The book examines the intersection of two philosophical developments which define define contemporary life in the liberal democratic west, considering how democracy has become the only legitimate and publicly defensible regime, while also considering how modern democracy attempts to solve what Leo Strauss called the "theologico-political problem."
This volume provides a fresh perspective on current democratic theory and practice by recovering the rich evaluations of democracy in the history of political thought. Each author addresses a single thinker’s reflections on the virtues and defects of democracy and the relationship between democracy and other regimes. Together, these essays explore the tensions within the democratic way of life that arise from an attachment to equality, liberty, citizenship, law, and the divine. Above all, this work aims at recovering a more complex understanding of democracy, connecting the perennial questions of political philosophy to the perplexities and crises of modern democracy.
Is it possible to reconcile human excellence with a dedication to equality? Equality and Excellence in Ancient and Modern Political Philosophy explores the meaning, conflict, and potential resolution of the tension between human excellence and equality in the thought of philosophers from Greek antiquity to modern times. Each chapter is devoted to the thought of a particular thinker, and the chapters are arranged chronologically. Interpretations offered here rely on close readings of the major texts by critically important thinkers from Plato, Aristotle and Xenophon in antiquity to a broad range of modern thinkers from Spinoza to Rawls.
This book’s primary purpose is to commemore the 300th anniversary of a seminal book in classical liberal thought. Montesquieu’s Persian Letters is a delightfully rich, sympathetic sattire of commercial society’s promise and discontents, covering a wide range of issues and themes that shaped the direction of liberal modernity. It consists of a series of letters largely writted by two Persian travelers to Paris, who allow modern readers to view Parisian life from the perspective of an outsider. The volume includes contributions from prominent scholars of Montesquieu’s whose classic commentaries have stood the test of time, and early career scholars who have recently unearthed new and exciting avenues for understanding this important hinge-figure in modern political thought.
The liberal arts university has been in decline since well before the virtualization of campus life, increasingly inviting public skepticism about its viability as an institution of personal, civic, and professional growth. New technologies that might have brought people together have instead frustrated the university’s capacity to foster thoughtful citizenship among tomorrow’s leaders and exacerbated socioeconomic inequalities that are poisoning America’s civic culture. With Liberal Education and Citizenship in a Free Society, a collection of 19 original essays, editors Justin Dyer and Constantine Vassiliou present the work of a diverse group of scholars to assess the value of a liberal arts education in the face of market, technological, cultural, and political forces shaping higher learning today.
Continuing the analysis of contemporary issues through the lens of ancient theories beyond the themes of Enduring Empire and the award-winning On Oligarchy, On Civic Republicanism explores the enduring relevance of the ancient concepts of republicanism and civic virtue to modern questions about political engagement and identity. Examining both ancient and early modern conceptions of civic republicanism, the contributors respond to the work of thinkers ranging from Plato and Aristotle to Machiavelli, Montesquieu, and Wollstonecraft. A testament to the continuing influence of the concept and the ongoing scholarly debate which surrounds it, On Civic Republicanism addresses fundamental questions regarding democratic participation, liberal democracy, and the public good. Its essays speak to the many ways in which the idea of the republic still challenges us today.
"How did Baruch Spinoza, the seventeenth-century Dutch-Jewish philosopher, become a nineteenth-century German Marxist? It is on its face an unlikely development. Karl Marx was a fiery revolutionary theorist who heralded the imminent demise of capitalism, while Spinoza was a contemplative philosopher who preached rational understanding and voiced skepticism about open rebellion. Further, Spinoza criticized all teleological ideas as anthropomorphic fantasies, while Marxism came to be associated expressly with teleological historical development. Yet socialists of the German nineteenth century were consistently drawn to Spinoza as their philosophical guide. Tracie Matysik shows how the metaphorical meeting of Spinoza and Marx arose out of an intellectual conundrum about the meaning of activity. How is it, exactly, that humans can be fully determined creatures - creatures in nature and governed by causal laws of nature - and also able to change their world? To address this seeming paradox, many revolutionary theorists scrapped the idea of activity as something autonomous humans do when they assert themselves against nature and its causal laws. Thinking with Spinoza, they came to think of activity instead as relating - as the state of relations between humans and between humans and the non-human world. Matysik follows these Spinozist-socialist intellectual experiments in the meaning of activity that unfolded across the nineteenth century, drawing lessons from them that may be meaningful for the environmental-justice issues confronting the contemporary world"--
Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education engages both critically and creatively with important social, political and educational issues, and argues that the organisational forms of contemporary schooling are caught up in politically significant contradictions. Highlighting the inescapable paradoxes that educators must grapple with in their thought and practice as they seek to reconcile democracy and leadership in education, this book addresses the question of whether socially just democratic futures can be realised through education. Divided into two parts, the first part explores theoretical frameworks and concepts, presenting theory and raising issues and questions, while the second shares diverse examples of practice, renewing and reanimating the links between education, leadership and democracy, and providing models of alternatives. Studying a number of global developments that can be seen as potentially threatening, such as a growing inequality in wealth and income and the declining participation and trust in democratic processes, this text is at the forefront of international innovations in educational theory and philosophy. A fascinating and vital read for all researchers and students, Paradoxes of Democracy, Leadership and Education considers the opportunities and challenges that are confronting and threatening education in the modern world.
In Towards a Reformed Enlightenment: Salomon van Til (1643–1713) and the Cartesio-Cocceian Debates in the Early Modern Dutch Republic, Matthias Mangold offers the first in-depth investigation into the theological and philosophical convictions of an influential, yet hitherto much neglected, Dutch theologian working around the turn of the eighteenth century. With its strong contextual approach, this analysis of Van Til’s thought sheds new light on various intellectual dynamics at the time, most notably the long-standing conflict between the Voetian and Cocceian factions within the Dutch Reformed Church and the reception of Cartesian philosophy in the face of emerging Radical Enlightenment ideas.
Bringing together political theorists and specialists in Canadian politics, Applied Political Theory and Canadian Politics combines conceptual frameworks from political theory and empirical evidence to offer fresh perspectives on political events in contemporary Canada. Examining complex and timely subjects such as equality, social justice, democracy, citizenship, and ethnic diversity, contributors present current and archival research supplemented with insights drawn from political theory to give readers a deep and nuanced understanding of increasingly pressing issues in Canadian society. For scholars and students seeking a work of political theory that is tangible, focused, and connected to the real world of everyday politics, Applied Political Theory and Canadian Politics will be an important resource, combining philosophical insights and empirical evidence to enhance our understanding of contemporary Canadian politics.
