LDO
Bookshop: Philosophy
Welcome to the philosophy section of the LDO bookshop. This aims to provide a short list of useful books about liberalism and social democratic political theory.
Conrad
Russell: An intelligent person's guide to Liberalism
An inspirational - and up-to-date guide to the principles of British Liberalism.
J.S.
Mill: On Liberty
The classic book on liberalism. Former leader Jo Grimond used to re-read
this every year.
Isaiah
Berlin: 4 essays on liberty
Excellent book that, amongst other things, introduces the important concepts
of negative and positive liberty. The four essays are `Political Ideas in
the Twentieth Century'; `Historical Inevitability', which the Economist described
as `a magnificent assertion of the reality of human freedom, of the role of
free choice in history'; `Two Concepts of Liberty', a ringing manifesto for
pluralism and individual freedom; and `John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life'.
John
Rawls: A Theory of Justice
Classic work originally published in 1971. Rawls aims to provide an alternative
to utilitarianism, substituting the ideal of the social contract as a more
satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free
and equal persons. Rawls argues that the correct principles of justice are
those that would be agreed to by free and rational persons, placed in the
"original position" of ignorance: not knowing their own place in society;
their class, race, or sex; their abilities, intelligence, or strengths; or
even their conception of the good.
Ronald
Dworkin: Sovereign Virtue
To quote the New York Times, "Dworkin makes a plausible case for the
strikingly implausible idea that equality is the sovereign political virtue".
He rejects the idea that liberty and equality are mutually exclusive ideals
- and insists that a legitimate government's objective must be to insure that
the fates of individuals are insensitive to their identities but sensitive
to their choices.
Francis
Cornford: Microcosmographia Academica
Not really a work of deep political philosophy, but none the less an extremely
funny book about academic politics that contains eternal truths about the
workings of committees - even Liberal Democrat ones!
Comments? Suggestions? Please e-mail martin.tod@btinternet.com with your ideas.