Roberto Mangabeira Unger (; born 24 March 1947) is a philosopher and politician. He has developed his views and positions across many fields, including social, political, and economic theory. In legal theory, he is best known by his work in the 1970s and 80s while at Harvard Law School as part of the Critical Legal Studies movement, which is held to have helped disrupt the methodological consensus in American law schools. His political activity helped the transition to democracy in Brazil in the aftermath of the military regime, and culminated with his appointment as Brazil's Minister of Strategic Affairs in 2007 and again in 2015.
Key in Unger's thinking is the need to re-imagine social institutions before attempting to revise them. This calls for a program, or programmatic thought. In building this program, however, we must not entertain complete revolutionary overhaul, lest we be plagued by three false assumptions: Typological Fallacy: the fallacy that there is closed list of institutional alternatives in history, such as "feudalism" or "capitalism". There is not a natural form of society, only the specific result of the piecemeal institutional changes, political movements, and cultural reforms (as well as the accidents and coincidences of history) that came before it. Indivisibility Fallacy: most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together. However, structures can be reformed piecemeal. Determinism Fallacy: the fallacy that uncontrollable and little understood law-like forces drive the historical succession of institutional systems. However, there is no natural flow of history. We make ourselves and our world, and can do so in any way we choose. To think about social transformation programmatically, one must first mark the direction one wants society to move in, and then identify the first steps with which we can move in that direction. In this way we can formulate proposals at points along the trajectory, be they relatively close to how things are now or relatively far away. This provides a third way between revolution and reform. It is revolutionary reform, where one has a revolutionary vision, but acts on that vision in a sequence of piecemeal reforms. As Unger puts it, transformative politics is "not about blueprints; it is about pathways. It is not architecture; it is music".

Q: What is programmatic thought?
A: Key in Unger's thinking is the need to re-imagine social institutions before attempting to revise them. This calls for a program, or programmatic thought.

Q: Can you explain the mechanism of thinking?
A: In building this program, however, we must not entertain complete revolutionary overhaul, lest we be plagued by three false assumptions:

Q: What are the three false assumptions?
A: Typological Fallacy: the fallacy that there is closed list of institutional alternatives in history, such as "feudalism" or "capitalism".

Q: What is the next one?
A: Indivisibility Fallacy: most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together.

Q: What is the third one?
A: Determinism Fallacy: the fallacy that uncontrollable and little understood law-like forces drive the historical succession of institutional systems.

Q: What is Typological Fallacy?
A: the fallacy that there is closed list of institutional alternatives in history, such as "feudalism" or "capitalism".
What is Indivisibility Fallacy?
most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together. However, structures can be reformed piecemeal. most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together. However, structures can be reformed piecemeal. believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together. However, structures can be reformed piecemeal. most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together. most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together.
most subscribers to revolutionary Leftism wrongly believe that institutional structures must stand and fall together.