Reforming liberalism : J.S. Mill's use of ancient, religious, liberal, and romantic moralities / Robert Devigne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Devigne, Robert.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mill, John Stuart, 1806-1873.

Mill, John Stuart.

Plato.

Liberalism.

Liberty.

Ethics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (1 online resource (x, 309 p.))

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, c2006.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Reforming Liberalism, Robert Devigne challenges prevailing interpretations of the political and moral thought of John Stuart Mill and the theoretical underpinnings of modern liberal philosophy. He explains how Mill drew from ancient and romantic thought as well as past religious practices to reconcile conflicts and antinomies (liberty and virtue, self-interest and morality, equality and human excellence) that were hobbling traditional liberalism. The book shows that Mill, regarded as a seminal writer in the liberal tradition, critiques liberalism's weaknesses with a forcefulness usually associated with its well-known critics. Devigne explores Mill's writings to demonstrate how his thought has been misconstrued--as well as oversimplified--to the detriment of our understanding of liberalism itself.

Contents:

The moderns and Plato

Liberty and the just moral conscience

The cultivation of the individual and society : J.S. Mill's use of ancient and romantic dialectics

On liberty : overcoming the west's one-sided moral development

Reforming reformed religion: J.S. Mill's critique of the natural religion of the Enlightenment

On liberty : the summum bonum of modern liberalism

Mill and political philosophy.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-299) and index.

ISBN:

9786611722951

9781281722959

1281722952

9780300133905

0300133901

OCLC:

1013954092