This book seeks to salvage liberalism, as a form of political association and as a unique culture, from the wreck of the Enlightenment. Following the lead of John Rawls’s work since 1980, Bridges seeks to rethink the fundamental concepts and moral ideals of liberalism in ways that support the recovery and affirmation of the particularistic cultural identity of the West.
“The Culture of Citizenship is provocative, path-breaking scholarship. In it Thomas Bridges presents liberal political philosophy as in retreat from its traditional confidence in the 'modernist anti-rhetorical rhetoric of pure theory.' Instead, Bridges argues, figures such as John Rawls are inching toward a 'rhetorical turn' toward context, culture, and history, a direction this book seeks to accelerate. To this end, the book explores the often surprising and deeply challenging implications this rhetorical turn holds for the philosophy of politics and culture.” — William M. Sullivan, La Salle University
“The topic pursued here is of the utmost importance. Before we accept the postmodern critique, we want to be sure that the alternative can preserve the elements of our culture that we treasure most highly. The project to construct a postmodern civic culture is, then, extraordinarily important.” — Richard Dees, St. Louis University
Thomas Bridges is Professor of Philosophy in the Philosophy and Religion Department at Montclair State University.
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction: Salvaging Liberalism from the Wreck of the Enlightenment
1. Modernist Liberalism and Its Consequences
Civic culture and the modernist rhetoric of pure theory
Consequences of modernist liberalism
2. Rawls and the Shaping of a Postmodern Liberalism
Addressing the consequences of modernist liberalism
The rhetorical turn: from political theory to civic culture
The teleological turn: citizenship as a highest-order interest
3. The De-Totalization of Politics
The rhetorical turn and the intelligibility of liberal democratic citizenship
The de-totalizing character of liberal doctrine as a component of civic culture
The de-totalization of the liberal democratic public sphere
4. The Liberation of Desire
Motivating full cultural citizenship
The counter-narrative force of civic freedom
Civic justice and the liberation of desire
5 God and the Space of Civic Discourse
Inventing postmodern civic culture
God and the civic good
Civic friendship, Christian love and the providential order of history
