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Abandoned to Ourselves

Peter A. Meyers

This book shows how the centerpiece of the Enlightenment—society as the symbol of collective human life and as the fundamental domain of human practice—was primarily composed and animated by its most ... More

This book shows how the centerpiece of the Enlightenment—society as the symbol of collective human life and as the fundamental domain of human practice—was primarily composed and animated by its most ambivalent figure: Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Displaying this new society as an evolving field of interdependence, the book traces the emergence and moral significance of dependence itself within Rousseau's encounters with a variety of discourses of order, including theology, natural philosophy, and music. Underpinning this whole scene we discover a modernizing conception of the human Will, one that runs far deeper than Rousseau's most famous trope, the “general Will.”Less

Adam Smith's Pluralism: Rationality, Education, and the Moral Sentiments

Jack Russell Weinstein

This book suggests that the foundations of liberalism can be found in the writings of Adam Smith (1723–1790), a pioneer of modern economic theory and a major figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. ... More

This book suggests that the foundations of liberalism can be found in the writings of Adam Smith (1723–1790), a pioneer of modern economic theory and a major figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. While offering an interpretive methodology for approaching Smith's two major works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations, the book argues against the libertarian interpretation of Smith, emphasizing his philosophies of education and rationality. The book also demonstrates that Smith should be recognized for a prescient theory of pluralism that prefigures current theories of cultural diversity.Less

American Democratic Socialism: History, Politics, Religion, and Theory

Gary Dorrien

The USA has a rich tradition of democratic socialism despite its long tradition of denigrating democratic socialism as un-American. The former American tradition has sought to Americanize democratic ... More

The USA has a rich tradition of democratic socialism despite its long tradition of denigrating democratic socialism as un-American. The former American tradition has sought to Americanize democratic socialism by speaking the language of individual liberty, trying to build a coalition party of the democratic left, and grappling with American racism, cultural diversity, exceptionalist mythology, and activist religion. Democratic socialists founded the nation’s first industrial unions, proposed every plank of what became the New Deal, and played leading roles in the civil rights movement. Today democratic socialists are leading the struggles for economic equality and the Green New Deal, unsettling the convention that democratic socialism is un-American.Less

Beyond the Nation-State: The Zionist Political Imagination from Pinsker to Ben-Gurion

Dmitry Shumsky

The Jewish nation-state has often been thought of as Zionism's end goal. This bracing history of the idea of the Jewish state in modern Zionism, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century ... More

The Jewish nation-state has often been thought of as Zionism's end goal. This bracing history of the idea of the Jewish state in modern Zionism, from its beginnings in the late nineteenth century until the establishment of the state of Israel, challenges this deeply rooted assumption. In doing so, the book complicates the narrative of the Zionist quest for full sovereignty, provocatively showing how and why the leaders of the pre-state Zionist movement imagined, articulated, and promoted theories of self-determination in Palestine either as part of a multinational Ottoman state (1882–1917), or in the framework of multinational democracy. In particular, the book focuses on the writings and policies of five key Zionist leaders from the Habsburg and Russian empires in central and eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: Leon Pinsker, Theodor Herzl, Ahad Ha'am, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and David Ben-Gurion to offer a very pointed critique of Zionist historiography.Less

Breaking Democracy’s Spell

John Dunn

This book argues that democracy is not synonymous with good government. It explores the labyrinthine reality behind the basic concept of democracy, demonstrating how the political system that people ... More

This book argues that democracy is not synonymous with good government. It explores the labyrinthine reality behind the basic concept of democracy, demonstrating how the political system that people in the West generally view as straightforward and obvious is, in fact, deeply unclear and, in many cases, dysfunctional. It sketches the path by which democracy became the only form of government with moral legitimacy, analyzes the contradictions and pitfalls of democracy in modern America, and challenges the academic world to take responsibility for giving the world a more coherent understanding of this widely misrepresented political institution. Suggesting that the supposedly ideal marriage of liberal economics with liberal democracy can neither ensure its continuance nor even address the problems of contemporary life, the book shows how we came to be so gripped by democracy’s spell and why we must now learn to break it.Less

The Case for Greatness: Honorable Ambition and Its Critics

Robert Faulkner

This book examines political ambition, good and bad, paying particular attention to honorable ambition. The book contends that too many modern accounts of leadership slight such things as ... More

This book examines political ambition, good and bad, paying particular attention to honorable ambition. The book contends that too many modern accounts of leadership slight such things as determination to excel, good judgment, justice, and a sense of honor—the very qualities that distinguish the truly great. And here it offers an attempt to recover “a reasonable understanding of excellence,” that which distinguishes a Franklin D. Roosevelt and a Lincoln from lesser leaders. The book finds the most telling diagnoses in antiquity and examines closely Aristotle's great-souled man, two accounts of the spectacular and dubious Athenian politician Alcibiades, and the life of the imperial conqueror Cyrus the Great. There results a complex and compelling picture of greatness and its problems. The book dissects military and imperial ambition, the art of leadership, and, in the later example of George Washington, ambition in the service of popular self-government. It also addresses modern indictments of even the best forms of political greatness, whether in the critical thinking of Hobbes, the idealism of Kant, the relativism and brutalism of Nietzsche, or the egalitarianism of Rawls and Arendt. It shows how modern philosophy came to doubt and indeed disdain even the best forms of ambition.Less

Distributive Justice and Disability: Utilitarianism against Egalitarianism

Mark S. Stein

Theories of distributive justice are most severely tested in the area of disability. This book argues that utilitarianism performs better than egalitarian theories in this area: whereas ... More

Theories of distributive justice are most severely tested in the area of disability. This book argues that utilitarianism performs better than egalitarian theories in this area: whereas egalitarianism helps the disabled either too little or too much, utilitarianism achieves the proper balance by placing resources where they will do the most good. The book offers what may be the broadest critique of egalitarian theory from a utilitarian perspective. It addresses the work of egalitarian theorists John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Amartya Sen, Bruce Ackerman, Martha Nussbaum, Norman Daniels, Philippe Van Parijs, and others. It claims that egalitarians are often driven to borrow elements of utilitarianism in order to make their theories at all plausible. The book concludes with an acknowledgment that both utilitarians and egalitarians face problems in the distribution of life-saving medical resources. It advocates a version of utilitarianism that would distribute life-saving resources based on life expectancy, not quality of life. Egalitarian theories, it argues, ignore life expectancy and so are again found wanting.Less

Entitlement: The Paradoxes of Property

Joseph William Singer

This book offers a new view of property and the entitlements and obligations of its owners. The book argues against the conventional understanding that owners have the right to control their property ... More

This book offers a new view of property and the entitlements and obligations of its owners. The book argues against the conventional understanding that owners have the right to control their property as they see fit, with few limitations by government. Instead, property should be understood as a mode of organizing social relations. The book focuses on the ways in which property law reflects and shapes social relationships. It contends that property is a matter not of right but of entitlement—and entitlement is a complex accommodation of mutual claims. Property requires regulation—property is a system and not just an individual entitlement, and the system must support a form of social life that spreads wealth, promotes liberty, avoids undue concentration of power, and furthers justice. The book argues that owners have not only rights but obligations as well—to other owners, to nonowners, and to the community as a whole. Those obligations ensure that property rights function to shape social relationships in ways that are both just and defensible.Less

Freedom and Time: A Theory of Constitutional Self-Government

Jed Rubenfeld

Should we try to “live in the present”? Such is the imperative of modernity, according to this work of political theory. Since Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that “the earth belongs to the living”—since ... More

Should we try to “live in the present”? Such is the imperative of modernity, according to this work of political theory. Since Thomas Jefferson proclaimed that “the earth belongs to the living”—since Sigmund Freud announced that mental health requires people to “get free of their past”—since Friedrich Nietzsche declared that the happy man is the man who “leaps” into “the moment”—modernity has directed its inhabitants to live in the present, as if there alone could they find happiness, authenticity, and above all freedom. But this imperative rests on a profoundly inadequate, deforming picture of the relationship between freedom and time. Instead, human freedom—human being itself—necessarily extends into both past and future; self-government consists of giving our lives meaning and purpose over time. From this conception of self-government, the book derives a new theory of constitutional law's place in democracy. Democracy, it argues, is not a matter of governance by the present “will of the people”; it is a matter of a nation's laying down and living up to enduring political and legal commitments. Constitutionalism is not counter to democracy, as many believe, or a precondition of democracy; it is or should be democracy itself—over time. On this basis, this study offers a new understanding of constitutional interpretation and of the fundamental right of privacy.Less

Heidegger's Polemos: From Being to Politics

Gregory Fried

This book offers an investigation of Martin Heidegger's understanding of politics. Disturbing issues surround Heidegger's commitment to National Socialism, his disdain for liberal democracy, and his ... More

This book offers an investigation of Martin Heidegger's understanding of politics. Disturbing issues surround Heidegger's commitment to National Socialism, his disdain for liberal democracy, and his rejection of the Enlightenment. The book confronts these issues, focusing not on the historical debate over Heidegger's personal involvement with Nazism, but on whether and how the formulation of Heidegger's ontology relates to his political thinking as expressed in his philosophical works. The inquiry begins with Heidegger's interpretation of Heraclitus, particularly the term polemos (“war,” or, in Heidegger's usage, “confrontation”). The book contends that Heidegger invests polemos with broad ontological significance and that his appropriation of the word provides important insights into major strands of his thinking—his conception of the human being, understanding of truth, and interpretation of history—as well as the meaning of the so-called turn in his thought. Although the book finds that Heidegger's politics are continuous with his thought, it also argues that Heidegger's work raises important questions about contemporary identity politics. The book also shows that many postmodernists, despite attempts to distance themselves from Heidegger, fail to avoid some of the same political pitfalls his thinking entailed.Less

On Political Obligation

Judith N. Shklar

Samantha Ashenden and Andreas Hess (eds)

The lectures that comprise this book are a reminder of the legacy and a demonstration of the promise of a critical assessment and evaluation of political obligation. Shklar shows that the crucial ... More

The lectures that comprise this book are a reminder of the legacy and a demonstration of the promise of a critical assessment and evaluation of political obligation. Shklar shows that the crucial questions that any political activist, any reflective citizen, and any existing or aspiring polity should raise are as pertinent today as they were in the past, despite their function and nature having changed over time. The book discusses the practical choices, dilemmas, compromises, risks, and dangers that are the result of the tensions that arise whenever the notions of obligation and loyalty are foregrounded, and when what it means to be a citizen and the aims of a given polity are in conflict. What can I/we do in such a situation? How should I/we act? Shklar takes us through several historical constellations and scenarios in which such questions have arisen and been answered—for better or for worse.Less

Politics, Law, and Morality: Essays by V.S. Soloviev

Vladimir Soloviev

Vladimir Wozniuk (ed.)

Considered one of Russia's greatest philosophers, Vladimir S. Soloviev (1853–1900) was also a theologian, historian, poet, and social and political critic. His works have emerged to enjoy renewed ... More

Considered one of Russia's greatest philosophers, Vladimir S. Soloviev (1853–1900) was also a theologian, historian, poet, and social and political critic. His works have emerged to enjoy renewed attention in post-Soviet Russia, and his concerns echo in contemporary discussions of politics, law, and morality. In this collection of Soloviev's essays, many translated into English for the first time, the philosopher explores an array of social issues, from the death penalty to nationalism to women's rights. Soloviev reacts against the tradition of European rationalist thought and seeks to synthesize religious philosophy, science, and ethics in the context of a universal Christianity. In these writings he reveals the centrality of human rights in his Christian worldview, not only as an abstract theory but also as an inspiration in everyday life. The editor points out distinctive and often overlooked features of Soloviev's works while illuminating his place within both the Russian and Western intellectual traditions.Less

Provisional Politics: Kantian Arguments in Policy Context

Elisabeth Ellis

This book argues that if we are to vindicate moral reasoning in politics, we must focus on the conditions of political discourse rather than the contents of any particular ethical system. This book ... More

This book argues that if we are to vindicate moral reasoning in politics, we must focus on the conditions of political discourse rather than the contents of any particular ethical system. This book builds on a interpretation of Kant's theory of provisional right to construct a new theory of justice under conditions of agency and plurality. It develops this new perspective through a series of cases ranging from the treatment of AIDS widows in Kenya to the rights of non-citizens everywhere, as well as the clash between democratic decision-making and the politics of species conservation. The book concludes with a sobering discussion of the probable limits of political agency.Less

Reforming Liberalism: J.S. Mill's Use of Ancient, Religious, Liberal, and Romantic Moralities

Robert Devigne

This book challenges prevailing interpretations of the political and moral thought of John Stuart Mill and the theoretical underpinnings of modern liberal philosophy. The book explains how Mill drew ... More

This book challenges prevailing interpretations of the political and moral thought of John Stuart Mill and the theoretical underpinnings of modern liberal philosophy. The book explains how Mill drew from ancient and romantic thought as well as past religious practices to reconcile conflicts and antinomies (liberty and virtue, self-interest and morality, equality and human excellence) that were hobbling traditional liberalism. The book shows that Mill, regarded as a seminal writer in the liberal tradition, critiques liberalism's weaknesses with a forcefulness usually associated with its well-known critics. The book explores Mill's writings to demonstrate how his thought has been misconstrued—as well as oversimplified—to the detriment of our understanding of liberalism itself.Less

Tocqueville and His America: A Darker Horizon

Arthur Kaledin

This book offers an original combination of biography, character study, and wide-ranging analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, bringing new light to that classic work. It examines ... More

This book offers an original combination of biography, character study, and wide-ranging analysis of Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America, bringing new light to that classic work. It examines the relation between Tocqueville's complicated inner life, his self-imagination, and his moral thought, and the meaning of his enduring writings, leading to a new understanding of Tocqueville's view of democratic culture and democratic politics. With particular emphasis on Tocqueville's prescient anticipation of various threats to liberty, social unity, and truly democratic politics in America posed by aspects of democratic culture, the book underscores the continuing pertinence of Tocqueville's thought in our own changing world of the twenty-first century.Less

The Watershed of Modern Politics: Law, Virtue, Kingship, and Consent (1300-1650)

Francis Oakley

This is the third volume in a trilogy which engages in the political thinkers of the later Middle Ages, Renaissance, Age of Reformation, and religious wars, and the era that produced the Divine Right ... More

This is the third volume in a trilogy which engages in the political thinkers of the later Middle Ages, Renaissance, Age of Reformation, and religious wars, and the era that produced the Divine Right Theory of Kingship. This study probes the continuities and discontinuities between medieval and early modern modes of political thinking and dwells at length on the roots and nature of those contract theories that sought to legitimate political authority by grounding it in the consent of the governed.Less

Why Liberalism Failed

Patrick J. Deneen

Has liberalism failed because it has succeeded? Of the three dominant ideologies of the twentieth century—fascism, communism, and liberalism—only the last remains. This has created a peculiar ... More

Has liberalism failed because it has succeeded? Of the three dominant ideologies of the twentieth century—fascism, communism, and liberalism—only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism's proponents tend to forget that it is an ideology and not the natural end-state of human political evolution. As this book argues, liberalism is built on a foundation of contradictions: it trumpets equal rights while fostering incomparable material inequality; its legitimacy rests on consent, yet it discourages civic commitments in favor of privatism; and in its pursuit of individual autonomy, it has given rise to the most far-reaching, comprehensive state system in human history. The book offers an astringent warning that the centripetal forces now at work on our political culture are not superficial flaws but inherent features of a system whose success is generating its own failure.Less