- Joined
- Mar 6, 2019
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I recently heard an interview with the author, Adam Gopnik regarding his new book, A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism, and am currently about 1/10th of the way through reading it (that's just the introduction). It is an easy read (249 pages), and conceptually, encapsulates my philosophical viewpoint. Reviews can be had here, here, here and here.
I find it refreshing to have a voice that accurately describes the real tradition and roots of "Democratic Liberalism" rather than the caricatures prevalent from those on the left and right of the political spectrum (see that last review). Democratic liberalism is neither "neoliberal" nor "socialist" in outlook or history. He roots the genesis of democratic liberalism in John Stuart Mill and his seminal book, On Liberty. In particular, he discusses at length the inherent tension between authority and liberty (really, the basis of our Constitution).
In any event, I'd like to get considered views of those who have either read it, or heard about it, and the premises upon which it is based.
I find it refreshing to have a voice that accurately describes the real tradition and roots of "Democratic Liberalism" rather than the caricatures prevalent from those on the left and right of the political spectrum (see that last review). Democratic liberalism is neither "neoliberal" nor "socialist" in outlook or history. He roots the genesis of democratic liberalism in John Stuart Mill and his seminal book, On Liberty. In particular, he discusses at length the inherent tension between authority and liberty (really, the basis of our Constitution).
In any event, I'd like to get considered views of those who have either read it, or heard about it, and the premises upon which it is based.