Description
Book SynopsisWe seem to be losing the ability to talk to each other about and despite our political differences. The liberal tradition, with its emphasis on open-mindedness, toleration, and inclusion, is ideally suited to respond to this challenge. Yet liberalism is often seen today as a barrier to constructive dialogue: narrowly focused on individual rights, indifferent to the communal sources of human well-being, and deeply implicated in structures of economic and social domination. This book provides a novel defense of liberalism that weaves together a commitment to republican self-government, an emphasis on the value of unregulated choice, and an appreciation of how hard it is to strike a balance between them. By treating freedom rather than justice as the central liberal value this important book, critical to the times, provides an indispensable resource for constructive dialogue in a time of political polarization.
Table of ContentsPreface; Introduction why liberalism? why freedom?; 1. Free actions and free persons; 2. Republican freedom; 3. Market freedom; 4. The liberal tradition; 5. Liberalism and the problem of polarization; Conclusion.
