Liberalism. Community and Culture

Author: (Canada) Will Kymlicka
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: This book is Will Kymlicka's concentrated defense and revision of the Western liberal tradition. It is divided into three parts:
1. A theoretical of the spirit of the liberal tradition (such as from Mill to Rawls), and distinguishes and explores the major debates within the liberal (such as Rawls's critique of utilitarianism, the debates between Nozick, Dworkin, and Rawls, etc.).
2. Taking the basic relationships between individuals, communities, and the state as a framework, it introduces the various criticisms of liberalism from its main opponents, the communitarians (such as Taylor, Marx, etc.), clarifies and distinguishes them one by one, and thus defends the core of liberal thought within the scope of political moral philosophy.
3. Placing this political moral philosophy debate within a specific historical context—contemporary multicultural societies and nation-states—to examine the political status and legal status of marginalized minority cultural groups (specifically analyzing the policies of indigenous peoples in the United States and Canada, and the apartheid policies in South Africa). It proposes the new concept and perspective of "cultural membership" to adjust and supplement previous liberal theories in response to the moral philosophical challenges posed by political practice.
Will Kymlicka is a renowned Canadian philosopher and professor. He received a Bachelor's degree in philosophy and political science from Queen's University in 1984 and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Oxford in 1987. He is currently a professor in the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University in Canada. Kymlicka has published extensively, with his main works including: Liberalism, Community, and Culture (1989), Contemporary Political Philosophy (1990), Multicultural Citizenship (1995), Finding Our Way: Reflections on Ethnic and Cultural Relations in Canada (1998), and Minority Rights (2001). Additionally, he has served as the editor of works such as The Fairness of Political Philosophy (1992) and The Rights of Cultural Minorities (1995). Some of his books have been translated into 21 languages.