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Dominations and Powers - Reflections on Liberty, Society, and Government (Hardcover)
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Dominations and Powers - Reflections on Liberty, Society, and Government (Hardcover)
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In what must be ranked as a foremost classic of twentieth-century
political philosophy, George Santayana, in the preface to his last
major work prior to his death, makes plain the limits as well as
the aims of Dominations and Powers: "All that it professes to
contain is glimpses of tragedy and comedy played unawares by
governments; and a continual intuitive reduction of political
maxims and institutions to the intimate spiritual fruits that they
are capable of bearing." This astonishing volume shows how the
potential beauty latent in all sorts of worldly artifacts and
events are rooted in differing forms of power and dominion. The
work is divided into three major parts: the generative order of
society, which covers growth in the jungle, economic arts, and the
liberal arts; the militant order of society, which examines
factions and enterprise; and the rational order of society, which
contains one of the most sustained critiques of democratic systems
and liberal ideologies extant. Written at a midpoint in the
century, but at the close of his career, Santayana's volume offers
an ominous account of the weakness of the West and its similarities
in substance, if not always in form, with totalitarian systems of
the East. Few analyses of concepts, such as government by the
people, the price of peace and the suppression of warfare, the
nature of elites and limits of egalitarianism, and the nature of
authority in free societies, are more comprehensive or compelling.
This is a carefully rendered statement on tasks of leadership for
free societies that take on added meaning after the fall of
communism. The author of a definitive biography of Santayana, John
McCormick provides the sort of deep background that makes possible
an assessment of Dominations and Powers. He permits us to better
appreciate the place of this work at the start no less than
conclusion of Santayana's long career. For the author of The Life
of Reason himself admits to having led a life in unreason deeply
impacted by the war of 1914-1918,^and then again, 1939-1945.
McCormick provides in his opening essay a careful story of
Santayana's exile from his Anglo-American homeland, a deeply
embittered figure in search of options to annihilation at the
military level and an alternative to false and fatuous ideologies
at the spiritual level. We know better now how to cope with this
profound, yet disturbing classic in political thought.
General
Imprint: |
Routledge
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
November 2017 |
First published: |
1995 |
Authors: |
George Santayana
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
501 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-138-52242-8 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Politics & government >
General
|
LSN: |
1-138-52242-2 |
Barcode: |
9781138522428 |
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