Modus Vivendi Liberalism: Theory and Practice

EAN: 9780521119788
Published 25/02/2010
Language: English

A central task in contemporary political philosophy is to identify principles governing political life where citizens disagree deeply on important questions of value and, more generally, about the proper ends of life. The distinctively liberal response to this challenge insists that the state should as far as possible avoid relying on such contested issues in its basic structure and deliberations. David McCabe critically surveys influential defenses of the liberal solution and advocates modus vivendi liberalism as an alternative defense of the liberal state. Acknowledging that the modus vivendi approach does not provide the deep moral consensus that many liberals demand, he defends the liberal state as an acceptable compromise among citizens who will continue to see it as less than ideal. His book will interest a wide range of readers in political philosophy and political theory.

Part I. Starting Assumptions
1. The liberal project
2. Pluralism and well-being
Part II. The Failure of the Main Arguments
3. Liberal autonomy
the universalist case
4. Liberal autonomy
the particularist case
5. Political liberalism
6. Pluralist liberalism
Part III. Modus Vivendi Liberalism
7. The case for modus vivendi liberalism
8. The challenge of gender equality
9. Compulsory education in the MVL state
10. The limits of modus vivendi liberalism.