Liberalism. Community and Culture (Frontiers of the Century)

Author: (Canada) Will Kymlicka, translated by Ying Qi, Ge Shuilin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book is Will Kymlicka's concentrated defense and revision of the Western liberal tradition. It is divided into three parts:
1. It systematically (organizes) the spirit of the liberal tradition from a theoretical perspective (e.g., from Mill to Rawls), and distinguishes and explores the major debates within the liberal tradition (e.g., Rawls's critique of utilitarianism, the debates between Nozick, Dworkin, and Rawls, etc.).
2. Taking the fundamental relationships between individuals, communities, and the state as a framework, it introduces the main adversaries of liberalism—communitarianism (such as Taylor, Marx, etc.)—and addresses their various criticisms one by one, thereby defending the core of liberal thought within the scope of political moral philosophy.
3. It places this political moral philosophical debate within a specific historical context—the contemporary multicultural society and the nation-state—to examine the political status and legal status of marginalized minority cultural groups (specifically analyzing the policies of indigenous peoples in the U.S. 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, addressing the moral philosophical challenges posed by political practice.
Will Kymlicka is a renowned Canadian philosopher and professor. He received his B.A. in philosophy and political science from Queen's University in 1984 and his 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 is a prolific author, with major works including Liberalism, Community, and Culture (1989), Contemporary Political Philosophy (1990), Multicultural Citizenship (1995), Finding Our Way: Reflections on Ethnicity and Multiculturalism 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.