Liberalism after Communitarianism

Gerard Delanty and Stephen Turner, eds., International Handbook of Social and Political Theory (New York: Routledge, 2021, 2nd ed.)

17 Pages Posted: 18 Mar 2013 Last revised: 23 Aug 2021

Date Written: August 15, 2021

Abstract

The ‘liberal-communitarian’ debate arose within anglophone political philosophy during the 1980s. This essay opens with an account of the main outlines of the debate, showing how liberals and communitarians tended to confront each other with opposing interpretations of John Rawls’ Theory of Justice (1999; originally published in 1971) and Political Liberalism (2005; originally published in 1993). The essay then proceeds to discuss four forms of ‘liberalism after communitarianism’: Michael Freeden’s account of liberalism as an ideology; Joseph Raz and Will Kymlicka’s perfectionist liberalisms; the liberalism of value pluralists such as Isaiah Berlin and Bernard Williams; and Judith N. Shklar’s liberalism of fear. It concludes with the suggestion that there are times when liberals of every kind should set aside their ideology, even if only temporarily, in order to listen to their interlocutors with truly open minds.

Keywords: liberalism, communitarianism, neutrality, ideology, autonomy, value pluralism,

Suggested Citation

Blattberg, Charles, Liberalism after Communitarianism (August 15, 2021). Gerard Delanty and Stephen Turner, eds., International Handbook of Social and Political Theory (New York: Routledge, 2021, 2nd ed.), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2233844

Charles Blattberg (Contact Author)

University of Montreal ( email )

C.P. 6128 succursale Centre-ville
Montreal, Quebec H3C 3J7
Canada
514-343-6111ex.40898 (Phone)

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