Table of Contents

Introduction
1. The Metaphysical Assumptions of the Classical Liberal
2. Human Rights and Fundamentalism.
3. Some Limitations of the Discourse of Human Rights.
4. Autonomy and "Evil'.
5. The Beginnings of an Alternative Metaphysic and Ethics
6. Natural Needs
7. Metaphysics and Morality
8. Love for Family, Friends and Close Associates
Conclusion References/Notes Index

Promotional Information

Offers a new reading of the work of Kierkegaard in relation to metaphysics and political theory.

About the Author

Alison Assiter is Professor of Feminist Theory at the University of the West of England, UK. Her previous publications include The Limitations of Althusserianism, Pluto Press, 1990 Enlightened Women, Routledge, 1996 and Revisiting Universalism (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).

Reviews

"A remarkable book! Alison Assiter writes with passion and refinement of the history of modern philosophy's contributions to an understanding of our troubled world. She revives Soren Kierkegaard both as a general philosopher and as a guide to a moral politic that both thinks and feels." - Charles Lemert, The John C. Andrus Professor of Sociology, Wesleyan University, USA

"Who would have thought that Kierkegaard has interesting things to teach us about politics, of all things? But he has, and Assiter shows us how. More importantly, she also shows us why what he says matters: an impressive achievement!" - Bob Brecher, University of Brighton, UK

'A fresh way of thinking about ethics and human rights ... many lines of argument are examined ... a thoughtful and original work.' - Times Higher Education

'An illuminating and thought-provoking book which covers a wide range of political theory ... a useful book for both undergraduates and post-graduates in Gender Studies as well as Philosophy and Political Theory.' - European Journal of Gender Studies

Assiter's Kierkegaard stands alongside the works of other important thinkers in realist philosophy and social theory over the last decade in that it also provides depth, nuance and focus to an aspect of the issue of realizable wellbeing in terms of some constructive critique- here, that of liberalism... I wholly recommend it to anyone interested in experiencing the power of ideas to change the way we think for the better.
*Journal of Critical Realism, Volume 10, Issue 3*