Product Description

This is a substantially updated edition of the established guide to this key debate in modern political philosophy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59174 in Books
• Published on: 1996-03-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 392 pages

From the Back Cover
In this revised and expanded edition of their established text, Stephen Mulhall and Adam Swift provide an up–to–date overview of the issues and new developments in the debate. Beginning with an account of John Rawls′s A Theory of Justice, the book goes on to provide clear presentation of the work of the main communitarians – Michael Sandel, Alisdair MacIntyre, Charles Taylor and Michael Walzer. This is followed by a substantially rewritten and expanded assessment of Rawls′s more recent work, as that is presented in his new book, Political Liberalism. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which his position enables him to respond to the communitarian critique. The final part of the book examines the writings of three other liberal theorists whose work bears on these issues; the work of Ronald Dworkin is included here for the first time, together with that of Richard Rorty and Joseph Raz. This provides a framework for investigating the different ways in which liberal political thought can claim to be neutral between conceptions of the good.

Clear and accessible in style, with a guiding agenda of themes and issues, this new edition will continue to provide an indispensable aid to students of contemporary political theory.

About the Author
Stephen Mulhall is Reader Philosophy at Essex University and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He is the author of On Being in the World (1990). Adam Swift is Fellow and Tutor in Politics and Sociology at Balliol College, Oxford.

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to the liberal-communitarian debate
This book is a good combination of exposition and analysis, providing an overview of the views of liberals like Rawls and Dworkin, and their communitarian critics, including Sandel and Walzer. It draws the reader back to the primary sources, and delivers a balanced intepretation of some ambiguous concepts. Other books, such as Kymlicka's Introduction to Political Philosophy, are written with more focus on real-world examples and less on academic debates. Mulhall and Swift is not quite bed-time reading - Kymlicka's book is the better written, but it is not really a substitute for the depth of analysis in Liberals and Communitarians.

In short, this is a valuable book for anyone interested in one the the key debates in modern political philosophy, but I recommend starting with Kymlicka before you get on to this.

Perfect intro to the debate
This book is a potted summary of an academic debate and is brilliant at being that. While perhaps not bedtime reading unless your already pretty into your political theory, it achieves admirably what it sets out to do. It is set out as a 'conversation' between the two sides of the debate. Starting with the obligatory summary of Rawls' early political theory (the touchstone of modern liberal political philosophy) it then offers potted summaries of critiques of his position from four academics - Sandel, MacIntyre, Taylor and Walzer - who fit under the broad label of 'communitarian'. In part 2 Rawls' later theory (contained in his later book, Political Liberalism) is summarised and discussed in relation to his communitarian critics. Finally, in part three the theories of three other key modern liberals - Rorty, Raz and Dworkin - and their responses to the communitarians are explained and examined. Each thinker is given their own chapter (except Rawls - who gets many)which outlines their thought with exemplary clarity and discusses the main points of contention surrounding it. There is a hell of a lot of theory in this one small book and for that reason it is immensely satisfying! Perfect for anyone wanting to work out exactly how liberal they are and should be and more than perfect as an introduction to the debate for anyone studying it at uni.

Poorly Written
Mulhall and Swift manage to make even the simplest theories almost impossible to understand. As mentioned by the previous reviewer, the book is short on examples. Normally I am not intimidated by a high level of abstraction, but the authors have a bad habit of discussing the theories then only later telling the reader what those theories actually are. This makes reading the book a highly frustrating experience.

I bought this book for use on a political philosophy course, but found it far easier just to read the work of a particular philosopher then to read the corresponding chapter in this book.