Liberal Pluralism : The Implications of Value Pluralism for Political Theory and Practice

William Galston's liberalism differs from many other visions of liberalism in that it is based on value pluralism in the style of Isaiah Berlin. Galston premises his liberalism on the ideas that (a) there is more than one valid idea of the "good" in any (or most) situations; and (b) there is no single correct way to prioritize values that are, as often as not, competing for attention. Also, a major theme of the book is that, as this is so, we must limit what is political and public and what is private and up to the individual. Therefore, Galston promotes a view of liberalism that is somewhat libertarian-leaning. Not only should the state avoid promoting a dominant conception of the Good, but should leave citizens as free AS POSSIBLE to pursue their own vision of it so long as it meets a "minimum sense of decency" (which, regretfully, is never well explained). This leads Galston to several interesting conclusions: most controversially, value pluralism leads Galston to place more emphasis on pluralistic liberalism than on democracy. (Democracy legislates via majority rule while liberalism tries to leave most areas frree for individual liberty). It also leads to a very pluralistic view on what education in a liberal society looks like (GAlston says many things that lead me to believe he would support a voucher system, as a standardized public ed seems to violate his pluralistic leanings). If there is an overarching flaw with this book, it is that Galston never quite explains what differentiates his value pluralism and pluralistic liberalism from relativism. He states that it is different, but never explains why; if there are more than one legitimate views on what The Good is, then where is the cut-off line between the 'legitimate' and 'illigitimate'? Galston says the line is objective, but doesn't make clear how we know it is so. (My thoughts are that Galston's liberal pluralism is as consistent with value relativism as with value pluralism). Also, I can imagine that it will be troubling to some that Galston's liberal pluralism leaves certain areas without any clear rules: his discussions on the judiciary and how moral discussions should proceed in the public arena reach very relativistic conclusions. (His view of jurisprudence in a pluralistic society is very similar to Judge Richard Posner's legal pragmatism, and his pessimism about deliberative democracy may leave some uneasy). But, as Galston points out, 'neater' theories of political liberalism may be more tidy and secure-feeling, but only at the cost of painting a distorted picture of the real world. We must, he says, live with the fact that values and ways of life often conflict, and the best we can do may be to construct a politics that allows people to choose for themselves (no matter how wrong we think they are). For those who want a very robust and less "theoretical" theory of liberalism, I highly reccomend reading this. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 CONTENTS 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11 PART I INTRODUCTION 15 1 PLURALISM IN ETHICS AND POLITICS 17 LIBERALISM 17 PLURALISM AND MONISM 18 COMPREHENSIVE AND FREESTANDING POLITICAL THEORIES 22 FOUR TYPES OF POLITICAL THEORY 22 THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLURALISM 23 PLURALISM AND CIVIC UNITY 24 THE PLAN OF THIS BOOK 24 PART II FROM VALUE PLURALISM TO LIBERAL PLURALIST THEORY 27 2 TWO CONCEPTS OF LIBERALISM 29 THE CIVIC AND EXPRESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF LIBERALISM 29 CIVIC AND EXPRESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM 32 DIVERSITY RATHER THAN AUTONOMY 34 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE DISPUTE 38 TAKING DIVERSITY SERIOUSLY 40 3 THREE SOURCES OF LIBERAL PLURALISM 42 THE RESOURCES OF LIBERAL THEORY 42 Expressive Liberty 42 Value Pluralism 43 Political Pluralism 50 HOW THE SOURCES OF LIBERAL THEORY FIT TOGETHER 51 4 LIBERAL PLURALIST THEORY 53 THE REJECTION OF COMPREHENSIVE THEORY AS A BASIS FOR POLITICAL THEORY 53 WHY WE SHOULD QUESTION THE REJECTION OF COMPREHENSIVE THEORY 54 Public Reason among Citizens 54 The Conduct of Political Philosophy 56 REASONABLE DISAGREEMENT AND VALUE PLURALISM 60 5 FROM VALUE PLURALISM TO LIBERAL PLURALIST POLITICS 62 THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF VALUE PLURALISM: JOHN GRAY VERSUS ISAIAH BERLIN 62 LIBERAL UNIVERSALISM AND POLITICAL PRUDENCE 76 6 VALUE PLURALISM AND POLITICAL COMMUNITY 79 THE MINIMUM CONDITIONS OF PUBLIC ORDER 79 CONSTITUTIONALISM 80 ETHICAL PRESUMPTION 83 PART III THE PRACTICE OF LIBERAL PLURALISM 93 7 DEMOCRACY AND VALUE PLURALISM 95 INTRODUCTION 95 THE LIMITS OF POLITICS 96 Truth 96 Liberty 97 ALTERNATIVES TO DEMOCRACY WITHIN THE POLITICAL SPHERE 98 Juries 98 Expertise 99 Paternalism 99 The Common Good 100 PLURALIST CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY 102 Pluralist Constitutionalism 102 Pluralism and Democratic Deliberation 103 CONCLUSION 105 8 PARENTS, GOVERNMENT, AND CHILDREN 107 INTRODUCTION 107 EDUCATION IN U.S. HISTORY 110 FROM HISTORY TO THEORY 111 EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY AND PARENTAL INTERESTS 115 PARENTAL AUTHORITY, EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION 122 9 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY 124 THE LIBERAL PLURALIST STATE AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION 124 EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY AND CIVIC UNITY IN THE LIBERAL PLURALIST STATE 128 PLURALIST LIBERTY AND THE RIGHT OF EXIT 136 10 LIBERAL PLURALISM AND CIVIC GOODS 138 REASONABLE DOUBTS ABOUT LIBERAL PLURALISM 138 WHY LIBERAL PLURALISM CAN PURSUE CIVIC GOODS 139 Liberal Pluralism as a Regime 139 Liberal Pluralist Citizenship 140 Justice in the Liberal Pluralist State 142 WHY PLURALISM IS UNAVOIDABLE 144 INDEX 147 Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 CONTENTS......Page 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 11 PART I INTRODUCTION......Page 15 LIBERALISM......Page 17 PLURALISM AND MONISM......Page 18 FOUR TYPES OF POLITICAL THEORY......Page 22 THE CONSEQUENCES OF PLURALISM......Page 23 THE PLAN OF THIS BOOK......Page 24 PART II FROM VALUE PLURALISM TO LIBERAL PLURALIST THEORY......Page 27 THE CIVIC AND EXPRESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF LIBERALISM......Page 29 CIVIC AND EXPRESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONALISM......Page 32 DIVERSITY RATHER THAN AUTONOMY......Page 34 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF THE DISPUTE......Page 38 TAKING DIVERSITY SERIOUSLY......Page 40 Expressive Liberty......Page 42 Value Pluralism......Page 43 Political Pluralism......Page 50 HOW THE SOURCES OF LIBERAL THEORY FIT TOGETHER......Page 51 THE REJECTION OF COMPREHENSIVE THEORY AS A BASIS FOR POLITICAL THEORY......Page 53 Public Reason among Citizens......Page 54 The Conduct of Political Philosophy......Page 56 REASONABLE DISAGREEMENT AND VALUE PLURALISM......Page 60 THE POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF VALUE PLURALISM: JOHN GRAY VERSUS ISAIAH BERLIN......Page 62 LIBERAL UNIVERSALISM AND POLITICAL PRUDENCE......Page 76 THE MINIMUM CONDITIONS OF PUBLIC ORDER......Page 79 CONSTITUTIONALISM......Page 80 ETHICAL PRESUMPTION......Page 83 PART III THE PRACTICE OF LIBERAL PLURALISM......Page 93 INTRODUCTION......Page 95 Truth......Page 96 Liberty......Page 97 Juries......Page 98 Paternalism......Page 99 The Common Good......Page 100 Pluralist Constitutionalism......Page 102 Pluralism and Democratic Deliberation......Page 103 CONCLUSION......Page 105 INTRODUCTION......Page 107 EDUCATION IN U.S. HISTORY......Page 110 FROM HISTORY TO THEORY......Page 111 EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY AND PARENTAL INTERESTS......Page 115 PARENTAL AUTHORITY, EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY, AND PUBLIC EDUCATION......Page 122 THE LIBERAL PLURALIST STATE AND FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION......Page 124 EXPRESSIVE LIBERTY AND CIVIC UNITY IN THE LIBERAL PLURALIST STATE......Page 128 PLURALIST LIBERTY AND THE RIGHT OF EXIT......Page 136 REASONABLE DOUBTS ABOUT LIBERAL PLURALISM......Page 138 Liberal Pluralism as a Regime......Page 139 Liberal Pluralist Citizenship......Page 140 Justice in the Liberal Pluralist State......Page 142 WHY PLURALISM IS UNAVOIDABLE......Page 144 INDEX......Page 147 William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having served from 1993-1995 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. Isaiah Berlin first advanced the moral theory of value pluralism in the 1950s and it subsequently was developed by a number of distinguisthed scholars, including Galston. In Liberal Pluralism, Galston defends a version of value pluralism for political theory and practice. Against the contentions of John Gray and others, Galston argues that value pluralism undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives great weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life. This account of liberal pluralism is shown to have important implications for political deliberation and decision-making, for the design of public institutions, and for the division of legitimate authority among government, religious institutions, civil society, parents and families, and individuals. Liberal pluralism leads to a vision of a good society in which political institutions are active in a limited sphere and in which, within broad limits, families and civil associations may organize and conduct themselves in ways that are not congruent with the principles that govern the public sphere. William Galston is Professor, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland and Director at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy. He is the author of Liberal Purposes (Cambridge, 1991), which won the Spitz Prize. Galston's other books include Justice and the Human Good (Chicago, 1980) and IKant and the Problem of History (Chicago, 1975). He is also a Senior Advisor to the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute. William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having also served from 1993–5 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. He is thus able to speak with an authority unique amongst political theorists about the implications of advancing certain moral and political values in practice. The foundational argument of this 2002 book is that liberalism is compatible with the value pluralism first espoused by Isaiah Berlin. William Galston defends a version of value pluralism - liberal pluralism - and argues, against the contentions of John Gray and others, that it undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life. William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher whose work is informed by the experience of having also served from 1993-1995 as President Clinton's Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy. He is thus able to speak with an authority unique amongst political theorists about the implications of advancing certain moral and political values in practice. The foundational argument of this book is that liberalism is compatible with the value pluralism first espoused by Isaiah Berlin. William Galston defends a version of value pluralism - liberal pluralism - and argues, against the contentions of John Gray and others, that it undergirds a kind of liberal politics that gives weight to the ability of individuals and groups to live their lives in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life

No contemporary actor has William Galston's status as both a political philosopher and political actor.

Commonweal - David McCabe

Liberal states are not, Galston insists, built on the enthronement of reason over faith, personal autonomy over duty to communal traditions, or similarly controversial claims about how human beings should live.... Liberal Pluralism should significantly advance the discussion of these topics and help create, if not consensus, at least greater clarity about how we can all get along in an increasingly diverse society.

William Galston is a distinguished political philosopher who also served from 1993-1995 in the Clinton Administration. He argues that value pluralism undergirds a kind of liberal politics that enables individuals and groups to live in accordance with their deepest beliefs about what gives meaning and purpose to life