Retrieving Liberalism from Rationalist Constructivism : History and Its Betrayal

Weimer, Walter

ISBN 10: 3030948579 / ISBN 13: 9783030948573

Published by Palgrave Macmillan, 2022

Unread book in perfect condition. Seller Inventory # 44378042

Synopsis:

This first volume, History and its Betrayal, traces the development of major themes of liberalism from the increase in human population beyond the limits of the face-to-face society of tribalism and small groups up until the present day. It shows that the principles underlying liberalism are the evolutionary development of social organizations that have resulted from the complexity of human action rather than any conscious design or purpose.

This book draws out the differences between the classical liberalism dependent upon spontaneous and tacit ordering as a result of evolution, and the explicit or conscious or directed version of progressivism. It shows that the most important recent developments in the philosophy of rationality and the methodology of scientific research, as well as in evolutionary epistemology and the philosophy of biology, actually stem from the theories of complex social organization of the moralists such as Hume, Ferguson, and Smith. The book shows clearly that classical liberalism was never refuted―indeed, no attempt to do so has been offered―it has simply been ignored in favour of programs which sound beneficial and soothing but which cannot be instituted without returning to tribalism.

About the Author: Walter B. Weimer is Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the Pennsylvania State University. He was instrumental in bringing Hayek’s philosophical psychology both to a psychology audience and to an economics audience.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Retrieving Liberalism from Rationalist ...
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication Date: 2022
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: As New