Description
Book SynopsisThis collection of essays explores the ways in which the defense of liberty can be bolstered by use of a dialectical methodthat is, a mode of analysis devoted to grasping the full context of philosophical, cultural, and social factors requisite to the sustenance of human freedom. Its strength lies in the variety of disciplines and perspectives represented by contributors who apply explicitly dialectical tools to a classical liberal / libertarian analysis of social and cultural issues. In its conjoining of a dialectical method, typically associated with the socialist left, to a defense of individual liberty, typically associated with the libertarian right, this anthology challenges contemporary attitudes on both ends of the political spectrum. Though this conjunction of dialectics and liberty has been explored before in several works, including a trilogy of books written by one of our coeditors (Chris Matthew Sciabarra), this volume will be the first one of its kind to bring together ac
Trade Review"This stimulating collection maps out exciting new directions in the philosophy of liberty. The essays are authored by some of the best minds in scholarly libertarian thought today. Whether you are a libertarian or not, you will find many important -- and challenging -- ideas developed here. An important and lively book." -- Mario Rizzo, New York University
The Dialectics of Liberty is a remarkably wide-ranging study of libertarian ideas, conducted by writers of great authority but of different views and approaches. Mature yet lively, it is full of surprises. If you want to know the state of libertarian thought right now, you will need to read this book. -- Stephen Cox, University of California, San Diego
This book of original essays by thinkers from a very wide array of disciplines opens the fascinating possibility of recasting the libertarian and classical liberal points of view in terms of 'dialectical libertarianism.' This way of looking at the matter promises to lay to rest once and for all the charge that these points of view are atomistic and ahistorical. I hope it inspires further research along these lines. -- Lester H. Hunt, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism
Chapter 2: Freedom and Flourishing: Toward a Synthesis of Traditions and Disciplines
Chapter 3: The Unchained Dialectic and the Renewal of Libertarian Inquiry
Chapter 4: Whence Natural Rights?
Chapter 5: Dialogical Arguments for Libertarian Rights
Chapter 6: Dialectical Psychology: The Road to Dépassement
Chapter 7: Don Lavoie’s Dialectical Liberalism
Chapter 8: Free Speech, Rhetoric, and a Free Economy
Chapter 9: Exploring the Interconnections of Politics, Economics, and Culture
Chapter 10: Context Matters: Finding a Home for Labor-Managed Enterprise
Chapter 11: The Dialectic of Culture and Markets in Expanding Family Freedom
Chapter 12: Up from Oppression: Triumph and Tragedy in the Great American Songbook
Chapter 13: Why Libertarians Should Be Social Justice Warriors
Chapter 14: Radical Liberalism and Social Liberation
Chapter 15: Social Equality and Liberty
Chapter 16: Formal vs. Substantive Statism: A Matter of Context
Chapter 17: The Political Is Interpersonal:
An Interpretation and Defense of Libertarian Immediatism
Chapter 18: Aesthetics, Ritual, Property, and Fish:
A Dialectical Approach to the Evolutionary Foundations of Property
