Putting Liberalism in Its Place

Putting Liberalism in Its Place [Paul W. Kahn] on leondumoulin.nl *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In this wide-ranging interdisciplinary work, Paul W. Kahn.
Table of contents

In this the author works to create a conceptual framework for which to discuss abstract ideas in concrete forms later on.


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He builds a framework for the discussion of ideas and a terminology for discussing these ideas. He then gives a brief history of liberalism and discusses some of the problems inherent in liberal theory.

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Much of this section remains abstract and as such requires a lot from the reader. The second section puts the conceptual framework to use to explain our lives and how and where we derive meaning. He discusses the myriad of areas of our lives from which we do derive meaning. He goes into great depth discussing how these interact and overlap in our lives.

Putting Liberalism in Its Place

What becomes evident is that a purely rational life is simply not possible. This is partly due to the fact that reason cannot demand the ultimate sacrifice from people.

Family, religion and the state can all demand sacrifice and do so on continuous basis, but reason stops just short of this demand of ultimate sacrifice. We derive meaning from a multitude of different sources and our identities are dependent on these different sources. They create who we are. These sources orbit around the idea of self, and so meaning comes from different sources depending on what area of our lives we are focused. This is a problem for liberal theory that suggests we can lead a life based on pure reason.

This is a fascinating book from a bold mind. The author tackles the problems I have had with liberalism, and makes me rethink my entire political self.


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The author takes these abstract problems and gives them a voice so that for the first time I see in a very real way just what those areas of difficulty are and why they exist. The reader needs to be ready for a difficult read that requires a lot from the reader. A good base in philosophy, political theory and sociology is a must. I am not an expert in any of these fields, so you don't have to have a philosophy degree to read this book, but familiarity with the classics is essential.

I highly recommend this fascinating book. Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway. Putting Liberalism in Its Place. Set up a giveaway. Customers who bought this item also bought. Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. There's a problem loading this menu right now. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations.

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This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Mar 04, James rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: To re-think American political values with multiple intriguing philosophical lenses. Conservatives used it to marginalize political competitors who expressed doubts about the prudence of national security policy.

Putting Liberalism in Its Place: Paul W. Kahn: leondumoulin.nl: Books

Why is patriotism a value in a political system founded to protect citizens against an abusive government? Paul Kahn writes Putting Liberalism in its Place to tackle just this problem: A traditional response to this question would rationalize this seeming paradox by arguing that a state to protect individual rights cannot exist unless citizens are willing to defend it. Citizens should thus be willing to sacrifice their lives if they want to live in a state that protects their individual rights.

Kahn instead avoids this rationalization and insists on a radical alternative. He argues that people understand the state as the popular sovereign, as the manifestation of a transcendental ideal of communal self-governance. Kahn understands this popular sovereign as a mirror in which citizens see themselves and thus understand themselves as part of larger, historical project that extends backwards and forwards into time.

Through this self-identification, citizens become willing to sacrifice themselves for the state because they derive substantial meaning and purpose from the historical, state project. Kahn boldly refutes liberalism in its description of the American state as an entity separate from the citizenry that exists to protect individual rights and instead insists that the American state exists as the manifestation of the body politic; the American citizenry.

His theory argues that the American Constitution is valuable not because of any particular system of government or set of individual rights that it enumerates, but because it is the American Constitution; our Constitution. Kahn radically places the state above the individual by not merely equating the state with the individual, but by rendering the state as a source of ultimate meaning for the individual.

In Putting Liberalism in its Place, Kahn subtly but dramatically argues that America is not a culture that places individualism above all other values. For Kahn, patriotism, love of self-governance by the popular sovereign, first defines American politics. The strength of Putting Liberalism in its Place rests in the multiple analytical frameworks that Kahn pulls together from historical, literary, biblical, philosophical, and legal sources to radically revaluate the practiced values of American politics.

Although this approach results in a somewhat fragmented, non-linear argument, it also results in a series of thought-provoking re-castings of the American political experience.

The book is highly recommended for anyone tired of the standard political speak of contemporary commentators and in search of a new lens to view American politics. Every bored critical theorist should read the intro to this, which is freely available online. Like many others, Kahn does a masterful job of highlighting the inconsistencies and contradictions of modern liberal theory. His solution--love and sacrifice for the "leviathan" nation-state standing in the place of God --is as ludicrous as everyone else's Kahn, an Ivy League product, admits he's never actually experienced "sacrifice" in the sense he's describing it.

Jan 07, Jacob rated it did not like it Shelves: Sheer act of high casuistry. Jaycob Izso rated it really liked it Apr 18, Kyle rated it it was amazing Dec 22, Kyle Nicholas rated it it was amazing Feb 11, Efad rated it liked it Nov 09, Siri Veland rated it liked it Aug 09, Robin Moon rated it liked it Jan 17, Weaving in and out of legends, folklore, literature, history, plays, law, and political discourse, Kahn analyzes Supreme Court decisions, the biblical myths of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, the plays of Sophocles, Jesus on the cross, Shakespeare, and medieval, modern, and contemporary thinkers like Hannah Arendt and John Rawls.

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Any reader of this book will quickly concur when the author says: At the risk of misstating his elaborate and complex argument, here is an encapsulation of the central message of his theory: Jesus on the cross reflected sacrifice, love, redemption, revelation, and grace. Before Christ these always existed in the human condition, both in actual experience and in the aspirations of writers, thinkers, playwrights, religious leaders and others who were searching for ultimate meanings about human life and death.

From that symbol emerged the Christian church; the body of Christ became the body of the church destined to be universal and the central organizing mechanism for human life on earth at least in the western world, where liberalism was born. From the religious wars secular states emerged. The world appeared after the Peace Westphalia as a space of nation-states, and the church slowly receded as the forger of human communities knitted together by allegiance to Jesus and the meaning of his crucifixion and resurrection.

Reason does not underpin the liberal state, because the sacred is always beyond reason. Love and sacrifice are the touchstones of a meaningful life: Kahn canvasses a staggering portfolio of issues.