The Future of LiberalismAlan WolfeKnopfFebruary 3 2009A compelling and deeply felt exploration and defense of liberalism: what it actually is, why it is relevant today, and how it can help our society chart a forward course.The Future of Liberalism represents the culmination of four decades of thinking and writing about contemporary politics by Alan Wolfe, one of Americas leading scholars, hailed by one critic as one of liberalisms last and most loyal sons. Wolfe mines the bedrock of the liberal tradition, explaining how Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, John Dewey, and other celebrated minds helped shape liberalisms central philosophy. Wolfe also examines those who have challenged liberalism since its inception, from Jean-Jacques Rousseau to modern conservatives, religious fundamentalists, and evolutionary theorists such as Richard Dawkins.Drawing on both the inspiration and insights of seminal works such as John Lockes Second Treatise on Government, Adam Smiths Theory of Moral Sentiments, Kants essay What is Enlightenment?, and Mills On Liberty and The Subjection of Women, Wolfe ambitiously sets out to define what it truly means to be a liberal. He analyzes and applauds liberalisms capacious conception of human nature, belief that people outweigh ideology, passion for social justice, faith in reason and intellectual openness, and respect for individualism. And we see how the liberal tradition can influence and illuminate contemporary debates on immigration, abortion, executive power, religious freedom, and free speech.But Wolfe also makes it clear that before liberalism can be successfully applied to todays problems, it needs to be recovered, understood, and embracednot just by Americans but by all modern peopleas the most beneficial way to live in our complex modern world. The Future of Liberalism is a crucial, enlightening, and immensely rewarding step in that direction. About the AuthorAlan Wolfe is a professor of political science and director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College. A contributing editor of The New Republic, The Wilson Quarterly, and CommonWealth, he also writes for The New York Times, Harpers Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Washington Post. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.About ScrollmotionScrollMotion, creator of the Iceberg Reader, is a content technology company based in New York City. For more information, visit www.scrollmotion.com.SupportIf you have any technical problems please email us at icebergsupport@scrollmotion.com before you post a review.
