Readings on the Basic Knowledge of Western Social Sciences: Liberalism

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Features: This series is jointly launched by Jilin People's Publishing House and McGraw Hill, the world's largest educational publishing giant. It aims to provide the most simple and convenient way for the general public to quickly grasp the basic knowledge of Western social sciences, serving as a "primer" in the field of philosophy and social sciences. As a basic textbook in Western universities, the series has been popular for 20 years. It is written entirely by leading scholars from various fields in the West and is continuously updated to keep pace with the times. It has become one of the most authoritative basic social science readers recognized in the West and a stepping stone for young scholars to enter the of social sciences. Some of its books, such as Liberalism and Postmodernism, have achieved astonishing sales and gained both the welcome of the Western intellectual community and the favor of the public.
We eagerly hope that this series can also win the acclaim it once received in the West in China. For a long time, liberalism has been a topic that people talk about but also debate. This perception is not only evident in the non-Western world but also in the Western world where liberalism prevails. People from different countries, cultures, and ideological traditions have varying understandings of liberalism, sometimes even opposing ones. To clarify this confusion and find relatively unified and identifiable elements in this understanding of liberalism, the renowned British political philosopher John Gray, known as the "Liberalism Critic," attempts a concise yet insightful exploration in his pamphlet Liberalism. Starting from the four elements of liberalism—individualism, egalitarianism, universalism, and social benevolence—he analyzes them from historical and conceptual perspectives, revealing the fundamental characteristics and traits of liberalism as a political philosophy of Western modernity. It is considered a model for liberal studies and is often compared with Anthony Appiah's The Rise of Western Liberalism as a twin gem in the study of the history of liberalism. Of course, as John Gray himself pointed out, liberalism, as a product of Western modernity and culture, does not possess many of the universalist features claimed by liberalists. Similarly, the liberal values of freedom, equality, and human rights advocated by liberalists should also be analyzed scientifically and concretely. It is believed that anyone with a genuine spirit of theoretical exploration can examine the author's depth of meaning in this book and approach its main arguments with a rational critical mindset. Many of the book's views differ from the beliefs and ideals we have long held. Readers are advised to carefully discern these differences, maintain a clear head, and uphold a correct stance.
From a Marxist perspective, liberalism is a trend and ideology that coexists with the capitalist political and economic system. Western societies and some Western countries have long used liberalism as a banner to promote Westernization in China. Unlike non-political ideas such as science and technology and economic forms, which are based on technical rationality, liberalism, as a unique cultural phenomenon of Western modern society, has its own cultural rationality within the Western context. However, the world is diverse and pluralistic, and Western countries should neither should nor can impose this ideology, which is based on Western culture, on other cultures and sovereign nations.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the thinker Wei Yuan proposed the strategy of "learning from the barbarians to subdue them." Understanding liberalism, as the mainstream ideology of the West, is precisely to help the Chinese people better understand their national conditions, rather than blindly conforming to others' views. At the same time, only by deeply understanding the specific historical and cultural conditions and evolutionary patterns that gave rise to Western liberalism can we better defend our political and social systems with the weapons of Marxism and traditional Chinese culture.