The Myth of Liberal Individualism

The Myth of Liberal Individualism PDF Author: Colin Bird
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521641284
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
This book challenges us to look at liberal political ideas in a fresh way. Colin Bird examines the assumption, held both by liberals and by their strongest critics, that the values and ideals of the liberal political tradition cohere around a distinctively 'individualist' conception of the relation between individuals, society and the state. He concludes that the formula of 'liberal individualism' conceals fundamental conflicts between liberal views of these relations, conflicts that neither liberals nor their critics have adequately recognized. His interesting and provocative study develops a powerful criticism of the libertarian forms of 'liberal individualism' which have risen to prominence, and suggests that by taking this term for granted, theorists have exaggerated the unity and integrity of liberal political ideals and limited our perception of the issues they raise.

The Myth of Liberal Individualism

The Myth of Liberal Individualism PDF Author: Colin Bird
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521641284
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
This book challenges us to look at liberal political ideas in a fresh way. Colin Bird examines the assumption, held both by liberals and by their strongest critics, that the values and ideals of the liberal political tradition cohere around a distinctively 'individualist' conception of the relation between individuals, society and the state. He concludes that the formula of 'liberal individualism' conceals fundamental conflicts between liberal views of these relations, conflicts that neither liberals nor their critics have adequately recognized. His interesting and provocative study develops a powerful criticism of the libertarian forms of 'liberal individualism' which have risen to prominence, and suggests that by taking this term for granted, theorists have exaggerated the unity and integrity of liberal political ideals and limited our perception of the issues they raise.

The Myth of Liberal Individualism

The Myth of Liberal Individualism PDF Author: Colin Peter Bird
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 620

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Book Description


The Myth of American Individualism

The Myth of American Individualism PDF Author: Barry Alan Shain
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691029122
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

The Roots of American Individualism

The Roots of American Individualism PDF Author: Alex Zakaras
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691226326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
A panoramic history of American individualism from its nineteenth-century origins to today’s bitterly divided politics Individualism is a defining feature of American public life. Its influence is pervasive today, with liberals and conservatives alike promising to expand personal freedom and defend individual rights against unwanted intrusion, be it from big government, big corporations, or intolerant majorities. The Roots of American Individualism traces the origins of individualist ideas to the turbulent political controversies of the Jacksonian era (1820–1850) and explores their enduring influence on American politics and culture. Alex Zakaras plunges readers into the spirited and rancorous political debates of Andrew Jackson’s America, drawing on the stump speeches, newspaper editorials, magazine articles, and sermons that captivated mass audiences and shaped partisan identities. He shows how these debates popularized three powerful myths that celebrated the young nation as an exceptional land of liberty: the myth of the independent proprietor, the myth of the rights-bearer, and the myth of the self-made man. The Roots of American Individualism reveals how generations of politicians, pundits, and provocateurs have invoked these myths for competing political purposes. Time and again, the myths were used to determine who would enjoy equal rights and freedoms and who would not. They also conjured up heavily idealized, apolitical visions of social harmony and boundless opportunity, typically centered on the free market, that have distorted American political thought to this day.

The Cult of Individualism

The Cult of Individualism PDF Author: Aaron Barlow
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
American individualism: It is the reason for American success, but it also tears the nation apart. Why do Americans have so much trouble seeing eye to eye today? Is this new? Was there ever an American consensus? The Cult of Individualism: A History of an Enduring American Myth explores the rarely discussed cultural differences leading to today's seemingly intractable political divides. After an examination of the various meanings of individualism in America, author Aaron Barlow describes the progression and evolution of the concept from the 18th century on, illuminating the wide division in Caucasian American culture that developed between the culture based on the ideals of the English Enlightenment and that of the Scots-Irish "Borderers." The "Borderer" legacy, generally explored only by students of Appalachian culture, remains as pervasive and significant in contemporary American culture and politics as it is, unfortunately, overlooked. It is from the "Borderers" that the Tea Party sprang, along with many of the attitudes of the contemporary American right, making it imperative that this culture be thoroughly explored.

Communitarianism, Liberal Individualism, and the Myth of Antecedence

Communitarianism, Liberal Individualism, and the Myth of Antecedence PDF Author: Paulette Ann Parker
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Citizenship
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description


Beyond Individualism

Beyond Individualism PDF Author: Jack Crittenden
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195360893
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
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.

Freedom Beyond Sovereignty

Freedom Beyond Sovereignty PDF Author: Sharon R. Krause
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022623469X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This volume explores the nature of human agency, including both its vitality and its vulnerabilities. The book identifies emancipatory sources of agency under conditions of domination and oppression, and it suggests a new, pluralist way to understand political freedom. Non-sovereign freedom should be conceived in a plural way because it takes diverse forms, happens in many different places, and aims at a variety of ends. The book reconstructs liberal individualism in fundamental ways. It offers new categories for conceiving human action, personal responsibility, and the meaning of liberty.

The Tyranny of Merit

The Tyranny of Merit PDF Author: Michael J. Sandel
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN: 0374720991
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A Times Literary Supplement’s Book of the Year 2020 A New Statesman's Best Book of 2020 A Bloomberg's Best Book of 2020 A Guardian Best Book About Ideas of 2020 The world-renowned philosopher and author of the bestselling Justice explores the central question of our time: What has become of the common good? These are dangerous times for democracy. We live in an age of winners and losers, where the odds are stacked in favor of the already fortunate. Stalled social mobility and entrenched inequality give the lie to the American credo that "you can make it if you try". The consequence is a brew of anger and frustration that has fueled populist protest and extreme polarization, and led to deep distrust of both government and our fellow citizens--leaving us morally unprepared to face the profound challenges of our time. World-renowned philosopher Michael J. Sandel argues that to overcome the crises that are upending our world, we must rethink the attitudes toward success and failure that have accompanied globalization and rising inequality. Sandel shows the hubris a meritocracy generates among the winners and the harsh judgement it imposes on those left behind, and traces the dire consequences across a wide swath of American life. He offers an alternative way of thinking about success--more attentive to the role of luck in human affairs, more conducive to an ethic of humility and solidarity, and more affirming of the dignity of work. The Tyranny of Merit points us toward a hopeful vision of a new politics of the common good.

Human Dignity and Political Criticism

Human Dignity and Political Criticism PDF Author: Colin Bird
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108832024
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
That human dignity matters politically is widely affirmed, yet how it matters remains unresolved. This book aims to settle that question.