Post-Liberalism

Recovering a Shared World

Fred Dallmayr

Argues that dialogue, as well as mutual listening and learning are necessary for democracy
Critiques ideas of egocentric freedom and social-political narcissism
Asserts that shared freedom is necessary for a viable democracy

Post-Liberalism

Recovering a Shared World

Fred Dallmayr

Description

Liberal democracy is the dominant political ideology in the West today. Taken at face value it suggests an equivalency between its two central components--liberalism and democracy--but as Fred Dallmayr argues here, the two operate in very different registers. The two frequently conflict, endangering our public life.This is evident in the rise of self-centered neo-liberalism as well as autocratic movements in our world today.

More specifically, the conflict within liberal democracy is between the pursuit of individual or coporate interest, on the one hand, and a "people" increasingly fractured by economic and cultural clashes, on the other. Dallmayr asks whether there is still room for genuine privacy and authentic democracy when all public goods, from schools to parks, police, and armies, have been made the target of privatization. In this book, Dallmayr sets out to rescue democracy as a shared public and post-liberal regime. Nonetheless, "post-liberalism" does not involve the denial of human freedom nor does it suggest the endorsement of illiberal collectivism or nationalism. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary political, religious, and secular thought, Dallmayr charts a possible path to a liberal socialism that is devoid of egalitarian imperatives and a private sphere free from acquisitiveness.

Post-Liberalism

Recovering a Shared World

Fred Dallmayr

Preface iv

1. Introduction:
Liberalism and Democracy

2. Beyond Autistic Politics:
Narcissism and Public Agency

Interlude A: Public Space as Property?
Thinking at the Edge of the Cave

3. Virtue in Social and Public Life:
Aristotle and His Heirs

4. Between Life and Violent Death:
Is there a Natural Right(ness)?

5. Socialism as Democratic Justice:
A Concrete Utopia

Interlude B: The Politics of Virtue?
A Post-Liberal Agenda

6. Contesting Globalization:
Reflections on "Glocalism"

7. Nationalism and Beyond
World History and Redemption

8. Self-Will and All-Will:
Schelling and Heidegger on Freedom

9. Chaosmos:
Maintaining the World-Under Heaven

10. Concluding Comments:
Learning to be Human

Notes
References
Index

Post-Liberalism

Recovering a Shared World

Fred Dallmayr

Author Information

Fred Dallmayr is the Packey J. Dee Professor of Philosophy and Political Science at Notre Dame University. He is the author of thirty books, including Democracy to Come.

Post-Liberalism

Recovering a Shared World

Fred Dallmayr

Reviews and Awards

"This book prompts the reader to grapple with the political, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of an age of rising individualism and autocracy that places public life and peace in jeopardy. Each chapter presents a concise commentary that combines critical analysis and reflective synthesis. Dallmayr eclectically mines the resources of continental thought to illuminate contemporary challenges and dangers, while suggestively integrating non-Western thinkers." -- Leslie Paul Thiele, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Florida

"Much of the world is caught between a debased liberalism and an atavistic populism. This brilliant book warns about their fusion and a slide into a new form of totalitarian void filled by selfishness and despair. The alternative it charts is a public philosophy anchored in our relational nature and practices of reciprocity-an invitation to a life of 'learning to be human'. This is essential reading for all who care about a politics of hope." -- Adrian Pabst, Reader in Politics, University of Kent

"This book exhibits Fred Dallmayr's many strengths-a trans-temporal and trans-cultural breadth of textual knowledge, a critical attunement to the ills of our era that is at the same time very compassionate,Â a clear but not despairing recognition of the shortcomings of currently dominant social and political theory-in a wide-ranging but cohesive collection of essays. It radiates a quiet, self-assured, seasoned wisdom that is both intrinsically valuable and highly useful for rethinking our crisis-ridden institutions and the related habits of thought, notably traditional liberalism, that are becoming increasingly incapable of supporting them" -- William McBride, Arthur G. Hansen Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, Purdue University

"Dallmayr's scholarly contributions to political theory over the last twenty years have brought together literature, religion, theology, philosophy, political science, and international relations within the ambit of an utterly original and magnificently multicultural dialogue regarding the fate of democracy in the era of neo-liberalism. This book adds a further layer of depth and urgency to this existential calling." -- David Ingram, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University Chicago