The Limits of Liberalism : Tradition, Individualism, and the Crisis of Freedom

In The Limits of Liberalism , Mark T. Mitchell argues that a rejection of tradition is both philosophically incoherent and politically harmful. This false conception of tradition helps to facilitate both liberal cosmopolitanism and identity politics. The incoherencies are revealed through an investigation of the works of Michael Oakeshott, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Michael Polanyi. Mitchell demonstrates that the rejection of tradition as an epistemic necessity has produced a false conception of the human person―the liberal self―which in turn has produced a false conception of freedom. This book identifies why most modern thinkers have denied the essential role of tradition and explains how tradition can be restored to its proper place. Oakeshott, MacIntyre, and Polanyi all, in various ways, emphasize the necessity of tradition, and although these thinkers approach tradition in different ways, Mitchell finds useful elements within each to build an argument for a reconstructed view of tradition and, as a result, a reconstructed view of freedom. Mitchell argues that only by finding an alternative to the liberal self can we escape the incoherencies and pathologies inherent therein. This book will appeal to undergraduates, graduate students, professional scholars, and educated laypersons in the history of ideas and late modern culture. Misplaced ideas? : colonialism, location, and dislocation in Irish studies / Joe Cleary After history : historicism and Irish postcolonial studies / David Lloyd Barbarous slaves and civil cannibals : translating civility in early modern Ireland / Clare Carroll Towards a postcolonial enlightenment : the United Irishmen, cultural diversity, and the public sphere / Luke Gibbons Between filiation and affiliation : the politics of postcolonial memory / Kevin Whelan Dumbness and eloquence : a note on English as we write it in Ireland / Seamus Deane Mutinies : India, Ireland, and imperialism / Amitav Ghosh Irish orientalism : an overview / Joseph Lennon Spirituality, internationalism, and decolonization : James Cousins, the "Irish poet from India" / Gauri Viswanathan. Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Surveying The Landscape And Defining Terms -- The Seventeenth-century Denigration Of Tradition And A Nineteenth-century Response -- Michael Oakeshott And The Epistemic Role Of Tradition -- Alasdair Macintyre's Tradition-constituted Inquiry -- Michael Polanyi And Role Of Tacit Knowledge -- The Incoherence Of Liberalism And The Response Of Tradition -- Afterword: A Conservatism Worth Conserving, Or Conservatism As Stewardship -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. Mark T. Mitchell. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover Half Title Title page Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Surveying the Landscape and Defining Terms 1. The Seventeenth-Century Denigration of Tradition and a Nineteenth-Century Response 2. Michael Oakeshott and the Epistemic Role of Tradition 3. Alasdair MacIntyre’s Tradition-Constituted Inquiry 4. Michael Polanyi and the Role of Tacit Knowledge 5. The Incoherence of Liberalism and the Response of Tradition Afterword: A Conservatism Worth Conserving, or Conservatism as Stewardship Notes Bibliography Index Mitchell uses the philosophies of Oakeshott, MacIntyre, and Polanyi to demonstrate the need of a reconstructed view of tradition and freedom to counter false conceptions of the liberal self.