Download or read book Liberal Modernism and Democratic Individuality written by Austin Sarat and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For over thirty years, George Kateb--along with John Rawls, the late Judith Shklar, and Sir Isaiah Berlin--has been one of liberal political theory's most distinctive voices. An eloquent spokesman for the moral dimensions of individual rights and constitutional democracy, he is a fierce critic of statism and communitarianism and a staunch advocate of individualism in the struggle against all forms of paternalism, conformity, and group-think. Kateb's broad concern as a political theorist has been to unveil the cultural, moral, and existential dimensions of constitutionalism in America. The essays in this book are assembled in his honor, but they are not only celebratory; they pay him homage through their authors' effort to understand the fate of democratic individuality in the modern age. John Hollander and Cornel West contribute reflections on Kateb as a person and a political theorist. Dana Villa, Judith Shklar, and Thomas Dumm write on political theory and the claims of democratic individuality. Democratic individuality and the politics of identity are discussed by Tracy Strong, William Connolly, Benjamin Barber, and Leslie Theile; culture, sensibility, and the self, by David Bromwich, Helene Keyssar, Kim Townsend, and George Shulman. Democratic individuality and civic action are the subjects of essays by Amy Gutmann, Jeffrey Abramson, and Austin Sarat.
Download or read book The Inner Ocean written by George Kateb and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2019-06-30 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " What is the meaning of individualism in a modern democracy? In this rich and penetrating book, a major political theorist examines the nature of individualism—the concept of self it implies, the ethic it sustains, the personal connectedness it supports, and the politics it requires—and provides a challenging answer. George Kateb argues that democracy is founded on respect for the dignity of individuals as individuals, and that this respect transforms all human relations. Democratic individuality, in his view, is a way in which individuals whose rights are protected may dare to live their private lives and to conceive their roles as citizens. Kateb employs the concept of individuality not only to criticize communitarianism and to define the limits of the role of the state, but also to approach global concerns involving our relation to nature. The ten essays of this book explore democratic individuality in light of such topics as the power of political institutions to accommodate and express different values, the moral distinctiveness of representative democracy, the implications of the liberal social contract, and the possibility of human extinction. Eloquently addressing issues at the heart of democratic life, The Inner Ocean will be of vital interest to scholars and students in American studies, political theory, and moral philosophy.
Download or read book Democratic Individuality written by Alan Gilbert and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1990-08-31 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The parallels between scientific and moral realism are drawn to reinterpret the history and internal logic of democratic theory and present a powerful argument in favor of the objectivity of democratic individuality.
Download or read book Beyond Individualism written by Jack Crittenden and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1992-08-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the examination of the conception of human nature, a duality is commonly perceived--the liberal self as atomistic, self-contained, even selfish; and the communitarian self as socially situated and defined through its environment. Crittenden argues that neither view is acceptable, drawing on recent psychological research to expound on a theory of "compound individuality." This work includes a discussion of the compound individual as the self of liberalism, as well as a discussion of the sort of political organization that can generate personal identity constituted by liberal autonomy and communitarian sociality.
Download or read book Liberal Freedom written by Eric MacGilvray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We seem to be losing the ability to talk to each other about – and despite – our political differences. The liberal tradition, with its emphasis on open-mindedness, toleration, and inclusion, is ideally suited to respond to this challenge. Yet liberalism is often seen today as a barrier to constructive dialogue: narrowly focused on individual rights, indifferent to the communal sources of human well-being, and deeply implicated in structures of economic and social domination. This book provides a novel defense of liberalism that weaves together a commitment to republican self-government, an emphasis on the value of unregulated choice, and an appreciation of how hard it is to strike a balance between them. By treating freedom rather than justice as the central liberal value this important book, critical to the times, provides an indispensable resource for constructive dialogue in a time of political polarization.
Download or read book Freedom Beyond Sovereignty written by Sharon R. Krause and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2015-03-13 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to be free? We invoke the word frequently, yet the freedom of countless Americans is compromised by social inequalities that systematically undercut what they are able to do and to become. If we are to remedy these failures of freedom, we must move beyond the common assumption, prevalent in political theory and American public life, that individual agency is best conceived as a kind of personal sovereignty, or as self-determination or control over one’s actions. In Freedom Beyond Sovereignty, Sharon R. Krause shows that individual agency is best conceived as a non-sovereign experience because our ability to act and affect the world depends on how other people interpret and respond to what we do. The intersubjective character of agency makes it vulnerable to the effects of social inequality, but it is never in a strict sense socially determined. The agency of the oppressed sometimes surprises us with its vitality. Only by understanding the deep dynamics of agency as simultaneously non-sovereign and robust can we remediate the failed freedom of those on the losing end of persistent inequalities and grasp the scope of our own responsibility for social change. Freedom Beyond Sovereignty brings the experiences of the oppressed to the center of political theory and the study of freedom. It fundamentally reconstructs liberal individualism and enables us to see human action, personal responsibility, and the meaning of liberty in a totally new light.
Download or read book The Myth of Liberal Individualism written by Colin Bird and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-24 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Colin Bird mounts a powerful and original challenge to the traditional view that the ideas associated with the liberal political tradition--the meaning of political freedom, the notion of inviolable human rights, the idea of privacy--cohere around an "individualist" conception of the relation among individuals, society and the state. He argues that by taking this conception for granted, theorists have exaggerated the unity and integrity of liberal political ideals, and limited our perception of the issues they raise.
Download or read book George Kateb written by George Kateb and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: George Kateb is our foremost theorist of democratic individuality. For 50 years, building on the writings and extending the main legacies of Emerson and Whitman, Kateb has explored the fundamental quandary of how modern democracy--sovereignty vested in the many--might nevertheless protect, respect, promote, even celebrate the singular, albeit ordinary individual. This collection draws together the key works of Kateb, focusing on his writing on Dignity, Morality and Individuality and is framed by a introduction from John Seery, a new essay from Kateb and an interview in which Kateb reflects on the work in the volume. His writing is sometimes normative and idealizing, sometimes critical and caustically so; sometimes exegetical, or contextual; part literary, part analytic; now brooding, now conclusive. But there's a unique voice, a clear voice, running throughout, which seems to hold these many studies together, as opposed to scattering them. It is a patient yet insistent voice, one that seems to summon one's readers, tacitly positioned as equals, to be serious and attentive and thoughtful. It is a cant-free voice that exemplifies, and thus encourages, the very importance of self-reliant thinking. In writing, Kateb practices the democratic individuality that he preaches. By definition, however, his converts cannot be described as a flock.
Download or read book Afterlives of Modernism written by John Carlos Rowe and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2011 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A defense of liberalism in modernist and contemporary American writers
Download or read book Liberalism as a Way of Life written by Alexandre Lefebvre and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2024-06-04 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why liberalism is all you need to lead a good, fun, worthy, and rewarding life—and how you can become a better and happier person by taking your liberal beliefs more seriously Where do you get your values and sensibilities from? If you grew up in a Western democracy, the answer is probably liberalism. Conservatives are right about one thing: liberalism is the ideology of our times, as omnipresent as religion once was. Yet, as Alexandre Lefebvre argues in Liberalism as a Way of Life, many of us are liberal without fully realizing it—or grasping what it means. Misled into thinking that liberalism is confined to politics, we fail to recognize that it’s the water we swim in, saturating every area of public and private life, shaping our psychological and spiritual outlooks, and influencing our moral and aesthetic values—our sense of what is right, wrong, good, bad, funny, worthwhile, and more. This eye-opening book shows how so many of us are liberal to the core, why liberalism provides the basis for a good life, and how we can make our lives better and happier by becoming more aware of, and more committed to, the beliefs we already hold. A lively, engaging, and uplifting guide to living well, the liberal way, Liberalism as a Way of Life is filled with examples from television, movies, stand-up comedy, and social media—from Parks and Recreation and The Good Place to the Borat movies and Hannah Gadsby. Along the way, you’ll also learn about seventeen benefits of being a liberal—including generosity, humor, cheer, gratitude, tolerance, and peace of mind—and practical exercises to increase these rewards. You’re probably already waist-deep in the waters of liberalism. Liberalism as a Way of Life invites you to dive in.
Download or read book Liberalism written by Marcus G. Raskin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contrary to those who believe that liberalism has descended into the dustbins of history, renowned political activist and social critic Marcus G. Raskin argues that there is no escape from liberalism. Against the empty headed and mean spirited conservative onslaught of recent times, Raskin asserts and ably demonstrates how the liberal purpose is tied to human liberation and inclusivity for all people. For liberalism to succeed in a new century, it must reckon with its past mistakes--especially its reluctance to be bold. It must also embrace the inextricably interwoven character of morality and politics. To this end, Raskin seeks no less than a new intellectual and spiritual covenant in the university, the political economy, and foreign policy. He shows how this is possible through a radical rethinking of America's role in the world including war avoidance and economic restructuring. He probes the tensions and limits as well as the promise of community, family, and technology. He helps us to recognize the potential of a new multiculturalism within American society and the important role that knowledge workers and specialists will play as change agents in a changed world. Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals traces Raskin's remarkable journey of the last 50 years through social and political action as well as thought. It is a book for people "in motion" who realize the importance of humane ideas in relation to action, aware that it is not only that peace should be given a chance but that our best instincts must also be engaged through the reconstruction of our institutions. In the face of a new, distinctly uncompassionate brand of conservatism that has shuttered the doors to the very real world of struggle, alienation, and pain, Liberalism is intended to hold out a candle in the window of this dark time.
Download or read book Inventing the Individual written by Larry Siedentop and published by Allen Lane. This book was released on 2014 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ambitious and stimulating book describes how a moral revolution in the first centuries AD - the discovery of human freedom and its universal potential - led to a social revolution in the west. The invention of a new, equal social role, the individual, gradually displaced the claims of family, tribe and caste as the basis of social organisation. Larry Siedentop asks us to rethink the evolution of the ideas on which modern societies and government are built, and argues that the core of what is now our system of beliefs emerged much earlier than we think. The roots of liberalism - belief in individual liberty, in the fundamental moral equality of individuals, that equality should be the basis of a legal system and that only a representative form of government is fitting for such a society - all these, Siedentop argues, were pioneered by Christian thinkers of the Middle Ages, who drew on the moral revolution carried out by the early church. It was the arguments of canon lawyers, theologians and philosophers from the eleventh to the fourteenth century, rather than the Renaissance, that laid the foundation for liberal democracy. There are large parts of the world where other beliefs flourish - fundamentalist Islam, which denies the equality of women and is often ambiguous about individual rights and representative institutions; quasi-capitalist China, where a form of utilitarianism enshrines state interests even at the expense of justice and liberty. Such beliefs may foster populist forms of democracy. But they are not liberal. In the face of these challenges, Siedentop urges that understanding the origins of our own liberal ideas is more than ever an important part of knowing who we are. 'A most impressive work of philosophical history.' Robert Skidelsky 'This is a strange and disturbing moment in Western history. Europeans - out of touch with the roots of their tradition - often seem to lack conviction, while Americans may be succumbing to a dangerously simplistic version of their faith. On neither side of the Atlantic is there an adequate understanding of the relationship between liberal secularism and Christianity. Failure to understand that relationship makes it easier to underestimate the moral content of liberal secularism. If we in the West do not understand the moral depth of our own tradition, how can we hope to shape the coversation of mankind?' from the Epilogue 'Inventing the Individual opens up a new and original approach to the Middle Ages and redresses in a much needed way a balance between them and the Renaissance. It has coherence and intellectual drive in rare degree. It also comments incisively on our present time. It ought to come to be considered an important book.' Henry Mayr-Harting
Download or read book Democracy and Possessive Individualism written by Joseph H. Carens and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1993-09-14 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: C. B. Macpherson was one of the leading political theorists in North America and perhaps the most influential voice on the left for a view of liberal democracy that was simultaneously sympathetic to its aspirations and critical of its achievements. His work provides the contributors to this volume with a common starting point from which to reflect upon the possibilities for critical perspectives on liberal democracy in light of the demise of its Marxist rival. The volume as a whole addresses the following questions: What (if anything) remains valid in previous left critiques of liberal democracy (including Marxist critiques)? And what new critical and constructive alternatives can the left offer to challenge the status quo? The contributors to this volume, from both the Anglo-American and Continental traditions, include Joseph Carens, William Connolly, Virginia Held, John Keane, Ernesto Laclau, William Leiss, Jane Mansbridge, Louise Marcil-Lacoste, Mihailo Markovic, Chantal Mouffe, Nancy Rosenblum, and James Tully.
Download or read book Moral Selfhood in the Liberal Tradition written by Paul Fairfield and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2000-01-01 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beginning with a wide-ranging discussion of liberal philosophers, Fairfield proposes that liberalism requires a complete reconception of moral selfhood, one that accommodates elements of the contemporary critiques without abandoning liberal individualism.
Download or read book The Modern Liberal Theory of Man written by Gerald F. Gaus and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 1983. The primary argument of this book is that there is a coherent tradition of liberal thinking that extends from L. S. Mill, through liberals like T. H. Green, Bernard Bosanquet, L. T. Hobhouse and John Dewey to John Rawls. The author places Rawls within a longstanding tradition of liberal thinking, while also arguing that Green and Hobhouse are not simply of historical interest but represent genuine and interesting attempts to develop a modern liberal theory. It is argued that modern liberal theory centres on a conception of human nature; that modern liberals have sought to harmonise the pursuit of individuality with participation in social and communal life. Although the book focuses on six modern liberals, the discussion proceeds topically rather than according to author, thus highlighting similarities and disagreements and providing a comprehensive study of modern liberalism.
Download or read book Modern Liberty and Its Discontents written by Pierre Manent and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 1998 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, distinguished French philosopher Pierre Manent addresses a wide range of subjects, including the Machiavellian origins of modernity, Tocqueville's analysis of democracy, the political role of Christianity, the nature of totalitarianism, and the future of the nation-state. As a whole, the book constitutes a meditation on the nature of modern freedom and the permanent discontents which accompany it. Modern Liberty and its Discontents is both an important contribution to an understanding of modern society, and a significant contribution to political philosophy in its own right.
Download or read book Another Liberalism written by Nancy L. Rosenblum and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 1987 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Another Liberalism contributes an original perspective to debates about the nature and foundations of liberal thought. In it Nancy Rosenblum describes the dynamic of romanticism and liberalism as one of mutual opposition and reconciliation. She argues that romanticism sees liberalism as cold, contractual, and aloof. And conventional liberal legalism disdains romanticism's longing for all that is personal, unique, and expressive. We learn, however, that romanticism, chastened by its excesses and frustrated by its failures, can "come home" to liberalism. We also learn that liberalism can accommodate individuality and expressivity, reclaiming what it had repressed. Rosenblum creates a typology of romantic reconstructions of liberal thought: heroic individualism, communitarianism, and a new face of pluralism. The author draws on nineteenth--and twentieth--century philosophy and literature: on Thoreau, Humboldt, Constant, Stendhal, and Mill, among others, and on contemporary political theorists for whom romanticism is a source not only of aversion to liberalism but also of resources for reform.
