cover image A DEEPER FREEDOM: Liberal Democracy as an Everyday Morality

A DEEPER FREEDOM: Liberal Democracy as an Everyday Morality

Charles W. Anderson, . . Univ. of Wisconsin, $29.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-299-17610-5

Can public and private philosophies share any common ground? Can an emphasis on individual freedom provide the basis for social life without slipping into the excesses of relativism, egotism and self-interest? Anderson (Prescribing the Life of the Mind), professor emeritus of political science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, eloquently argues that the human capacity for self-awareness, as well as our ability to inquire, to criticize and to wonder, offer a deep understanding of individual freedom. According to Anderson, this freedom, which is the defining mark of liberal democracy, encourages citizens to strive to be virtuous and to bond with others, creating and sustaining a society where the good of the individual mirrors the good of the community. Contending that utilitarianism, cultural relativism and postmodernism present competing and inadequate philosophical understandings of the individual and society, Anderson develops his thesis about individual freedom through a series of questions and through thoughtful readings of Plato, Aristotle, Jesus, Augustine, Hegel, Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey. Anderson shows the ways in which the freedom that derives from our individuality, far from being self-centered, helps us to perfect our moral skills and to form community, friendships, love relationships and working relationships. Anderson's powerful and articulate paean to individual freedom offers an engaging study of a practical philosophy that can teach us to live fuller and deeper lives. (Apr.)