LiberalismISBN: 978-0-7456-3291-9
Paperback
184 pages
November 2004, Polity
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--Professor Brian Barry, Lieber Professor of Political Philosophy, Columbia University
'This is a first-rate introduction to the philosophy and
politics of contemporary liberal thought. Kelly offers more than a
careful and concise statement of liberal egalitarianism. He also
traces its historical roots, explains its many attractions, and
rebuts fashionable but misplaced objections to it."
--Dr Matthew Clayton, Department of Politics & International
Studies,
University of Warwick
'This accessible little book in Polity's "Key Concepts" series
is a broad introduction to recent work in political theory. As
such, it provides useful background for other writing on
liberalism. But it is no dry textbook; it has a distinct point of
view. Kelly, who is a professor of political theory at the London
School of Economics and Political Science, defends a particular
type of liberalism: egalitarian liberalism, which he believes has
two core principles. Philosophically, it is committed to "the basic
substantive value of equal personhood"; politically, it attempts to
secure the "rights and economic resources necessary to protect
equal personhood."
'Kelly's liberal heroes are a broadly Americanized bunch -- (the
early) John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, and Brian Barry -- and he
defends his heroes from attacks on both the left and the right. To
those on the right who argue that the egalitarian liberal's
emphasis on equality unduly restricts our freedom to accumulate
wealth, Kelly replies that property is not a pre-political right
that overrides the concerns of social justice. To those on the left
who claim that liberal egalitarianism is merely cultural
imperialism in disguise, Kelly distinguishes between respecting a
culture's practices -- which clearly makes sense -- and saying that
we can never criticize such practices in light of general
principles -- which is self-defeating. Liberal principles avoid
lapsing into moral subjectivism, Kelly says. It's time for liberals
to stand up and articulate them.'
-- Michael P. Lynch, in The Chronicle of Higher Education,
April 22, 2005, page 22. Lynch is associate professor of philosophy
at the University of Connecticut.
'[C]risp and elegant defence of liberalism'
--Times Higher Education Supplement
'Liberalism offers an erudite and stimulating defence of
liberalism as both a philosophical and a political project, and is
a valuable addition to the existing scholarship.'
--The Philosophical Quarterly