What_'s the Matter with Liberalism

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1、Title:What'stheMatterwithLiberalism?Author:RonaldBeinerPublished:UniversityofCaliforniaPressSDBckSDBnnet,1992Subjects:Politics

2、Sociology

3、PoliticalTheory

4、SocialandPoliticalThought

5、LiberalismPublisher'sDescription:Inthewakeoftherevolutionsof1989,theongoingpoliticalturmoilintheSovi

6、etUnion,andthedemocratizationofmostofLatinAmerica,whatisthetaskofpoliticaltheorists?RonaldBeiner'sinvigoratingcritiqueofliberaltheoryandliberalpracticestakesontheshibbolethsofmodernWester.PrefatoryNote------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7、--PrefatoryNoteThislittlebookwasmainlyputtogetherduringatimeofremarkablerevolutionaryupheavalsinEurope.TheCentralEuropeanrevolutionwashailedintheliberal,market-orientedWestinaselfcongratulatorymood.Theself-congratulationwasthoughttobewarrantedbecause,first,theWesthad"won"acertai

8、nkindofwarthathadbeenwagedintheprecedingfourdecades,andsecond,becausetheeconomicdynamismofliberalsocietieswasdeemedtobethedecisivemarkofsuperiorityoftheWestovertheEastinthewinningofthiswar.Oneoftheintentionsofthisbookwastoquestionwhetheruncriticalself-congratulationwasthemostsui

9、tablewayinwhichtoreceivethegreatchangesinthesocialistworld.Theappropriatequestionsforushaveinfactalreadybeenformulatedbyoneoftheleadersofthatrevolution:Thepost-totalitariansystemhasbeenbuiltonfoundationslaidbythehistoricalencounterbetweendictatorshipandtheconsumersociety.Isitnot

10、truethatthefar-reachingadaptabilitytolivingalieandtheeffortlessspreadofsocialauto-totalityhavesomeconnectionwiththegeneralunwillingnessofconsumption-orientedpeopletosacrificesomematerialcertaintiesforthesakeoftheirownspiritualandmoralintegrity?Withtheirwillingnesstosurrenderhigh

11、ervalueswhenfacedwiththetrivializingtemptationsofmoderncivilization?Withtheirvulnerabilitytotheattractionsofmassindifference?Andintheend,isnotthegreynessandtheemptinessoflifeinthepost-totalitariansystemonlyaninflatedcaricatureofmodernlifeingeneral?Anddowenotinfactstand(althoughi

12、ntheexternalmeasuresofcivilization,wearefarbehi