Suchergebnisse

Liberal irony and Burkean conservatism -- Ironic virtues and the liberal president -- Speaking loudly but carrying a small stick -- The terror and the hope -- Is ironic liberalism self-defeating? -- Conclusion: Was Obama too ironic or not ironic enough?

This article looks at how Reinhold Niebuhr and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. drew on themes in Edmund Burke's conservative writings to express ambivalence about equality and populism on behalf of progressive goals, and how they offered an alternative understanding of liberalism as the pursuit of progressive values restrained by respect for conservative virtues. The article pays particular attention to Niebuhr's and Schlesinger's views on successful leadership. Like Burke, these mid-century liberal theorists advocated the adoption of the virtues of the British aristocratic ruling class to check leftist populism. On the surface, their praise of aristocratic virtues may seem incompatible with their undeniable celebration of American democracy during the mid-twentieth century. Closer examination suggests, though, that their praise of democracy has a Burkean tinge. Adapted from the source document.

Political and comprehensive liberals are both pessimistic about finding a satisfactory way to resolve the debate over whether and how to expose students in public schools to religion. An examination of John Tomasi's Liberalism beyond Justice and William Galston's Liberal Pluralism reveals that a central cause of this pessimism is the presumption that an education for autonomy must encourage students to become rational choosers of their beliefs. This essay suggests that it is possible to found an education for autonomy on the more modest goal of ensuring that students have a reasonable ability to exit from their communities when they feel that membership is too painful. An education for exit would involve exposing students at the high school level to alternative religious beliefs to ensure they are aware that it might be possible to lead tolerable lives and achieve salvation outside of their communities of origin.