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Liberalism in Dark Times : The Liberal Ethos in the Twentieth Century / Joshua L. Cherniss.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2021Description: 1 online resource (328 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691220949
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 320.51 23
LOC classification:
  • JC574
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Sources, Citations, and Abbreviations -- Introduction. The Vices of Virtue: Liberalism and the Problem of Ruthlessness -- 1 “Squeamishness Is the Crime”: Ruthlessness, Ethos, and the Critique of Liberalism -- 2 Between Tragedy and Utopia: Weber and Lukács on Ethics and Politics -- 3 A Just Man: Albert Camus and the Search for a Decent Heroism -- 4 The “Morality of Prudence” and the Fertility of Doubt: Raymond Aron’s Defense of a Realist Liberalism -- 5 Against Cynicism and Sentimentality: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Chastened Liberal Realism -- 6 “The Courage of . . . Our Doubts and Uncertainties”: Isaiah Berlin, Ethical Moderation, and Liberal Ethos -- Conclusion. Good Characters for Good Liberals?: Ethos and the Reconstruction of Liberalism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A NOTE ON THE TYPE
Summary: A timely defense of liberalism that draws vital lessons from its greatest midcentury proponentsToday, liberalism faces threats from across the political spectrum. While right-wing populists and leftist purists righteously violate liberal norms, theorists of liberalism seem to have little to say. In Liberalism in Dark Times, Joshua Cherniss issues a rousing defense of the liberal tradition, drawing on a neglected strand of liberal thought.Assaults on liberalism—a political order characterized by limits on political power and respect for individual rights—are nothing new. Early in the twentieth century, democracy was under attack around the world, with one country after another succumbing to dictatorship. While many intellectuals dismissed liberalism as outdated, unrealistic, or unworthy, a handful of writers defended and reinvigorated the liberal ideal, including Max Weber, Raymond Aron, Albert Camus, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Isaiah Berlin—each of whom is given a compelling new assessment here.Building on the work of these thinkers, Cherniss urges us to imagine liberalism not as a set of policies but as a temperament or disposition—one marked by openness to complexity, willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, tolerance for difference, and resistance to ruthlessness. In the face of rising political fanaticism, he persuasively argues for the continuing importance of this liberal ethos.
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Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780691220949

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on Sources, Citations, and Abbreviations -- Introduction. The Vices of Virtue: Liberalism and the Problem of Ruthlessness -- 1 “Squeamishness Is the Crime”: Ruthlessness, Ethos, and the Critique of Liberalism -- 2 Between Tragedy and Utopia: Weber and Lukács on Ethics and Politics -- 3 A Just Man: Albert Camus and the Search for a Decent Heroism -- 4 The “Morality of Prudence” and the Fertility of Doubt: Raymond Aron’s Defense of a Realist Liberalism -- 5 Against Cynicism and Sentimentality: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Chastened Liberal Realism -- 6 “The Courage of . . . Our Doubts and Uncertainties”: Isaiah Berlin, Ethical Moderation, and Liberal Ethos -- Conclusion. Good Characters for Good Liberals?: Ethos and the Reconstruction of Liberalism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- A NOTE ON THE TYPE

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http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

A timely defense of liberalism that draws vital lessons from its greatest midcentury proponentsToday, liberalism faces threats from across the political spectrum. While right-wing populists and leftist purists righteously violate liberal norms, theorists of liberalism seem to have little to say. In Liberalism in Dark Times, Joshua Cherniss issues a rousing defense of the liberal tradition, drawing on a neglected strand of liberal thought.Assaults on liberalism—a political order characterized by limits on political power and respect for individual rights—are nothing new. Early in the twentieth century, democracy was under attack around the world, with one country after another succumbing to dictatorship. While many intellectuals dismissed liberalism as outdated, unrealistic, or unworthy, a handful of writers defended and reinvigorated the liberal ideal, including Max Weber, Raymond Aron, Albert Camus, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Isaiah Berlin—each of whom is given a compelling new assessment here.Building on the work of these thinkers, Cherniss urges us to imagine liberalism not as a set of policies but as a temperament or disposition—one marked by openness to complexity, willingness to acknowledge uncertainty, tolerance for difference, and resistance to ruthlessness. In the face of rising political fanaticism, he persuasively argues for the continuing importance of this liberal ethos.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 01. Dez 2022)