Description
Book SynopsisCurrently, liberal democracy is threatened by authoritarian movements, not just in the United States but also in societies around the world. The liberal arts arrests authoritarian tendencies by advancing what it shares with the citizens of a liberal democracy: autonomy and freedom. Autonomy is the capacity to make reasoned decisions about a host of political, social, and personal mattersindependent of external parties who seek to control our lives for the sake of their ends and at the cost of our freedom. But autonomy depends on people being able to enter into discussionswhat I call discourses of mutual respectdesigned to test ideas in public against facts and good reasons. This discourse is facilitated by an enlarged culture through which individuals identify what they hold in common and by which individuals work to understand their differences. Now, authoritarian regimes reject autonomy because it empowers citizens to designate the boundaries and content of political authority. Liber
Trade ReviewDeLue argues that in these dark times when the the politics of resentment denies a discourse of mutual respect a place in the political sphere, the liberal arts can preserve that discourse and the “enlarged culture” it promotes. Grounded in careful readings of Plato, Kant, Rawls and Philip Roth, among others, and taking up questions about Enlightenment discourse and identity politics, the effects of social media, and the ways universities lose sight of their core mission, this is a synthetic, ultimately hopeful work that makes a persuasive case about the essential relationship between the liberal arts and liberal democracy. -- Keith Tuma
Table of ContentsPreface Chapter1: The Liberal Arts and Liberal Democracy Chapter 2: The Liberal Arts and Liberal Democracy: Values and Capacities Chapter 3: Enlightenment Vice/Enlightenment Virtue Chapter 4: The Kierkegaard Dilemma: Bridging To Autonomy Chapter 5. Political Liberalism Chapter 6: Universities, Colleges, and the Liberal Arts Chapter 7: Major Issues in Preserving the Liberal Arts Chapter 8: Liberal Arts, Liberal Democracy: Fighting Nihilism Chapter 9: The Dark Cloud Hanging Over Liberal Democracy Bibliography About the Author
