Research Catalog
Philosophy in a time of lost spirit : essays on contemporary theory
- Title
- Philosophy in a time of lost spirit : essays on contemporary theory / Ronald Beiner.
- Author
- Beiner, Ronald, 1953-
- Publication
- Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, ©1997.
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Text | Use in library | JC574 .B446 1997 | Off-site |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Conference for the Study of Political Thought.
- Description
- xiv, 240 pages : illustrations; 24 cm
- Summary
- In the last two centuries, our world would have been a safer place if philosophers such as Rousseau, Marx, and Nietzsche had not given intellectual encouragement to the radical ideologies of Jacobins, Stalinists, and fascists. Maybe the world would have been better off, from the standpoint of sound practice, if philosophers had engaged in only modest, decent theory, as did John Stuart Mill. Yet, as Ronald Beiner contends, the point of theory is not to think safe thoughts; the point is to open intellectual horizons. In Philosophy in a Time of Lost Spirit, Beiner reflects on the dualism of theory and practice. The purpose of the theorist is not to offer sensible guidance on the conduct of social life but to test the boundaries of our vision of social order. In this collection of essays and reviews, Ronald Beiner helps us to think critically about the thought-worlds of our foremost contemporary thinkers, including Hannah Arendt, Allan Bloom, Michel Foucault, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jurgen Habermas, Will Kymlicka, Christopher Lasch, Richard Rorty, Judith Shklar, Leo Strauss, Charles Taylor, and Michael Walzer.
- Subject
- Genre/Form
- Electronic books.
- Note
- Several of these essays were presented at the Conference for the Study of Political Thought.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Contents
- Preface: The Theorist as Critic -- I. Liberalism and Hyper-Liberalism. 1. Liberalism in the Cross-Hairs of Theory. 2. The Proper Bounds of Self. 3. Reconciling Liberty and Equality. 4. Cruelty First. 5. Liberalism as Neutralism. 6. Revising the Self. 7. Liberalism, Pluralism, and Religion. 8. Richard Rorty's Liberalism. 9. Foucault's Hyper-Liberalism -- II. Interrogating Modernity. 10. Do We Need a Philosophical Ethics? Theory, Prudence, and the Primacy of Ethos. 11. Rescuing the Rationalist Heritage. 12. Accepting Finitude. 13. Hannah Arendt and Leo Strauss: The Uncommenced Dialogue -- Appendix. Response from a Colleague, with a Rejoinder. 14. Eros and the Bourgeoisie. 15. Left-Wing Conservatism: The Legacy of Christopher Lasch. 16. Hermeneutical Generosity and Social Criticism. 17. Thin Ice -- III. Political Judgment Revisited. 18. Practical Wisdom. 19. Science and Wisdom. 20. Rereading Hannah Arendt's Kant Lectures.
- ISBN
- 0802042104
- 9780802042101
- 0802080677
- 9780802080677
- LCCN
- 97228621
- OCLC
- ocm36993663
- 36993663
- SCSB-101152
- Owning Institutions
- Princeton University Library