Freedom and Culture in Western Society (Routledge Studies in Social and Political Thought, 5)

Critically examining conceptions of freedom of some of the leading contemporary philosophers from Isaiah Berlin to Charles Taylor, Hans Blokland explores the value and significance that freedom has acquired on our political consciousness. He looks specifically at: \* positive and negative freedom \* freedom of the individual \* freedom and society \* emancipation and paternalism \* freedom and cultural politics. What does freedom mean? Does everyone in Western liberal democracies enjoy maximum freedom? Has freedom become a dogma, the meaning and justification of which has been forgotten? Critically examining the conceptions of freedom of some of the leading contemporary philosophers from Isaiah Berlin to Charles Taylor, Hans Blokland explores the value and significance that freedom has acquired in our political consciousness. He looks specifically at positive and negative freedom, emancipation and paternalism, and freedom and cultural politics