Critical Moral Liberalism

ISBN: 0847683133

Author: Reiman, Jeffrey

Condition: New

Product Description In this important book, Jeffrey Reiman responds to recent assaults on liberal theory by proposing a "critical moral liberalism." It is liberal in maintaining the emphasis of classical liberalism on individual freedom, moral in adhering to a distinctive vision of the good life rather than professing neutrality, and critical in taking seriously the objection-raised by feminists and Marxists, among others-that liberal theories often serve as ideological cover for oppression of one group by others. Critical moral liberalism has a conception of ideology, and resources for testing the suspicion that arrangements that look free are really oppressive. Reiman sets forth the basic arguments for the liberal moral obligation to maximize people's ability to govern their own lives, and for the conception of the good life that goes with this. He considers and answers objections to the liberal project, and defends liberal conceptions of privacy, moral virtue, economic justice, and Constitutional interpretation. Reiman then takes up specific policy issues, among them abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, moral education, capital punishment, and threats to privacy from modern information technology. Critical Moral Liberalism will be of interest to scholars and students of ethics, social and political philosophy, political theory, and public policy. Review Friends of liberalism will be grateful to Jeffrey Reiman for his lucid and persuasive account . . . Skeptics and critics of liberalism must read this book be cause of the challenge it presents to their attempts to discredit liberalism. Rieman effectively shows that those very criticisms presuppose the principles of the critical moral liberalism he espouses. -- Hugo A. Bedau, Tufts UniversityThese essays are unified by the author's powerful and interesting vision of liberalism. Of special note is the large-spirited and resourceful way in which Reiman incorporates insights from feminist, Marxist, and post-modernist critics without abandoning a commitment to Enlightenment ideas. -- George Sher, Rice UniversityReiman's final product is an important and stimulating work that adds fuel to the debates raging both within and over liberal theory. -- David Stevens - Radical PhilosophyThis book challenges the presuppostion among professional philosophers. This striking re-evlaution of the acheivement of Descartes opens the hsitory of Western philosophy to radical reinterpretation. - GiustificativoThe essays that make up the chapters if this book are uniformly interesting, lucidly written, and well argueddddd -- Derek Allen, Universtiy of TorontoJeffrey Reiman has done what I thought was impossible. He has broadened and deepened traditional Western liberalism with feminist, multicultural, and postmodern critiques . . . he shows us how to use 'critical moral liberal' theory to provide promising new solutions to some of our oldest practical problems. -- Rosemarie Tong, Distinguished Professor in Health Care Ethics and director of the Center for Professional and Applied Ethics, University of NortThe essays that make up the chapters if this book are uniformly interesting, lucidly written, and well argued -- Derek Allen, Universtiy of TorontoCritical Moral Liberalism is an interesting book often insightful into the symptoms of some of liberalism's recent ills.The practical questions Reiman covers demonstrade a wide range of intellectually tough issues that he addresses with thoughtful understanding and rigor. Those that think that 'liberalism' is dead do not mean by this word what Reiman means, and they will likely find their claim challenged by this newest contribution to the field of arguments. -- Kory P. Schaff, Loyola University, Chicago - Social Theory and PracticeThis is a terrific book. - The Philosophical Review About the Author Jeffrey Reiman is William Fraser McDowell Professor of philosophy at American University and the author of The Rich Get Richer and the