The Constitution and the Other Constitution
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Seven Atheisms
SEVEN ATHEISMS Andrew Walker SEVEN ATHEISMS Exploring the varieties of atheism in John Gray’s book Seven Types of Atheism Andrew Walker Emeritus Professor of Theology, Culture and Education, King’s College London Christian Evidence Society christianevidence.org Text copyright © Andrew Walker 2019 Published by the Christian Evidence Society, London, 2019 christianevidence.com All rights reserved Editing and design: Simon Jenkins Cover photograph by PhotoDu.de / CreativeDomainPhotography.com. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license Contents Introduction 5 The seven atheisms 19th century atheism 6 Secular humanism 8 Science as religion 12 Modern politicial religion 15 God-haters 18 Atheism without progress 22 The atheism of silence 25 Conclusion 27 Index 30 Introduction John Gray’s Seven Types of Atheism (Allen Lane, 2018) is an important book for both religious and non-religious readers. John Gray, who describes himself as an atheist, is nevertheless critical of most versions of atheism. His attitude to atheism is the same as his attitude to certain types of religion. This attitude is predicated upon Gray’s conviction that human beings are intrinsically dissatisfied and unpredictable creatures who can never get along with each other for any length of time. His view is based on a reading of human nature that sails close to the wind of the Christian concept of original sin, and is out of step with most modern forms of atheism. In particular, Gray is allergic to any forms of cultural progress in human behaviour especially if they are couched in positivistic or evolutionary terms. 5 ATHEISM 1 19th century atheism Gray sets out his stall in his first chapter, ‘The New Atheism: A Nineteenth- century Orthodoxy’. -
Hayek's the Constitution of Liberty
Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty Hayek’s The Constitution of Liberty An Account of Its Argument EUGENE F. MILLER The Institute of Economic Affairs contenTs The author 11 First published in Great Britain in 2010 by Foreword by Steven D. Ealy 12 The Institute of Economic Affairs 2 Lord North Street Summary 17 Westminster Editorial note 22 London sw1p 3lb Author’s preface 23 in association with Profile Books Ltd The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve public 1 Hayek’s Introduction 29 understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society, by analysing Civilisation 31 and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. Political philosophy 32 Copyright © The Institute of Economic Affairs 2010 The ideal 34 The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a PART I: THE VALUE OF FREEDOM 37 retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. 2 Individual freedom, coercion and progress A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. (Chapters 1–5 and 9) 39 isbn 978 0 255 36637 3 Individual freedom and responsibility 39 The individual and society 42 Many IEA publications are translated into languages other than English or are reprinted. Permission to translate or to reprint should be sought from the Limiting state coercion 44 Director General at the address above. -
Christianity, Natural Law and the So-Called Liberal State
Christianity, Natural Law and the So-called Liberal State James Gordley According to the Book of Genesis, “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen. 1:26–7) Here, my former colleague Jeremy Waldron has said, is “a doctrine [that]is enormously attractive for those of us who are open to the idea of religious foundations for human rights.”1 What is special about man is that he is created in the image of God. Waldron noted that “[m]any object to the political use of any deep doctrine of this kind. For some, this is a special case of a Rawlsian commitment to standards of public reason generally.”2 He quotes Rawls: “In discussing constitutional essentials and matters of basic justice we are not to appeal to comprehensive religious or philosophical doctrines” but only to “plain truths now widely accepted, and available, to citizens generally.”3 I will come back to this objection later. Rawls’ claim is particularly important for present purposes since he has said the most about what other people can and cannot say in the public forum. Waldron’s own difficulty is with “the further question of what work [this doctrine] can do.”4 Why does it matter? He quoted Anthony Appiah who said, “[w]e do not have to agree that we are created in the image of God ... to agree that we do not want to be tortured by government officials.”5 Towards the end of his article Waldon noted that “[c]onsistently, for almost the whole of the Christian era imago Dei [the image of God] has been associated with man’s capacity for practical reason...”6 He quoted Thomas Aquinas: “man is united to God by his reason or mind, in which is God’s image.”7 I think if he had pursued this point further he could have answered his question. -
From Liberalisms to Enlightenment's Wake
JOURNAL OF IBERTARIAN TUDIES S L S JL VOLUME 21, NO. 3 (FALL 2007): 79–114 GRAY’S PROGRESS: FROM LIBERALISMS TO ENLIGHTENMENT’S WAKE JEREMY SHEARMUR The progress of that darkness . from its first approach to the period of greatest obscuration. William Robertson, History of the Reign of Charles the Fifth I HAVE KNOWN JOHN Gray for quite a few years, and have long admired his work. We were among the (very few) political theorists in the U.K. who, in the early 1970s, had an interest in the work of Hayek, and more generally in issues relating to classical liberalism. During the 1980s, he emerged as the most powerful and effective theorist of classical liberalism in the U.K., notably through his re- interpretations of John Stuart Mill in Mill on Liberty (1983a), his Hayek and Liberty (1984), and his overview and critical assessment of the lib- eral tradition, Liberalism (1986). We had, over the years, various dis- cussions about Hayek and liberalism—as Gray mentions in his Hayek on Liberty—and in that connection we shared many intellectual con- cerns; notably, with problems about how classical liberalism related to particular traditional cultures, and about the value of lives that did not involve autonomy in any significant sense. Our discussions about these and related matters were occasional, and typically by telephone or at Liberty Fund conferences. In the course of one of these conversations, I suggested to Gray that he might consider col- lecting some of his essays on liberalism into a volume, as he kindly JEREMY SHEARMUR is Reader in Philosophy at the Australian National University. -
The Restless Liberalism of Alexis De Tocqueville
FILOZOFIA ___________________________________________________________________________Roč. 72, 2017, č. 9 THE RESTLESS LIBERALISM OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE JAKUB TLOLKA, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK TLOLKA, J.: The Restless Liberalism of Alexis de Tocqueville FILOZOFIA, 72, No. 9, 2017, pp. 736-747 This essay attempts to contextualise the purported novelty of Alexis de Tocqueville’s particular brand of liberalism. It regards the author not as an heir or precursor to any given political tradition, but rather as a compelled syncretist whose primary philosophical concern was the moral significance of the democratic age. It suggests that Tocqueville devised his ‘new political science’ with a keen view to the existential implications of modernity. In order to support that suggestion, the essay explores the genealogy of Tocqueville’s moral and political thought and draws a relation between his analysis of democracy and his personal experience of modernity. Keywords: A. de Tocqueville – Modernity – Liberalism – Inquiétude – Religion Introduction. Relatively few authors in the history of political thought have produced an intellectual legacy of such overarching resonance as Alexis de Tocqueville. Even fewer, perhaps, have so persistently eluded ordinary analytical and exegetical frameworks, presenting to each astute observer a face so nuanced as to preclude serious interpretive consensus. As writes Lakoff (Lakoff 1998), ‘disagreement over textual interpretation in the study of political thought is not uncommon’. However, ‘it usually arises around those who left writings of a patently divergent character’ (p. 437). When we thus consider the ‘extraordinarily coherent and consistent nature’ of Alexis de Tocqueville’s political philosophy, it appears somewhat odd that the academic consensus surrounding that author relates almost exclusively to the grandeur of his intellectual achievement (Lukacs 1959, 6). -
American Civil Associations and the Growth of American Government: an Appraisal of Alexis De Tocqueville’S Democracy in America (1835-1840) Applied to Franklin D
City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2-2017 American Civil Associations and the Growth of American Government: An Appraisal of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835-1840) Applied to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal and the Post-World War II Welfare State John P. Varacalli The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1828 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] AMERICAN CIVIL ASSOCIATIONS AND THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: AN APPRAISAL OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE’S DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1835- 1840) APPLIED TO FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT’S NEW DEAL AND THE POST-WORLD WAR II WELFARE STATE by JOHN P. VARACALLI A master’s thesis submitted to the Graduate Program in Liberal Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The City University of New York 2017 © 2017 JOHN P. VARACALLI All Rights Reserved ii American Civil Associations and the Growth of American Government: An Appraisal of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835-1840) Applied to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal and the Post World War II Welfare State by John P. Varacalli The manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Liberal Studies in satisfaction of the thesis requirement for the degree of Master of Arts ______________________ __________________________________________ Date David Gordon Thesis Advisor ______________________ __________________________________________ Date Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis Acting Executive Officer THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT American Civil Associations and the Growth of American Government: An Appraisal of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America (1835-1840) Applied to Franklin D. -
Alexis De Tocqueville Chronicler of the American Democratic Experiment
Economic Insights FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS VOLUME 5, NUMBER 1 Alexis de Tocqueville Chronicler of the American Democratic Experiment The Early Years bring Tocqueville fame and honors. In Born in Paris in 1805, Alexis- 1833, about a year after Tocqueville We are pleased to add this piece on Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville returned to France, the report on Alexis de Tocqueville to our series of profiles entered the world in the early and most American prisons, The U.S. Penitentiary powerful days of Napoleon’s empire. System and Its Application in France, that began with Frédéric Bastiat and Friedrich His parents were of the nobility and was published. von Hayek. Both Bastiat and Hayek were had taken the historical family name of Things in France changed for Beau- strong and influential proponents of indi- Tocqueville, which dated from the mont and Tocqueville upon their return early 17th century and was a region after 10 months in America. Both men vidual liberty and free enterprise. While they of France known previously as the left the judiciary. Beaumont was offi- approached those topics from a theoretical Leverrier fief. cially let go, and Tocqueville resigned perspective, Tocqueville’s views on early Tocqueville’s father supported the in sympathetic protest. Tocqueville then French monarchy and played no seri- had ample time to work on his master- American and French democracy were based ous role in public affairs until after piece, Democracy in America. Volume 1 on his keen personal observations and his- Napoleon’s final defeat at Waterloo, was published in 1835. -
Mill's "Very Simple Principle": Liberty, Utilitarianism And
MILL'S "VERY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE": LIBERTY, UTILITARIANISM AND SOCIALISM MICHAEL GRENFELL submitted for degree of Ph.D. London School of Economics and Political Science UMI Number: U048607 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U048607 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 I H^S £ S F 6SI6 ABSTRACT OF THESIS MILL'S "VERY SIMPLE PRINCIPLE'*: LIBERTY. UTILITARIANISM AND SOCIALISM 1 The thesis aims to examine the political consequences of applying J.S. Mill's "very simple principle" of liberty in practice: whether the result would be free-market liberalism or socialism, and to what extent a society governed in accordance with the principle would be free. 2 Contrary to Mill's claims for the principle, it fails to provide a clear or coherent answer to this "practical question". This is largely because of three essential ambiguities in Mill's formulation of the principle, examined in turn in the three chapters of the thesis. 3 First, Mill is ambivalent about whether liberty is to be promoted for its intrinsic value, or because it is instrumental to the achievement of other objectives, principally the utilitarian objective of "general welfare". -
The Roots of Modern Conservative Thought from Burke to Kirk Edwin J
No. 19 The Roots of Modern Conservative Thought from Burke to Kirk Edwin J. Feulner, Ph.D. merica is the most successful and enduring exper- who nurtured the roots with their law and social Aiment in democracy in human history. It has sur- awareness. vived foreign invasion and terrorist attacks, world The roots intertwined with “the Christian under- wars and a civil war, a great depression and not so standing of human duties and human hopes, of man small recessions, presidential assassinations and scan- redeemed,” and were then joined by medieval custom, dals, an adversary culture and even the mass media. It learning, and valor.2 is the most powerful, prosperous, and envied nation The roots were enriched, finally, by two great exper- in the world. iments in law and liberty that occurred in London, What is the source of America’s remarkable suc- home of the British Parliament, and in Philadelphia, cess? Its abundant natural resources? Its hardworking, birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the entrepreneurial, can-do people? Its fortuitous loca- U.S. Constitution. Kirk’s analysis thus might be called tion midway between Europe and Asia? Its resilient a tale of five cities—Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, London, national will? and Philadelphia. Why do we Americans enjoy freedom, opportunity, Much more could be said about the philosophi- and prosperity as no other people in history have? cal contributions of the Jews, the Greeks, and the In The Roots of American Order, the historian Rus- Romans to the American experience, but I will limit sell Kirk provides a persuasive answer: America is not myself to discuss the roots of modern conservative only the land of the free and the home of the brave, but thought that undergird our nation and which for a place of ordered liberty. -
Property and Ownership
Property and Ownership Gerald Gaus 1 PRIVATE PROPERTY: FUNDAMENTAL OR PASSÉ? For the last half century, thinking within political philosophy about private property and ownership has had something of a schizophrenic quality. The classical liberal tradition has always stressed an intimate connection between a free society and the right to private property.1 As Ludwig von Mises put it, “the program of liberalism....if condensed to a single word, would have to read: property, that is, private ownership....”2 Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State and Utopia, drawing extensively on Locke, gave new life to this idea; subsequently a great deal of political philosophy has focused on the justification (or lack of it) of natural rights to private property.3 Classical liberals such as Eric Mack — also drawing extensively on Locke’s theory of property — have argued that “the signature right of any rights-oriented classical liberalism is the right of self-ownership.”4 In addition, Mack argues that “we have the same good reasons for ascribing to each person a natural right of property” in “extrapersonal objects.”5 Each individual, Mack contends, has “an original, nonacquired right … to engage in the acquisition of extrapersonal objects and in the disposition of those acquired objects as one sees fit in the service of one’s ends.”6 Essentially, one has a natural right to become an owner of external property. Not all contemporary classical liberals hold that property rights are natural, but all insist that strong rights to private property are essential for a free society.7 Jan Narveson has recently defended the necessity in a free society of property understood as “a unitary concept, explicable as a right over a thing owned, against others who are precluded from the free use of it to which ownership entitles the owner.”8 GAUS/2 The “new liberal” project of showing that a free society requires robust protection of civil and political rights, but not extensive rights of private property (beyond personal property) has persistently attacked this older, classical, liberal position. -
The Uses of Alexis De Tocqueville's Writings in US Judicial Opinions
Louisiana State University Law Center LSU Law Digital Commons Book Sections Faculty Scholarship 2008 A Man for All Reasons: The sesU of Alexis de Tocqueville's Writings in U.S. Judicial Opinions Christine Corcos Louisiana State University Law Center, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/book_sections Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Corcos, Christine, "A Man for All Reasons: The sU es of Alexis de Tocqueville's Writings in U.S. Judicial Opinions" (2008). Book Sections. 46. http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/book_sections/46 This Book Section is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at LSU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Book Sections by an authorized administrator of LSU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Man for All Reasons: The Uses of Alexis de Tocqueville’s Writing in U S. Judicial Opinions ∗ Christine A. Corcos Before Saul Litvinoff appeared on U. S. shores, another aristocratic comparativist, Alexis de Tocqueville, came to cast a critical yet affectionate eye on this republic. Since I am fond of both of these thinkers, I offer this overview of the judicial uses of the writings of the earlier scholar in appreciation of the later one. I. Introduction The United States has never been given to particular adoration of foreign observers of its mores, who quite often turn out to be critics rather than admirers. Nevertheless, one of its favorite visitors 1 since his one and only appearance on the scene in 1831-1832 2 is the 25-year-old magistrate Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859), sent by his government to study penal reform in the new republic. -
Balkan Liberalisms: Historical Routes of a Modern Ideology
BALKAN LIBERALISMS: HISTORICAL ROUTES OF A MODERN IDEOLOGY Diana Mishkova Introduction In the Balkans, as in other places in Europe, liberalism is inextricably linked with the construction of modernity. Liberal ideas and movements triggered the emergence of the first concepts of modern rule and the first modern institutions in the region. Under their banner the struggles for national unification and independence were waged and a concept of legitimate government different from the traditional one was introduced: a representative government, as opposed to an autocratic or a bureau- cratic one, enacted by the liberals themselves on behalf of the sovereign nation. Liberalism presents a case of ideational and institutional transfer that changed the nature of politics: its premises and institutionalization meant not just new technical rules or organizational forms but a new form of politics. The liberal parties constituted the first modern political parties in the Balkans with a distinct conception about the arrangement of society based not simply on experience but on knowledge and visions of the future as well. And yet liberalism’s historical role with respect to Balkan political modernity, its local theoretical and institutional incarna- tions and its legacy continue to raise a number of basic yet under-studied questions. Why were the ‘rational’ modern legitimacy and the advent of political modernity in the newly emerging Balkan states predicated on the adoption of the liberal ideology? Which messages and institutional forms attracted the