Uncivil society : the perils of pluralism and the making of modern liberalism / Richard Boyd.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Boyd, Richard, 1970-

Series:

Applications of political theory

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liberalism--History.

Liberalism.

History.

Civil society.

Cultural pluralism.

Physical Description:

xiv, 351 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Lexington Books, [2004]

Summary:

In Uncivil Society, Richard Boyd argues contrarily that contemporary political theorist and social scientists have unduly neglected the 'uncivil' properties of groups. Through a careful reading of such exemplary figures as Hobbes, Locke, the Scottish Moralist, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Michael Oakeshott in the classical liberal tradition _ and their defense of the virtue of civility - this work calls into question many contemporary assumptions about the nature and origins of civil society.

Contents:

Thomas Hobbes and the perils of pluralism

John Locke, toleration, and sectarianism

Reappraising the Scottish moralists and civil society

Edmund Burke's defense of civil society

John Stuart Mill and the ambivalence of liberal pluralism

Alexis de Tocqueville and the perils of pluralism revisited

Michael Oakeshott and the transformational (im)possibilities of the liberal state

F. A. Hayek and the limits of liberal constitutionalism

Conclusion: Liberal neutrality, purposive community, and the logic of contemporary pluralism.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 325-342) and index.

ISBN:

0739109081

073910909X

OCLC:

55147685