Democracy Reconsidered
Published on 16. July 2009
Book
Hardback
292 pages
978-0-7391-2480-2 (ISBN)
Description
Democracy Reconsidered provides an enlightening study of democracy in America's post-modern context. Elizabeth Kaufer Busch and Peter Augustine Lawler explore some of the foundational principles of democracy as they have been borne out in American society. The essays included in this volume examine the lessons that novelists, philosophers, and political theorists have for democratic societies as they progress towards postmodern skepticism or even disbelief in the absolute principles that form the foundation of democracies.
Led by the provocative observations of Lawler, a member of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, the first section lays out the predicament caused by the gravitation of democracy towards a disbelief in absolute truth, leading to a "crisis of self-evidence." The second section searches for tools that one might use to restore health to the individual and community within American democracy, including spiritual faith, creative autonomy, and philosophic inquiry. The third section addresses the supposed "crisis in liberal education" caused by our "crisis of self-evidence." Included essays explore the extent to which the professed aims of liberal education may be at odds with the cultivation of dutiful citizens. The book closes by considering some of the political consequences of employing content-less freedom as the primary standard by which human behaviour is judged.
Led by the provocative observations of Lawler, a member of President Bush's Council on Bioethics, the first section lays out the predicament caused by the gravitation of democracy towards a disbelief in absolute truth, leading to a "crisis of self-evidence." The second section searches for tools that one might use to restore health to the individual and community within American democracy, including spiritual faith, creative autonomy, and philosophic inquiry. The third section addresses the supposed "crisis in liberal education" caused by our "crisis of self-evidence." Included essays explore the extent to which the professed aims of liberal education may be at odds with the cultivation of dutiful citizens. The book closes by considering some of the political consequences of employing content-less freedom as the primary standard by which human behaviour is judged.
Reviews / Votes
The contributors to this fine collection offer a Tocquevillian reflection on democracy in America today in two respects: their investigation of thought and its relation to political action comprehends philosophy, science, religion, and the fine arts; and they write as friends of democracy who address what they regard as contemporary challenges to American government. -- Murray Dry, Middlebury College Democracy Reconsidered is a remarkably lively and wide-ranging collection of essays that addresses the impact of democratic relativism on the modern-and American-character and soul. Whether exploring the contemporary "crisis of self-evidence," the thought of Rorty, Montaigne, Tocqueville, and Strauss, or the role that liberal education can play in opening up democratic hearts and minds, these essays instruct, provoke, and charm. -- Daniel J. Mahoney, Assumption CollegeMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
631 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7391-2480-2 (9780739124802)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Persons
Elizabeth Kaufer Busch is assistant professor of American Studies and Government and co-director of the Center for American Studies and Civic Leadership at Christopher Newport University.
Peter Augustine Lawler is Dana Professor of Government at Berry College.
Peter Augustine Lawler is Dana Professor of Government at Berry College.
Content
Part 1 Introduction: Why a Reconsideration of Democracy is Needed
Part 2 Part One: Democratic Relativism: A Crisis of Self-Evidence
Chapter 3 Chapter One: Our Crisis of Self-Evidence
Chapter 4 Chapter Two: The American Context of Leo Strauss's Natural Right and History
Chapter 5 Chapter Three: Gender Feminism in America: A Reconsideration of Nietzsche's Anti-Feminism
Chapter 6 Chapter Four: Anti-Snobs and Anti-Artists
Part 7 Part Two: Democracy's Transformation of the Human Character and Soul
Chapter 8 Chapter Five: Autonomy and Cruelty: Rorty and Montaigne on the Social Bond
Chapter 9 Chapter Six: Democracy and Philosophy as a Way of Life
Chapter 10 Chapter Seven: A Tale of Two Liberals: Re-Discovering American Liberalism in Flannery O'Connor's The Barber
Part 12 Part Three: Educating the Democratic Mind and Spirit
Chapter 12 Chapter Eight: The Rift in the Modern Mind: Tocqueville and Percy on the Rise of the Cartesian Self
Chapter 14 Chapter Nine: Religion and Community in Liberal Education and Liberal Democracy
Chapter 15 Chapter Ten: A Plea to Protect and Promote the Small Liberal Arts College as Such
Chapter 16 Chapter Eleven: Liberal Education and the Democratic Man
Chapter 17 Chapter Twelve: Liberal Education: A Friendly Critic of Liberal Democracy
Part 18 Part Four: Democracy in American Politics and Society
Chapter 19 Chapter Thirteen: Friendly Critics: Tocqueville and Croly on American Political Parties
Chapter 20 Chapter Fourteen: Bioethics and the American Characterwith a response by Eric Stone entitled "Of Revulsion and Joy"
Chapter 21 Chapter Fifteen: Progress or Tyranny? The Goodridge Dissents
Chapter 22 Chapter Sixteen: Women Against Liberation: Opposing Feminism in a Democratic Age
Part 2 Part One: Democratic Relativism: A Crisis of Self-Evidence
Chapter 3 Chapter One: Our Crisis of Self-Evidence
Chapter 4 Chapter Two: The American Context of Leo Strauss's Natural Right and History
Chapter 5 Chapter Three: Gender Feminism in America: A Reconsideration of Nietzsche's Anti-Feminism
Chapter 6 Chapter Four: Anti-Snobs and Anti-Artists
Part 7 Part Two: Democracy's Transformation of the Human Character and Soul
Chapter 8 Chapter Five: Autonomy and Cruelty: Rorty and Montaigne on the Social Bond
Chapter 9 Chapter Six: Democracy and Philosophy as a Way of Life
Chapter 10 Chapter Seven: A Tale of Two Liberals: Re-Discovering American Liberalism in Flannery O'Connor's The Barber
Part 12 Part Three: Educating the Democratic Mind and Spirit
Chapter 12 Chapter Eight: The Rift in the Modern Mind: Tocqueville and Percy on the Rise of the Cartesian Self
Chapter 14 Chapter Nine: Religion and Community in Liberal Education and Liberal Democracy
Chapter 15 Chapter Ten: A Plea to Protect and Promote the Small Liberal Arts College as Such
Chapter 16 Chapter Eleven: Liberal Education and the Democratic Man
Chapter 17 Chapter Twelve: Liberal Education: A Friendly Critic of Liberal Democracy
Part 18 Part Four: Democracy in American Politics and Society
Chapter 19 Chapter Thirteen: Friendly Critics: Tocqueville and Croly on American Political Parties
Chapter 20 Chapter Fourteen: Bioethics and the American Characterwith a response by Eric Stone entitled "Of Revulsion and Joy"
Chapter 21 Chapter Fifteen: Progress or Tyranny? The Goodridge Dissents
Chapter 22 Chapter Sixteen: Women Against Liberation: Opposing Feminism in a Democratic Age