Willful Liberalism

Willful Liberalism PDF Author: Richard Flathman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501724096
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
In this book Richard E. Flathman argues vigorously for a new understanding of the proper place of voluntarism, individuality, and plurality in the political and moral theory of liberalism. Giving close and sympathetic attention to thinkers who are seldom considered in debates about liberalism, he draws upon thinking within and outside the liberal canon to articulate a refashioned liberalism that gives a more secure prominence to plurality and a robust individuality. Flathman focuses on political philosophers whose work deals with willfulness and the will in human practice. He is concerned with the thinking of such nominalist medieval theologians as John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham; of Hobbes; and of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and William James. He also explores the writings of such contemporary philosophical psychologists as Brian O'Shaughnessy and, in particular, Wittgenstein, and of such twentiethcentury political theorists as Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, Hannah Arendt, and especially Michael Oakeshott. Appropriating ideas from widely disapproved thinkers and from theological sources commonly thought to be incompatible with liberalism, he formulates what is in many ways a strongly personal statement, one that is unorthodox and potentially disturbing. Sharply controversial, Willful Liberalism is certain to enliven and invigorate political and moral debate, and it may well help to revive liberalism as the dominant public philosophy of our culture, setting it on a new and better course.

Willful Liberalism

Willful Liberalism PDF Author: Richard Flathman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501724096
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
In this book Richard E. Flathman argues vigorously for a new understanding of the proper place of voluntarism, individuality, and plurality in the political and moral theory of liberalism. Giving close and sympathetic attention to thinkers who are seldom considered in debates about liberalism, he draws upon thinking within and outside the liberal canon to articulate a refashioned liberalism that gives a more secure prominence to plurality and a robust individuality. Flathman focuses on political philosophers whose work deals with willfulness and the will in human practice. He is concerned with the thinking of such nominalist medieval theologians as John Duns Scotus and William of Ockham; of Hobbes; and of Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and William James. He also explores the writings of such contemporary philosophical psychologists as Brian O'Shaughnessy and, in particular, Wittgenstein, and of such twentiethcentury political theorists as Isaiah Berlin, John Rawls, Hannah Arendt, and especially Michael Oakeshott. Appropriating ideas from widely disapproved thinkers and from theological sources commonly thought to be incompatible with liberalism, he formulates what is in many ways a strongly personal statement, one that is unorthodox and potentially disturbing. Sharply controversial, Willful Liberalism is certain to enliven and invigorate political and moral debate, and it may well help to revive liberalism as the dominant public philosophy of our culture, setting it on a new and better course.

Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship

Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship PDF Author: Ronald Beiner
Publisher: UBC Press
ISBN: 9780774809870
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Liberals believe that the purpose of politics is to guarantee that individuals do not face unfair impediments in pursuing the lives they choose for themselves. Nationalists believe that the purpose of politics is to ensure that a people's sense of authentic nationhood wins full expression in powers of collective sovereignty or self-rule. Both of these forms of political commitment yield world-transforming political philosophies, but do either of these visions do adequate justice to a philosophically robust ideal of shared citizenship and civic membership? In Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship, Ronald Beiner engages critically with a wide range of important political thinkers and current debates in light of the Aristotelean idea that shared citizenship is an essential human calling. Virtually every aspect of contemporary political experience - globalization, international migration, secessionist movements, the politics of multiculturalism - pose urgent challenges to modern citizenship. Beiner's work on the philosophy of citizenship is essential reading not just for students of politics and political philosophy, but for all those who rightly sense that these kinds of recent challen

Toward a Liberalism

Toward a Liberalism PDF Author: Richard Flathman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501726277
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
No detailed description available for "Toward a Liberalism".

Willful Subjects

Willful Subjects PDF Author: Sara Ahmed
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822376105
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
In Willful Subjects Sara Ahmed explores willfulness as a charge often made by some against others. One history of will is a history of attempts to eliminate willfulness from the will. Delving into philosophical and literary texts, Ahmed examines the relation between will and willfulness, ill will and good will, and the particular will and general will. Her reflections shed light on how will is embedded in a political and cultural landscape, how it is embodied, and how will and willfulness are socially mediated. Attentive to the wayward, the wandering, and the deviant, Ahmed considers how willfulness is taken up by those who have received its charge. Grounded in feminist, queer, and antiracist politics, her sui generis analysis of the willful subject, the figure who wills wrongly or wills too much, suggests that willfulness might be required to recover from the attempt at its elimination.

Liberalism After Communism

Liberalism After Communism PDF Author: Jerzy Szacki
Publisher: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9781858660165
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
This work is the first comprehensive presentation of liberal thought in Central Europe, especially in Poland, before and after 1989. The book contains a critical analysis of the proto-liberal anti-communist democratic opposition, in particular its ideas of the autonomy of the individual and civil society, and a description of economic liberalism as an alternative liberal orientation. The author's main theme, however, is the dilemma of liberalism in a post-communist society in which it is faced with historically unprecedented challenges. In countries which have no liberal tradition or the social or economic conditions which encouraged the emergence of liberalism in the past, the classic tenets of liberalism are undergoing essential modifications. Liberalism inescapably is becoming "constructivist" and serves primarily as the justification for a remarkable kind of social engineering whose objective is the rapid building of capitalism. This book is both an important contribution to our knowledge of the post-communist world and a voice in thh discussion on the nature and future of liberalism.

Skepticism, Individuality, and Freedom

Skepticism, Individuality, and Freedom PDF Author:
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9781452905754
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description


Reconceiving Liberalism

Reconceiving Liberalism PDF Author: Oren M. Levin-Waldman
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 0822974800
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Levin-Waldman argues that if American public policy were to be evaluated against a different set of principles-ones more closely aligned with core liberal values, especially the common good-liberalism would be in greater harmony with contemporary public opinion and thought. Liberalism rests on a moral vision of what constitutes the good life and a set of principles that can measure whether public policy accords with society's underlying philosophical principles. Levin-Waldman faults modern liberalism for obscuring these principles through a misplaced reliance on neutrality. Liberalism, he contends, appears to have diverged from mainstream perceptions of traditional American values because policy is debated and formulated within the confines of this neutrality standard. Levin-Waldman develops a new methodology intended to take us away from the usual cost-benefit analysis and move us closer to assessing public policies in terms of what best serves the common good.

Mill and the Moral Character of Liberalism

Mill and the Moral Character of Liberalism PDF Author: Eldon J. Eisenach
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271041765
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 349

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Book Description


Richard E. Flathman

Richard E. Flathman PDF Author: P.E. Digeser
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1317527445
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Richard E. Flathman is a ground-breaking theorist of key political concepts, a fierce defender of individuality, a close and original reader of Hobbes and an advocate of a willful conception of liberalism. In this volume P E Digeser draws together some of his key works. The collection is framed by an introduction and an interview with Flathman, where he reflects on his contributions. By thinking through and with Wittgenstein’s later philosophy of language, his work clarifies and refines terms that are central to politics and to the tradition of political thought. His work also seeks to cure certain persistent muddles and confusions in our political concepts as well as create and defend a space for the opaque and opalescent features of ourselves. Flathman advances a liberalism that is more open to and celebratory of the idiosyncratic as well as to voices not ordinarily associated with the liberal tradition. The editor has focused on her work in three key areas: The first part focuses on Flathman as a theorist of meaning and presents excepts from his analyses of quality, authority, and rights; The second part focuses on his contributions to understanding the meaning and value of freedom; The final part presents selections that illustrate his conception of liberalism and individuality. Helping to highlight how the innovations in Flathman's thought have shaped the field of political theory, this collection will be of interest to students and scholars.

Liberalism and Its Discontents

Liberalism and Its Discontents PDF Author: Patrick Neal
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349143626
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
In these essays the reigning models of liberal political theory of John Rawls and Joseph Raz are immanently criticized. Neal argues that neither 'political' nor 'perfectionist' liberalism adequately gives expression to the liberal spirit. Surprisingly, Neal finds resources for the expression of such a spirit in the much maligned tradition of Hobbesian, or 'vulgar', liberalism. He argues that a turn in this direction is necessary for the articulation of a liberalism more genuinely responsive to the diversity of modes of life in the twenty-first century.