The Public Philosophy (Paperback, New Ed)

Lippmann argues "hopefully and wistfully" for rational inquiry into those conditions by which a good society may be reconstituted in order to halt the descent into violence and tyranny. He thinks there are world citizens who believe in the tenets of "the public philosophy", once basic to our democracy, and now almost forgotten. For action to this end there must be belief. And to recover this belief he explores the decline of the West- and the public philosophy. He has sensed the sickness of democracy, and the steps by which it was acquired, the extent to which it has threatened the public interest. In this process he studies the problem of the executive dominated by the legislative- concern of our founders, and of critics then and now. In the derangement of the primary functions of government he sees the democratic disaster of our century, an acceptance of the Jacobin doctrine of enfranchisement by displacement of the governing class. He feels that the democracies are ceasing to receive the traditions of civility, and are thereby cut off from a public philosophy. But he feels it still survives as a positive doctrine, that there still are obligations binding on all men:- the theory of property, freedom of speech, etc. Such a restoration as he envisions aims to resist and regulate desires and opinions - an unpopular program, but necessary to survival of democracy. He challenges our teachers to return to the great tradition. Not an easy book to read and digest. Perhaps Lippmann's name will spark the interest. (Kirkus Reviews)

Begun in 1938 and completed only in 1955, "The Public Philosophy "offers as much a glimpse into the private philosophy of America's premier journalist of the twentieth century as it does a public philosophy.

The basis of Lippmann's effort is "that there is a deep disorder in our society which comes not from the machinations of our enemies and from the adversaries of the human condition but from within ourselves." He also provides a special sort of legacy to liberalism in its broadest sense - as the root approach to human existence that could provide civility and accommodation against incivilities and extremism, and that uniquely stood against the totalitarian counter-revolutions from Jacobism to Leninism. This work is a masterful defense of the public philosophy as a constitutional tradition, and can be easily read as such today.

Paul Roazen, long identified with the analysis of Lippmann's work, points out that no matter how trenchantly Lippmann dissected democracy, and the populist faith in the people's wisdom, he still sought to study the world in order to help govern it. His constant flow of journalistic writing had the educative intent of raising the level of the public's knowledge. His rationalist conviction that clearheadedness on public matters can be effectively relayed to people is nowhere more evident than in "The Public Philosophy. "In this sense it is an argument for the democratic ideal that people can be rallied in defense of the public interest.

General

Imprint:	Transaction Publishers
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	1989
First published:	1989
Authors:	Hans Eysenck
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 12mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	210
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-88738-791-3
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Politics & government > Political science & theory
LSN:	0-88738-791-8
Barcode:	9780887387913

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