The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On Liberal as an Adjective (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300267235)

A testament to what it means to be liberal by one of the most prominent political philosophers of our era

"Walzer is perhaps our foremost pilot on these rocky shoals. In his preface, he writes that this may be his last book. One hopes not."--James Traub, New York Times

There was a time when liberalism was an ism like any other, but that time, writes Michael Walzer, is gone. "Liberal" now conveys not a specific ideology but a moral stance, so the word is best conceived not as a noun but as an adjective--one is a "liberal democrat" or a "liberal nationalist."

Walzer itemizes the characteristics described by "liberal" in an inventory of his own deepest political and moral commitments--among other things, to the principle of equality, to the rule of law, and to a pluralism that is both political and cultural. Unabashedly asserting that liberalism comprises a universal set of values ("they must be universal," he writes, "since they are under assault around the world"), Walzer reminds us in this inspiring book why those values are worth fighting for.

Author: Michael Walzer
ISBN-10: 0300267231
ISBN-13: 9780300267235
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 01/17/2023
Pages: 176
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.58h x 5.67w x 0.79d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 11/15/2022