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Find books about Political
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An important
contribution to political
understanding!
This is a major contribution to
political thought from conservatism's
greatest contemporary proponent.
Originally published in Britain in 1980
and revised in 1984, this edition -- the
first ever in the United States -- is a
major rewriting of the work. Scruton's
idea of conservatism -- what in America we
tend to call "paleo-conservatism" -- might
well shock the sensibilities of those
American "conservatives" who view it as
little more than the workings of the free
market.
Conservatism, says Scruton, is neither
automatic hostility toward the state nor
the desire to limit the state's
obligations toward the citizen. Rather,
conservatism regards the individual not as
the premise but the conclusion of
politics, a politics that is fundamentally
opposed to the ethic of social justice, to
equality of station, income, and
achievement, or to the attempt to bring
major institutions of society (such as
schools and universities) under government
control.
The conservative outlook, says Scruton,
is neither outmoded nor irrational. On the
contrary, it is the most reasonable of
political alternatives. The evils of
socialism, he maintains, lie precisely
where its supporters find its strengths,
and the conditions for the credibility of
socialism have long since disappeared.
Neither socialism nor liberalism can come
to terms with the real complexity of human
society, and both appear plausible only
because they direct attention away from
what is actual, toward what is merely
ideal.
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Socratic
citizenship...
Many critics bemoan the lack of civic
engagement in America. Tocqueville's
"nation of joiners" seems to have become a
nation of alienated individuals,
disinclined to fulfill the obligations of
citizenship or the responsibilities of
self-government. In response, the critics
urge community involvement and renewed
education in the civic virtues. But what
kind of civic engagement do we want, and
what sort of citizenship should we
encourage? In Socratic Citizenship,
Dana Villa takes issue with those who
would reduce citizenship to community
involvement or to political participation
for its own sake. He argues that we need
to place more value on a form of
conscientious, moderately alienated
citizenship invented by Socrates, one that
is critical in orientation and dissident
in practice.
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For fans of
John Locke...
In this volume, prominent political
theorist Michael Zuckert presents an
important and pathbreaking set of
meditations on the thought of John Locke.
In more than a dozen provocative essays,
many appearing in print for the first
time, Zuckert explores the complexity of
Locke's engagement with his philosophical
and theological predecessors, his profound
influence on later liberal thinkers, and
his amazing success in transforming the
political understanding of the
Anglo-American world.
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