Why Liberalism Failed.

Description

Has liberalism failed because it has succeeded? Of the three dominant ideologies of the twentieth century—fascism, communism, and liberalism—only the last remains. This has created a peculiar situation in which liberalism’s proponents tend to forget that it is an ideology and not the natural end-state of human political evolution. As Patrick Deneen argues in this provocative book, liberalism is built on a foundation of contradictions: it trumpets equal rights while fostering incomparable material inequality; its legitimacy rests on consent, yet it discourages civic commitments in favor of privatism; and in its pursuit of individual autonomy, it has given rise to the most far-reaching, comprehensive state system in human history. Here, Deneen offers an astringent warning that the centripetal forces now at work on our political culture are not superficial flaws but inherent features of a system whose success is generating its own failure. Cover......Page 1 Half Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Preface......Page 14 Acknowledgments......Page 18 Introduction: The End of Liberalism......Page 24 ONE. Unsustainable Liberalism......Page 44 TWO. Uniting Individualism and Statism......Page 66 THREE. Liberalism as Anticulture......Page 87 FOUR. Technology and the Loss of Liberty......Page 114 FIVE. Liberalism against Liberal Arts......Page 133 SIX. The New Aristocracy......Page 154 SEVEN. The Degradation of Citizenship......Page 177 Conclusion: Liberty after Liberalism......Page 202 Notes......Page 222 Bibliography......Page 236 C......Page 244 G......Page 245 M......Page 246 S......Page 247 Z......Page 248