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We tend to view the character of an administration through the persona of its president, especially that of Barack Obama, with his unique baggage of race, personality, political style, and campaign message of hope and renewal. In this critical look at the realities that have shaped the first stage of Obama's presidency, Morton Keller provides a progress report that rests less on the day-to-day perspective of pundits and politicians and more on the longer perspective of history. His history-focused examination looks at the president's developing style of governing, with particular attention to his signature policies of the stimulus, financial, and health care reforms, and analyzes the Obama presidency in light of historical analogues, contemporary political life, and the nature of key government institutions such as Congress and the bureaucracy. Comparing our presidents with their predecessors is one way to understand more fully the character and quality of their performance. Keller compares the current president to predecessors such as Woodrow Wilson, [Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson], Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton, and concludes that, as yet, there is no clear consensus on the character or content of Obama's presidential leadership or where he fits in the prevailing typology/classification of America's chief executives. Taking into account the general standing of the president, his program, and his party; the sources of public discontent; and the appeal (or lack thereof) of the opposition, Keller concludes by speculating on the future prospects of Obama's administration in the realms of policy and politics.--Publisher description

Contents -- PART I. INTRODUCTION -- 1. The Role of Philosophy in The Federalist -- PART II. THE DIFFERENT LEGACIES OF LOCKE AND HUME -- 2. Hume's Experience and Locke's Reason -- Hume on Reason and Experience in Science -- Hume vs. Locke on Morality as a Demonstrative Science -- PART III. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE -- 3. Using Abstract Reason in Morals and Politics -- Natural Law and Natural Rights: Publius's Substantive Moral Philosophy -- Rationalism in Publius's Theory of Ethical Knowledge -- Rationalism in Publius's Theory of Political Knowledge -- 4. Using Experience and History in Politics

Taking a critical look at the realities that have shaped the first stage of Barack Obama's presidency, Morton Keller offers a history-focused examination of Obama's developing style of governing, with particular attention to his signature policies of the stimulus, financial, and health care reforms. The author considers this presidency in light of the facts of contemporary political life and the nature of key government institutions, such as Congress and the bureaucracy, and discusses what may lie ahead for the president's policies and political prospects.

In this book, one of America's leading philosophers offers a sweeping reconsideration of the philosophy of culture in the twentieth century. Morton White argues that the discipline is much more important than is often recognized, and that his version of holistic pragmatism can accommodate its breadth. Going beyond Quine's dictum that philosophy of science is philosophy enough, White suggests that it should contain the word "culture" in place of "science." He defends the holistic view that scientific belief is tested by experience but that such testing is rightly applied to systems or conjunct

One of the most important philosophers of recent times, Morton White has spent a career building bridges among the increasingly fragmented worlds of the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. From a Philosophical Point of View is a selection of White's best essays, written over a period of more than sixty years. Together these selections represent the belief that philosophers should reflect not only on mathematics and science but also on other aspects of culture, such as religion, art, history, law, education, and morality. White's essays cover the full range of his interests: st

Introduction: The American polity and its regimes -- The deferential-Republican regime -- Old ways and new -- The Republican revolution -- From factions to parties -- The party-Democratic regime : the Democratic polity -- The culture of Democratic party politics -- Governing a democratic polity -- Crisis -- The party-Democratic regime : the industrial polity -- The age of the politicos -- A state of parties and courts -- The progressive interlude -- The populist-bureaucratic regime -- The rise of the populist-bureaucratic regime -- Bureaucracy and democracy -- Populism and party -- Epilogue: Today and tomorrow