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Liberalism is often described as a theory about the proper relationship between the individual and the state. But liberalism also contains a broader account of the relationship between the individual and society. Kymlicka here presents the liberal view about the nature and value of community culture in an unusually explicit and systematic way, and links it to more familiar liberal views on individual rights and state neutrality.
List of contents
Introduction; LIBERALISM: Liberalism; The Right and the Good; COMMUNITY: Communitarianism and the Self; Taylor's `Social Thesis'; Marxism and the Critique of Justice; LIBERALISM AND CULTURAL MEMBERSHIP: Liberalism in Culturally Plural Societies; The Value of Cultural Membership; Equality for Minority Membership; Equality for Minority Cultures; Minority Rights and Liberal Tradition; Walzer and Minority Rights; Communitarianism and Minority Rights; Apartheid in South Africa; Conclusion
About the author
Will Kymlicka teaches in philosophy departments at the University of Toronto and Queen's University, Canada
Summary
Will Kymlicka presents the liberal view about the nature and value of community and culture in an unusually explicit and systematic way, linking it to more familiar liberal views on individual rights and state neutrality.
Additional text
`Kymlicka has shown that there are political and sociological questions tied up with the social nature of the individual that liberal political philosophers cannot afford to ignore ... The significance of Kymlicka's book resides in this approach as much as in the high quality and sophistication of his arguments. For he illustrates the importance for political philosophers to grapple with genuine problems when honing their ideas and to question the political systems within which their arguments are constructed and to which they have to be applied.'
History of European Idea
