Suchergebnisse

JACK P. GUEISE, IN A REPLY TO GRAFSTEIN, SUGGESTS THAT ALTHOUGH GRAFSTEIN TENDS TO MAKE THE EXISTENCE OF FREEDOM INTO A SEMANTIC RATHER THAN POLITICAL ISSUE, LESS SEPARATES THE TWO WRITERS THAN MEETS THE EYE. GUEISE CONCLUDES, THE VIRTUE OF SEEING FREEDOM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE HE PROPOSES IS THAT IT COMPELS THE VERY SORT OF ATTENTION TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF OUR ACTIONS THAT GRAFSTEIN THINKS IS IMPORTANT. HENCE, FREEDOM IS TO BE SEEN NOT AS SOME ISOLATED PHENOMENON ASSOCIATED WITH THE AUTONOMOUS INDIVIDUAL BUT AS A POSSIBLE FEATURE OF INDIVIDUALS ACTING POLITICALLY. IT IS, AS WELL, A FEATURE THAT NEEDS NURTURING.

THE CONCEPTS OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM ARE THE CORE OF LIBERAL POLITICAL THOUGHT. THEY ARE ALSO A FOCUS FOR CONTEMPORARY POLITICS. THE PAPER EXAMINES THE VARIOUS DEFINITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE NOTION OF LIBERTY, AS WELL AS THE WAYS IN WHICH THESE DEFINITIONS REFLECT THE CONCRETE POLITICAL PREFERENCES OF THEIR EXPONENTS. FINALLY, THE PAPER SUGGESTS A POSSIBLE REVISED UNDERSTANDING OF FREEDOM-AN UNDERSTANDING THAT IS BOTH IN HARMONY WITH LIBERALISM PROPER AND PRESCRIPTIVE FOR A LIBERAL POLITICS.

LIBERAL POLITICAL THEORY IS DIVIDED BETWEEN A FORMALISTIC APPROACH THAT IS PHILOSOPHICALLY SECURE BUT REMOTE FROM THE PROBLEMS OF POLITICAL LIFE AND AN EMPIRICAL APPROACH GROUNDED IN PRACTICAL CONCERNS BUT MORALLY RUDDERLESS. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT LIBERALISM'S CONTINUING STRENGTH REQUIRES THAT THESE PERSPECTIVES BE BRIDGED. WHAT IS NEEDED, THE AUTHOR CONTENDS, IS A FORM OF LIBERAL ARGUMENTATION THAT IS AT ONCE PHILOSOPHICALLY SECURE AND POLITICALLY RELEVANT, AND HE OFFERS A WAY IN WHICH THIS MIGHT BE ACCOMPLISHED.