The Anxiety of Freedom: Imagination and Individuality in Locke's Political Thought - Couverture rigide

Mehta, Uday Singh

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0801427568 ISBN 13 : 9780801427565

Editeur : Cornell University Press, 1992

Synopsis

The enduring appeal of liberalism lies in its commitment to the idea that human beings have a "natural" potential to live as free and equal individuals. The realization of this potential, however, is not a matter of nature, but requires that people be molded by a complex constellation of political and educational institutions. In this eloquent and provocative book, Uday Singh Mehta investigates in the major writings of John Locke the implications of this tension between individuals and the institutions that mold them. The process of molding, he demonstrates, involves an external conformity and an internal self-restraint that severely limit the scope of individuality.
Mehta explores the centrality of the human imagination in Locke's thought, focusing on his obsession with the potential dangers of the cognitive realm. Underlying Locke's fears regarding the excesses of the imagination is a political anxiety concerning how to limit their potential effects. In light of Locke's views on education, Mehta concludes that the promise of liberation at the heart of liberalism is vitiated by its constraints on cognitive and political freedom.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Uday Singh Mehta is Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the Graduate Center, CUNY. He is the author of Liberalism and Empire, winner of the J. David Greenstone Prize given by the American Political Science Association.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Cornell University Press
• Date d'édition: 1992
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0801427568
• ISBN 13: 9780801427565
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 200
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Mare Nostrum Group B.V.; gpsr@mare-nostrum.co.uk; ; Doelen 72; Breda; 4831 GR; Pays-Bas