The Making of Modern Liberalism [NOOK Book]

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Overview

The Making of Modern Liberalism is a deep and wide-ranging exploration of the origins and nature of liberalism from the Enlightenment through its triumphs and setbacks in the twentieth century and beyond. The book is the fruit of the more than four decades during which Alan Ryan, one of the world's leading political thinkers, has reflected on the past of the liberal tradition--and worried about its future.

Tracing the emergence of liberalism as articulated by some of its ...

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The Making of Modern Liberalism

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Overview

The Making of Modern Liberalism is a deep and wide-ranging exploration of the origins and nature of liberalism from the Enlightenment through its triumphs and setbacks in the twentieth century and beyond. The book is the fruit of the more than four decades during which Alan Ryan, one of the world's leading political thinkers, has reflected on the past of the liberal tradition--and worried about its future.

Tracing the emergence of liberalism as articulated by some of its greatest proponents, including Locke, Tocqueville, Mill, Dewey, Russell, Popper, Berlin, and Rawls, the book explores key themes such as the meaning and nature of freedom, individual rights, and tolerance. It also examines how property rights fit within liberal thinking, how work and freedom are connected, and how far liberal freedoms are compatible with a socialized economy.

This is essential reading for anyone interested in political theory or the history of liberalism.

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Editorial Reviews

Times Literary Supplement
By choosing to consider the rich interface between liberalism and philosophy (rather than, say, sociology or party organisation), Ryan has opened up a vast and exciting field for exploration and debate. The reader will find not only discussion of the manifold contributions of the great philosophers (biographical details where appropriate and available) but also insights into the deeper essence of liberalism as it developed through the centuries. Reference to the changing historical context allows liberalism not only to be confronted with other philosophies, from communitarianism to guild socialism, but also to be seen in the broader context of the times that produced it.
— Roger Morgan
Australian Book Review
There is a sense . . . of closing argument in The Making of Modern Liberalism, a lifetime of reflection now curated around themes and key thinkers. It is a formidable body of work, testament both to its inquisitive author and the scholarly institutions that have supported long and productive years of scholarship. It is the contribution of someone who takes liberalism to heart—opening his own work for careful scrutiny, and inviting the debate to continue.
— Glyn Davis
Times Literary Supplement - Roger Morgan
By choosing to consider the rich interface between liberalism and philosophy (rather than, say, sociology or party organisation), Ryan has opened up a vast and exciting field for exploration and debate. The reader will find not only discussion of the manifold contributions of the great philosophers (biographical details where appropriate and available) but also insights into the deeper essence of liberalism as it developed through the centuries. Reference to the changing historical context allows liberalism not only to be confronted with other philosophies, from communitarianism to guild socialism, but also to be seen in the broader context of the times that produced it.
Australian Book Review - Glyn Davis
There is a sense . . . of closing argument in The Making of Modern Liberalism, a lifetime of reflection now curated around themes and key thinkers. It is a formidable body of work, testament both to its inquisitive author and the scholarly institutions that have supported long and productive years of scholarship. It is the contribution of someone who takes liberalism to heart—opening his own work for careful scrutiny, and inviting the debate to continue.
Philosophers' Magazine - Troy Jollimore
Alan Ryan is not only among the most significant political philosophers working today, he is also one of the most exciting.
New York Review of Books - Jeremy Waldron
A magisterial volume. . . . It will appeal to specialists on particular thinkers and topics or to those interested in the trajectory of the liberal tradition inaugurated by Hobbes and Locke.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781400841950
  • Publisher: Princeton University Press
  • Publication date: 8/5/2012
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Pages: 736
  • Sales rank: 421,440
  • File size: 2 MB

Meet the Author

Alan Ryan, the former warden of New College, Oxford, has taught political theory at Oxford and Princeton since 1969. His books include "The Philosophy of John Stuart Mill,""Bertrand Russell: A Political Life, John Dewey and the High Tide of American Liberalism," and "Liberal Anxieties and Liberal Education."
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1

Part 1: Conceptual and Practical 19
1. Liberalism 21
2. Freedom 45
3. Culture and Anxiety 63
4. The Liberal Community 91
5. Liberal Imperialism 107
6. State and Private, Red and White 123
7. The Right to Kill in Cold Blood: Does the Death Penalty Violate Human Rights? 139

Part 2: Liberty and Security 157
8. Hobbes's Political Philosophy 159
9. Hobbes and Individualism 186
10. Hobbes, Toleration, and the Inner Life 204
11. The Nature of Human Nature in Hobbes and Rousseau 220
12. Locke on Freedom: Some Second Thoughts 233

Part 3: Liberty and Progress, Mill to Popper 255
13. Mill's Essay On Liberty 257
14. Sense and Sensibility in Mill's Political Thought 279
15. Mill in a Liberal Landscape 292
16. Utilitarianism and Bureaucracy: The Views of J. S. Mill 326
17. Mill and Rousseau: Utility and Rights 346
18. Bureaucracy, Democracy, Liberty: Some Unanswered Questions in Mill's Politics 364
19. Bertrand Russell's Politics: 1688 or 1968? 381
20. Isaiah Berlin: Political Theory and Liberal Culture 395
21. Popper and Liberalism 413

Part 4: Liberalism in America 427
22. Alexis de Tocqueville 429
23. Staunchly Modern, Nonbourgeois Liberalism 456
24. Pragmatism, Social Identity, Patriotism, and Self-Criticism 473
25. Deweyan Pragmatism and American Education 489
26. John Rawls 505

Part 5: Work, Ownership, Freedom, and Self-Realization 521
27. Locke and the Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie 523
28. Hegel on Work, Ownership, and Citizenship 538
29. Utility and Ownership 556
30. Maximizing, Moralizing, and Dramatizing 573
31. The Romantic Theory of Ownership 586
32. Justice, Exploitation, and the End of Morality 600
33. Liberty and Socialism 617

Notes 631
Index 665

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