Putting Liberalism in Its Place
"[This] is a beautifully written meditation on the sources of political meaning that cannot be justified by rational argumentation. It challenges the reader to acknowledge that politics is a fundamentally amoral enterprise that resembles romantic love more than rational debate."--Margaret Kohn,Political Theory"Paul W. Kahn's outstanding book alluringly explains the perplexity of liberalism in its post-September 11 situation."--Samuel Moyn,Ethics and International Affairs"Putting Liberalism in Its Placeis a real success. It is learned, clear, forceful, and loaded with quotable lines. Most importantly, it takes a much needed shot across the bow of academic liberal theory."--Dan Silver,Foundations of Political Theory"This intriguing book is filled with challenging ideas and supplies some missing ingredients of the intellectual groundwork of liberalism."--James Magee,Law and Politics Book Review"Paul W. Kahn . . . argue[s] that liberal theory lacks the conceptual resources to understand political life. . . . Kahn sees liberalism as a philosophy for a postmodern condition, which may be emerging in Europe, where the state may be losing its grip on the moral imagination and 'politics [is] stripped of the political.' The book offers a provocative argument and is well written."--Choice"As a critique of liberal assumptions about human nature and political theory and as a thoughtful essay on political theology and evil, Kahn's analyses initiate discussions that should be continued."--Shalom Carmy,Hebraic Political Studies