The conservative foundations of the liberal order: defending democracy against its modern enemies and immoderate friends.

Mahoney, Daniel J., 1960-

Published by Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2010

near fine dust-jacket, cover price $26.95, very good black hardcover. INSCRIBED along edge of title page to an identifiable political philosophy colleague and SIGNED with the initial D. MAHONEY, DANIEL J. The conservative foundations of the liberal order: defending democracy against its modern enemies and immoderate friends. Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2010, xiii, 208pp., . Western Democracy has become increasingly estranged from its crucial historical, political, spiritual, and culturl prerequisites-from what author Daniel J. Mahoney calls "the conservative foundations of the liberal order." In this eloquent and insightful work of political philosophy and cultural criticism. Mahoney offers a vigorous defense of these foundations, and shows the dangers of identifying liberty with a radical project of social and cultural emancipation., The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order takes particular aim at partisans of "pure democracy," who have transformed the principles of liberty and equality into an unreflective dogma. By reducing liberty to a vague affirmation of equality and individual autonomy, Mahoney shows, such partisans undermine those "contents of life"--Religion, patriotism, philosophical reflection, family and social life-that enrich human existence and give purpose to human freedom. What we need instead is a conservative-minded liberalism., Calling on the wisdom of Winston Churchill, Edmund Burke, Alexis de Tocqueville, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Raymond Aron, and other exemplary leaders and thinkers, Mahoney addresses a wide range of questions related to liberty in the contemporary world. He brilliantly analyzes the task of the democratic statesman; the need for prudence, sobriety, and civic courage in confronting the totalitarian enemies of the West; the ties that bind religion and democratic liberty; democracy's tendency to squander its own inheritance in frenzied efforts to establish a humn order that is more and more "democratic"; the follies of the post modern "culture of repudiation"; the reasons so many intellectuals indulge totalitarianism and terrorism; and much more., Rejecting the dual temptations of utopianism and despair, Mahoney defends self-government-properly understood-against both democracy's enemies and its all-too-numerous "Immoderte friends." The Conservative Foundations of the Liberal Order upholds the rich civilized inheritance that allows human beings to lead free and decent lives together. - CONTENTS: PART I : The art of loving democracy moderately. Tocqueville and the conservative foundations of the liberal order -- Beyond nihilism : religion, liberty, and the art of mediation -- -- PART II : Statesmanship in a egalitarian age. Taking greatness seriously : statesmanship in a democratic age -- Churchill on civilization and its discontents -- PART III : The false allure of "pure democracy." 1968 and the meaning of democracy -- Conservatism, democracy, and foreign policy -- -- PART IV : Totalitarianism and terror : the dark underside of modernity. The totalitarian subversion of modernity : Solzhenitsyn on the self-deification of man and the origins of the modern crisis -- "Moral insanity" and "moral squalor" : terrorism as a political and cultural phenomenon -- -- PART V : A model of moderate and humane conservatism -- Raymond Aron's model of democratic conservatism. 9781935191001 ISBN 1935191004. Seller Inventory # 95455

Bibliographic Details

Title: The conservative foundations of the liberal ...
Publisher: Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2010
Binding: Hardcover
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
Signed: Signed by Author(s)