Republican Paradoxes and Liberal Anxieties Retrieving Neglected Fragments of Political Theory

by Terchek, Ronald J.

• ISBN13: 9780847683741
• ISBN10: 0847683745
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-12-19
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Ronald J. Terchek offers insightful and original solutions to the intellectual rigidity and theoretical fragmentation that characterize much contemporary debate in political philosophy. Offering fresh interpretations of republicans such as Aristotle, Machiavelli, and Rousseau, and liberals such as Locke, Smith, and Mill, Terchek persuasively argues that these 'strong' republicans and 'anxious' liberals share certain fundamental principles and ideals, despite their conflicting beliefs about the primacy of community, rights, citizenship, moral development, and the roots of human behavior. This critical analysis of the modern state of political theory challenges political theorists to avoid contentious debates and to abandon the apolitical and inflexible construction of the liberal-communitarian paradigm. This is important reading for anyone interested in political philosophy and theory.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
Debates between and about Traditions	p. 15
The Stakes of Citizenship and the Citizen's Stakes	p. 47
Noisy Republicans: Mythologizing the Founding and Justifying Conflict	p. 95
Anxious Liberals I: The Moral Individualism of John Locke	p. 121
Anxious Liberals II: J. S. Mill on Overcoming the Natural Self	p. 147
Interest-Group Liberals and Libertarians: The Critique of Adam Smith	p. 171
The Languages of American Politics	p. 205
Paradoxes and Anxieties for Politics Today	p. 231
Bibliography	p. 251
Index	p. 267
About the Author	p. 277
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