What's Left of Liberalism? An Interpretation and Defense of Justice as Fairness

by Mandle, Jon

• ISBN13: 9780739101032
• ISBN10: 073910103X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-02-22
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

The left's reluctance to embrace political liberalism is based, in part, on the persistent misunderstandings of justice as fairness. In What's Left of Liberalism? Jon Mandle provides a systematic overview of the theory, discussing its basic structure and describing the models of society and the person, as well as the idea of public reason, that it supports. Mandle also considers the challenges posed to political liberalism by communitarianism and postmodernism, offering critiques of theorists such as Edmund Burke, Michael Oakeshott, and Roger Scruton; and Jacques Derrida, Richard Rorty, and Michel Foucault. Scholars will find Mandle's arguments thought-provoking, while students will find his clarification of Rawls a useful supplement to the original texts.

Author Biography

Jon Mandle is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University at Albany-SUNY.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Liberalism and the Left	1	(18)
Justice As Fairness I: Framework	19	(70)
The Basic Structure	23	(22)
Reflective Equilibrium	45	(10)
The Model-Conceptions	55	(15)
Public Reason	70	(19)
Justice As Fairness II: Principles	89	(64)
Primary Goods and Neutrality	89	(15)
The Original Position and the First Principle of Justice	104	(20)
The Second Principle of Justice	124	(10)
Comparison with Mixed Conceptions	134	(19)
Communitarianism and Conservatism	153	(60)
Sandel and the Priority of Right	156	(17)
Complex Equality	173	(13)
Conservatism	186	(27)
The Politics of Postmodernism	213	(72)
Poststructuralism	218	(16)
Foucault	234	(18)
Habermas	252	(33)
Conclusion	285	(10)
Bibliography	295	(18)
Index	313	(10)
About the Author	323