Tyranny and revolution : Rousseau to Heidegger Cover Image

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Tyranny and revolution : Rousseau to Heidegger / Waller R. Newell, Carleton University.

Newell, Waller R. (Waller Randy), 1952- (author.).

Summary:

"What is the purpose of political life? Is it meant to protect our rights as individuals, leaving us free to work hard and prosper, protected from illegal infringements on our liberty, free to do as we please in our private lives so long as others are not harmed, including the freedom to ignore politics and public life altogether? That is the recipe for the classical liberalism of Locke, Montesquieu and their heirs including the American Founders for good government: Secure the maximum net material gain for every member of the social contract to enable them to live in comfort and otherwise get out of the way - for as Jefferson put it, that government is best which governs least. Government is not about teaching people how to be virtuous - that is a matter for individual choice. Politics is about means, not ends. As Madison wrote, the sources of factional strife are sewn into human nature. Their causes cannot be removed, but their harmful effects can be controlled by the social contract"-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9781108424301
ISBN: 1108424309
ISBN: 9781108440042
ISBN: 1108440045
Physical Description: xiii, 359 pages ; 24 cm
Publisher: New York : Cambridge University Press, 2022.
Copyright: ©2022

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-344) and index.

Formatted Contents Note:

Introduction: the recollection of freedom -- 1. Escape to Lake Bienne: how Rousseau turned the world upside down -- 2. Redeeming modernity: the erotic ascent of Hegel's phenomenology -- 3. The will to power and the politics of greatness: Nietzsche's revelation -- 4. The distant command of the Greeks: Heidegger and the community of destiny -- Conclusion: The fragmented legacy of the philosophy of freedom.