book On Global Justice. I introduce a Platonic conception of political philosophy and then turn to two contemporary conceptions: one due to Habermas and one due to Rawls. The Rawlsian approach strikes me as most plausible. I develop that approach some more by defending it against different versions of realism and bring it to bear on the title question.
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