Preface and Acknowledgements.
1 Introduction: What is Liberalism?.
2 The Sources of Liberal Equality.
3 The Social Contract.
4 Liberalism and Liberty.
5 Liberalism and Equality.
6 How Political is Political Liberalism.
7 False Neutrality and Ethnocentrism.
8 Liberalism the State and Beyond.
Notes.
References.
Index.
Paul Kelly is Senior Lecturer in Political Theory at the Department of Government, London School of Economics.
'Anyone wanting a lucid and accessible example of state-of-the-art
political philosophy need look no further. In brief compass, Paul
Kelly sets out an idea of liberal equality for our times, explains
its rationale and defends it against a wide variety of challenges.
I don't know how he managed to accomplish all this in a short book
– I know it would have been beyond me.'
--Professor Brian Barry, Lieber Professor of Political Philosophy,
Columbia University
'This is a first-rate introduction to the philosophy and politics
of contemporary liberal thought. Kelly offers more than a careful
and concise statement of liberal egalitarianism. He also traces its
historical roots, explains its many attractions, and rebuts
fashionable but misplaced objections to it."
--Dr Matthew Clayton, Department of Politics & International
Studies,
University of Warwick
'This accessible little book in Polity's "Key Concepts" series is a
broad introduction to recent work in political theory. As such, it
provides useful background for other writing on liberalism. But it
is no dry textbook; it has a distinct point of view. Kelly, who is
a professor of political theory at the London School of Economics
and Political Science, defends a particular type of liberalism:
egalitarian liberalism, which he believes has two core principles.
Philosophically, it is committed to "the basic substantive value of
equal personhood"; politically, it attempts to secure the "rights
and economic resources necessary to protect equal personhood."
'Kelly's liberal heroes are a broadly Americanized bunch -- (the
early) John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, and Brian Barry -- and he
defends his heroes from attacks on both the left and the right. To
those on the right who argue that the egalitarian liberal's
emphasis on equality unduly restricts our freedom to accumulate
wealth, Kelly replies that property is not a pre-political right
that overrides the concerns of social justice. To those on the left
who claim that liberal egalitarianism is merely cultural
imperialism in disguise, Kelly distinguishes between respecting a
culture's practices -- which clearly makes sense -- and saying that
we can never criticize such practices in light of general
principles -- which is self-defeating. Liberal principles avoid
lapsing into moral subjectivism, Kelly says. It's time for liberals
to stand up and articulate them.'
-- Michael P. Lynch, in The Chronicle of Higher Education, April
22, 2005, page 22. Lynch is associate professor of philosophy at
the University of Connecticut.
'[C]risp and elegant defence of liberalism'
--Times Higher Education Supplement
'Liberalism offers an erudite and stimulating defence of liberalism
as both a philosophical and a political project, and is a valuable
addition to the existing scholarship.'
--The Philosophical Quarterly
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