Moderate Liberalism and the Scottish Enlightenment

Montesquieu, Hume, Smith and Ferguson

von Constantine Christos Vassiliou

192 Seiten, Taschenbuch

Kurzbeschreibung des Verlags

Moderate Liberalism and the Scottish Enlightenment responds to a perennial problem in political theory: how to balance commercial considerations with the public good. It investigates this dilemma through the lenses of Enlightenment thinkers whose liberal theories responded to the hazards of commercial innovation during capitalism's nascent stages. Vassiliou argues that Montesquieu, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Adam Ferguson represent a moderate perspective in foundational liberal thought, which emphasizes the critical importance of honour. He compares how their liberal theories uniquely channel human beings' desire for honour to nourish a sense of interpersonal magnanimity within an inward-looking, liberal commercial world. In an age of polarized extremes, we have witnessed restive democracies flirting with populist, illiberal responses for managing the hazards of capitalist innovation. Montesquieu and his Scottish counterparts' foundational liberal theories offer us more viable, middle-ground prescriptions which are sensitive to the emotional constitution of a liberal society.

• Themen: Gesellschaft und Sozialwissenschaften Politik und Staat Vergleichende Politikwissenschaften
• ISBN: 9781399521208
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 30.06.2025
• Größe: 234 x 156 mm
• Verlag: Edinburgh University Press