At the height of the fracas over the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law last September, an unknown sender asked me on WhatsApp, “Where do you stand?” At the time I had exposed myself to literature on political realism, an attempt to steer my teaching duty in political philosophy away from the excess of obscurantism that often infects the study of philosophy. Political realism is not a mere bow to the immediate. Rather, it is a critical stand against the idea that what is good is set in paradise and that our task is simply to apply it to particular fields. Vigilance is key: The good can only be conceived of in the mesh of competing interests that make up the fabric of politics. What has this to do with the KPK Law revision? The revision is heinous. From the Regulatory Impact Assessment, its harms are grave, as cited by my colleague, Rimawan Pradiptyo, an economi...

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