Download or read book Pre Liberal Political Philosophy written by Daniel A. Dombrowski and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2022-06-20 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Rawls is the most influential 20th century political philosopher, but critics have complained about the ahistorical character of his approach. The purpose of this book is to argue that these critics are, at best, only half correct.Pre-Liberal Political Philosophy concentrates on four pre-liberal thinkers who are major figures in the history of philosophy and who are surprisingly formative in the development of Rawls’s mature political philosophy: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, and Aquinas. Several illuminating connections are drawn between Rawls’s political liberalism and Plato’s contrasting appeal to the “noble lie” in politics, between Rawls’s overall method of reflective equilibrium and Aristotle’s dialectic, between Rawls’s opposition to merit in the distribution of wealth and Augustine’s similar anti-Pelagian stance, and between Rawls’s view of a just society as a common good of common goods and the natural law dimension of Aquinas’s philosophy. In general, the distance between Rawlsian abstraction and his historical embeddedness is lessened considerably.
Download or read book Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy written by John Rawls and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Constantly revised and refined over three decades, Rawls's lectures on various historical figures reflect his developing and changing views on the history of liberalism and democracy. With its careful analyses of the doctrine of the social contract, utilitarianism, and socialism, this volume has a critical place in the traditions it expounds.
Download or read book The Theology of Liberalism written by Eric Nelson and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of our most important political theorists pulls the philosophical rug out from under modern liberalism, then tries to place it on a more secure footing. We think of modern liberalism as the novel product of a world reinvented on a secular basis after 1945. In The Theology of Liberalism, one of the country’s most important political theorists argues that we could hardly be more wrong. Eric Nelson contends that the tradition of liberal political philosophy founded by John Rawls is, however unwittingly, the product of ancient theological debates about justice and evil. Once we understand this, he suggests, we can recognize the deep incoherence of various forms of liberal political philosophy that have emerged in Rawls’s wake. Nelson starts by noting that today’s liberal political philosophers treat the unequal distribution of social and natural advantages as morally arbitrary. This arbitrariness, they claim, diminishes our moral responsibility for our actions. Some even argue that we are not morally responsible when our own choices and efforts produce inequalities. In defending such views, Nelson writes, modern liberals have implicitly taken up positions in an age-old debate about whether the nature of the created world is consistent with the justice of God. Strikingly, their commitments diverge sharply from those of their proto-liberal predecessors, who rejected the notion of moral arbitrariness in favor of what was called Pelagianism—the view that beings created and judged by a just God must be capable of freedom and merit. Nelson reconstructs this earlier “liberal” position and shows that Rawls’s philosophy derived from his self-conscious repudiation of Pelagianism. In closing, Nelson sketches a way out of the argumentative maze for liberals who wish to emerge with commitments to freedom and equality intact.
Download or read book Western Political Thought written by Brian R. Nelson and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2015-01-29 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written simply and directly—but without sacrificing intellectual depth—this widely acclaimed text explores the preeminent theorists of Western political thought from the pre-Socratics to the contemporary era. The author provides an in-depth analysis of a limited number of major thinkers, which allows for a richly detailed examination of each philosopher in historical context. Western Political Thought, Second Edition, presents the fundamental terms, ideas, and dilemmas of Western political philosophy in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner. It organizes the theorists historically, explains basic concepts in depth, and draws out and analyzes the implications of various political theories. Moreover, this cohesive volume employs an overarching theme, examining each thinker in terms of the changing relationships of ethics and politics in Western political philosophy.
Download or read book Public Philosophy written by Michael J. Sandel and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2006-10-31 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Michael Sandel takes up some of the hotly contested moral and political issues of our time, including affirmative action, assisted suicide, abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, the meaning of toleration and civility, the gap between rich and poor, the role of markets, and the place of religion in public life. He argues that the most prominent ideals in our political life--individual rights and freedom of choice--do not by themselves provide an adequate ethic for a democratic society. Sandel calls for a politics that gives greater emphasis to citizenship, community, and civic virtue, and that grapples more directly with questions of the good life. Liberals often worry that inviting moral and religious argument into the public sphere runs the risk of intolerance and coercion. These essays respond to that concern by showing that substantive moral discourse is not at odds with progressive public purposes, and that a pluralist society need not shrink from engaging the moral and religious convictions that its citizens bring to public life.
Download or read book John Rawls written by Andrius Gališanka and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-01 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging account of the titan of political philosophy and the development of his most important work, A Theory of Justice, coming at a moment when its ideas are sorely needed. It is hard to overestimate the influence of John Rawls on political philosophy and theory over the last half-century. His books have sold millions of copies worldwide, and he is one of the few philosophers whose work is known in the corridors of power as well as in the halls of academe. Rawls is most famous for the development of his view of “justice as fairness,” articulated most forcefully in his best-known work, A Theory of Justice. In it he develops a liberalism focused on improving the fate of the least advantaged, and attempts to demonstrate that, despite our differences, agreement on basic political institutions is both possible and achievable. Critics have maintained that Rawls’s view is unrealistic and ultimately undemocratic. In this incisive new intellectual biography, Andrius Gališanka argues that in misunderstanding the origins and development of Rawls’s central argument, previous narratives fail to explain the novelty of his philosophical approach and so misunderstand the political vision he made prevalent. Gališanka draws on newly available archives of Rawls’s unpublished essays and personal papers to clarify the justifications Rawls offered for his assumption of basic moral agreement. Gališanka’s intellectual-historical approach reveals a philosopher struggling toward humbler claims than critics allege. To engage with Rawls’s search for agreement is particularly valuable at this political juncture. By providing insight into the origins, aims, and arguments of A Theory of Justice, Gališanka’s John Rawls will allow us to consider the philosopher’s most important and influential work with fresh eyes.
Download or read book Political Questions written by Larry Arnhart and published by Waveland Press. This book was released on 2015-08-28 with total page 623 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this enhanced edition, Larry Arnhart continues to ask thought-provoking questions that illuminate the philosophies of some of the most prominent political thinkers throughout history. This clear, well-written guide is an ideal supplement to the original texts he recommends at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to his analysis of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Rawls, the author’s well-organized and insightful approach provides an even more comprehensive overview than the earlier editions: • Supplementing the discussion of Leviathan, the chapter on Thomas Hobbes covers Behemoth. • The chapter on John Locke includes his Letter Concerning Toleration as well as the original discussion of Second Treatise of Government. • A chapter on Adam Smith has been added, which discusses Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations. • Leo Strauss is featured, with an examination of Persecution and the Art of Writing and Natural Right and History. • A final chapter analyzes Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature.
Download or read book Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy written by John Rawls and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Printbegrænsninger: Der kan printes 10 sider ad gangen og max. 40 sider pr. session.
Download or read book Liberalism written by Michael Freeden and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2015 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Michael Freeden explores the concept of liberalism, one of the longest-standing and central political theories and ideologies. Combining a variety of approaches, he distinguishes between liberalism as a political movement, as a system of ideas, and as a series of ethical and philosophical principles.
Download or read book In the Beginning was the Deed written by Bernard Williams and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Williams had intended to weave these essays into a connected narrative on political philosophy with reflections on his own experience of postwar politics. Sadly he did not live to complete it, but this book brings together many of its components. Geoffrey Hawthorn has arranged the material to resemble as closely as possible William's original design and vision. He has provided both an introduction to William's political philosophy and a bibliography of his formal and informal writings on politics."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book Predisposed written by John R. Hibbing and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-23 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Buried in many people and operating largely outside the realm of conscious thought are forces inclining us toward liberal or conservative political convictions. Our biology predisposes us to see and understand the world in different ways, not always reason and the careful consideration of facts. These predispositions are in turn responsible for a significant portion of the political and ideological conflict that marks human history. With verve and wit, renowned social scientists John Hibbing, Kevin Smith, and John Alford—pioneers in the field of biopolitics—present overwhelming evidence that people differ politically not just because they grew up in different cultures or were presented with different information. Despite the oft-heard longing for consensus, unity, and peace, the universal rift between conservatives and liberals endures because people have diverse psychological, physiological, and genetic traits. These biological differences influence much of what makes people who they are, including their orientations to politics. Political disputes typically spring from the assumption that those who do not agree with us are shallow, misguided, uninformed, and ignorant. Predisposed suggests instead that political opponents simply experience, process, and respond to the world differently. It follows, then, that the key to getting along politically is not the ability of one side to persuade the other side to see the error of its ways but rather the ability of each side to see that the other is different, not just politically, but physically. Predisposed will change the way you think about politics and partisan conflict. As a bonus, the book includes a "Left/Right 20 Questions" game to test whether your predispositions lean liberal or conservative.
Download or read book Works in Political Philosophy written by Gregory S. Butler and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation written by Thomas Hill Green and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2008-10-01 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present work is Thomas Hill Green’s account of his conception of ‘the common good’ and its importance in determining a set of criteria that will give us the means to evaluate the conduct of political establishments. The principles of political obligation are all founded on this attractive idea of a common good, and Green is able to apply his principles to a wide range of matters from land law to personal freedom. How well the book succeeds in convincing the reader that a common good ought to act as a basis for evaluating the role of political establishments may be unclear. But there can be little doubt that the work is one of the most important contributions to political philosophy made by any English philosopher, and almost certainly the single most important contribution made by any British idealist. The book has attracted philosophers, sociologists, politologists and others since the day of its appearance, and continues to fuel lively debate today.
Download or read book The Law of Peoples written by John Rawls and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2001-03-02 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book consists of two parts: “The Law of Peoples,” a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993, and the essay “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited,” first published in 1997. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls. “The Law of Peoples” extends the idea of a social contract to the Society of Peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behavior toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an “outlaw society” and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavorable political and economic conditions. “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited” explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. It is Rawls’s most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrine—such as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawls’s own “Justice as Fairness,” presented in A Theory of Justice (1971).
Download or read book Brill s Companion to Leo Strauss Writings on Classical Political Thought written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2015-08-04 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brill's Companion to Leo Strauss’ Writings on Classical Political Thought offers clear, accessible essays to assist a new generation of readers in their introduction to Strauss’ writings on the ancients, and to deepen the understanding of those who have already benefitted from his work. Strauss rediscovered esoteric writing. His careful explications of works by classical thinkers— of Socratic political philosophy, pre-Socratic philosophers, and of poets tragic and comic—have therefore opened those works up in a way that had been lost for centuries. Yet Strauss’ writings, especially his later works, make considerable demands on any reader. These essays are written by scholars who bring to bear on their reading of Strauss many years of study.
Download or read book A Theory of Justice written by John RAWLS and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls's view, so much of the extensive literature on Rawls's theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes the first edition once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls's work.
Download or read book The Structure of Political Thought written by Charles N. R. McCoy and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1963, this classic book is a rethinking of the history of Western political philosophy. Charles N. R. McCoy contrasts classical-medieval principles against the "hypotheses" at the root of modern liberalism and modern conservativism.In Part I, "The Classical Christian Tradition from Plato to Aquinas," the author lays the foundation for a philosophical "structure" capable of producing "constitutional liberty." Part II, "The Modern Theory of Politics from Machiavelli to Marx," attempts to show, beginning with Machiavelli, the reversal and destruction of the pre-modern "structure" postulated in Part I.McCoy stresses the great contributions of Aristotle to political thought found in his more familiar Ethics and Politics, but also includes key insights drawn from Metaphysics and Physics. These contributions are developed and perfected, McCoy argues, by Augustine and Aquinas. Two other important features include McCoy's epistemological insights into Plato's work that will be new to many readers and the author's juxtaposition of traditional natural law with "the modernized theory of natural law." The modern account of autonomous natural law, in McCoy's view, helps explain the totalitarian direction of key aspects of modern political thought. This classic volume on the origins of modern philosophical thought remains a standard in the field.
