The Faith of a LiberalThe Faith of a Liberal is in part a misnomer, for the volume reflects the sentiments of a classical philosopher, one with intense curiosities about subjects onging from American literary tradition to the history of the physical sciences. The essays on liberalism as such do, however, bracket the volume--giving life to the title. While Cohen shared many of the political persuasions of such other notables as John Dewey and Ralph Barton Perry, it was the distinctive spin that he gave to the iberal outlook that defines his work. His is a viewpoint stamped by the Jewish condition as a search for justice at one end, and the scientific effort at problem solving at the other. Indeed, the effort to link the two is the essence of "The Faith of a Liberal" Whatever the subject matter or figures covered, the dorsal spine of the work is setting forth an agenda for liberalism that would clearly set it apart from the rising tides of left and right authoritarianism. The essay "Why I Am Not a Communist" remains to this day a blistering indictment of the Soviet regime and its Leninist presumptions. He saw the choice between fascism and communism as a "choice between being shot and being hanged." The final essay, "The Future of American Liberalism," remains of wide current importance. For in it he attempts a synthesis of political individualism and economic collectivism. And even if issues have moved in different directions since that point, the emphasis on liberalism as a process rather than as a structure provides a philosophical basis to the liberal imagination that has rarely been equalled. This is a basic text for students of normative theory in politics and social thought in twentieth-century America. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 41
... means that we must reject the view that everything is directly dependent on everything else . For there would be no point in saying that A depends on B if it were equally true that it depends on every- thing else in the same way . It is ...
... means ecstatic reference to the beauties of nature , the simple life , the humble people , and the truths of the spirit ( p . 28 ) . And when Mr. Smith asserts that the time , place , and circumstances explain these romanticists so well ...
... means reality to life , is always bad art - although it may possibly be very good journalism . " For we must remember that human interest in a work of art depends not upon its photographic accuracy but upon many types of psychological ...
... mean that the French should discard their language of the last fifteen centuries and go back to Celtic dialects . In this connection it is worth while to note the close relation between romanticism and nationalism . In America , of ...
... mean by that fashionable term . Mr. Smith speaks of it at times as if it began in 1815 as the re- action of a hereditary aristocracy against the business commu- nity ( p . 41 ) . But at other times he identifies it with the attitude of ...
Contents
213 | |
Section 2 | 234 |
Section 3 | 256 |
Section 4 | 273 |
Section 5 | 288 |
Section 6 | 292 |
Section 7 | 296 |
Section 8 | 307 |
Section 11 | 337 |
Section 12 | 365 |
Section 13 | 398 |
Section 14 | 408 |
Section 15 | 417 |
Section 16 | 420 |
Section 17 | 425 |
Section 18 | 430 |
Section 9 | 320 |
Section 10 | 334 |
Section 19 | 437 |