In Hegel's "Critique of Liberalism," Steven B. Smith examines Hegel's critique of rights-based liberalism and its relevance to contemporary political concerns. Smith argues that Hegel reformulated classic liberalism, preserving what was of value while rendering it more attentive to the dynamics of human history and the developmental structure of the moral personality. Hegel's goal, Smith suggests, was to find a way of incorporating both the ancient emphasis on the dignity and even architectonic character of political life with the modern concern for freedom, rights, and mutual recognition....
In Hegel's "Critique of Liberalism," Steven B. Smith examines Hegel's critique of rights-based liberalism and its relevance to contemporary political ...
"Steven Smith's lucid and compelling argument for writing Spinoza into the political theory canon is also a profound meditation on the Spinozan theme of religion and republican liberty."-Michael Walzer "An important book, elevating Spinoza to a deserved place beside Hobbes and Locke as one of the founders of modern political philosophy and showing the importance of 'the Jewish Question' for the whole meaning of modern liberalism."-Nathan Tarcov "A compelling book . . . a searching exposition of what was overthrown and what was built, what sacrificed and what gained, by the...
"Steven Smith's lucid and compelling argument for writing Spinoza into the political theory canon is also a profound meditation on the Spinozan theme ...
Most readers of Spinoza treat him as a pure metaphysician, a grim determinist, or a stoic moralist, but none of these descriptions captures the author of the Ethics, argues Steven B. Smith in this intriguing book. Offering a new reading of Spinoza's masterpiece, Smith asserts that the Ethics is a celebration of human freedom and its attendant joys and responsibilities and should be placed among the great founding documents of the Enlightenment.
Two aspects of Smith's book distinguish it from other studies. It treats the famous "geometrical method" of the Ethics as...
Most readers of Spinoza treat him as a pure metaphysician, a grim determinist, or a stoic moralist, but none of these descriptions captures the aut...
