Liberal Education and Democratic Citizenship by Michael H. McCarthy explores the philosophical, cultural, and institutional origins of American democracy's crises and argues that a liberal education can address them effectively. It examines the sources, areas, and levels of division in contemporary America and clarifies the contrast between effective freedom and economic and political liberalism. McCarthy addresses the educational challenges presented by modernity and post-modernity, including moral aspirations, historical consciousness, and radical criticism. He also highlights the cultural contrast between civic republicanism and imperial assumptions of economics and the civic virtues needed to create a free, just, and multi-racial America.

Format: Hardback
Length: 168 pages
Publication date: 15 June 2024
Publisher: Lexington Books

Liberal Education and Democratic Citizenship by Michael H. McCarthy is a comprehensive exploration of the crises confronting American democracy and their philosophical, cultural, and institutional origins. McCarthy argues that a liberal education, properly understood, can address these crises effectively. The book's successive chapters explore the sources, areas, and levels of division in contemporary America, and show how they have created important disagreements about the major challenges we presently face and the credible solutions they require. McCarthy articulates what a liberal education actually is and why it is vitally important for both our personal and civic lives. He also clarifies the critical contrast between effective freedom, the aim of a liberal education, and the concepts of freedom within economic and political liberalism. McCarthy addresses the distinctive educational challenges presented by modernity and post-modernity, including their moral aspirations, acute historical consciousness, and passion for radical criticism, as well as the traditional and contemporary discontents of American democracy. A central part of the book's unfolding argument is the enduring cultural contrast between the principles and aspirations of civic republicanism and the imperial assumptions of economics. This juxtaposition helps us to understand the power and limitations of the "stories we Americans live by" as well as the civic virtues we commonly need to create a free, just, and multi-racial America. These critical virtues, McCarthy argues, are the specific goal of a liberal and democratic education.

Liberal Education and Democratic Citizenship

Michael H. McCarthy's book, "Liberal Education and Democratic Citizenship," is a comprehensive exploration of the crises confronting American democracy and their philosophical, cultural, and institutional origins. McCarthy argues that a liberal education, properly understood, can address these crises effectively. The book's successive chapters explore the sources, areas, and levels of division in contemporary America, and show how they have created important disagreements about the major challenges we presently face and the credible solutions they require. McCarthy articulates what a liberal education actually is and why it is vitally important for both our personal and civic lives. He also clarifies the critical contrast between effective freedom, the aim of a liberal education, and the concepts of freedom within economic and political liberalism. McCarthy addresses the distinctive educational challenges presented by modernity and post-modernity, including their moral aspirations, acute historical consciousness, and passion for radical criticism, as well as the traditional and contemporary discontents of American democracy. A central part of the book's unfolding argument is the enduring cultural contrast between the principles and aspirations of civic republicanism and the imperial assumptions of economics. This juxtaposition helps us to understand the power and limitations of the "stories we Americans live by" as well as the civic virtues we commonly need to create a free, just, and multi-racial America. These critical virtues, McCarthy argues, are the specific goal of a liberal and democratic education.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666948776