In The Growth of the Liberal Soul, David Walsh provides a dazzling defense of liberalism by confronting the core difficulty of the liberal democratic tradition in explaining and justifying itself. David Walsh's groundbreaking work addresses a pivotal crisis in liberal democratic self-understanding, as many leading thinkers abandoned the search for a foundation in human nature or moral truth. Without a firm footing, proponents of liberalism could not explain its initial extraordinary success or the recent seeming unraveling of its own moral code. Instead, Walsh argues that Christianity and philosophy formed the original foundation for liberalism, and that only the ideals of service, self-responsibility, and the sacredness of each person can provide the grounding that liberalism desperately needs. As Walsh seamlessly weaves together the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Tocqueville, Nietzsche, and other leading thinkers, The Growth of the Liberal Soul crafts a compelling defense of liberalism and issues an inspiring call to see liberty not as an invitation to universal egoism, but as the pursuit of the greatest justice, freedom, and fulfillment for all members of the community.
David Walsh is professor of politics at the Catholic University of America. He is the author of The Priority of the Person and Politics of the Person as the Politics of Being.
Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. Dimensions of the Problem 1. Crisis of Liberal Politics 2. Enduring Moral Authority 3. Utopian Forgetfulness of Depth Part 2. Historical Sources and Resources 4. Liberal Achievement of Order from Disorder 5. Struggle as a Source of Liberal Richness 6. Source of Liberal Appeal: Secular Christianity Part 3. Outline of a Renovation 7. Incompleteness of a Liberal Order 8. Meditative Expansion of Limits Notes Bibliography Index
"Walsh calls on us to immerse ourselves in this liberal tradition and to learn from it. It differs from the liberal thought of our century, for which liberty, having lost most of its intrinsic and constitutive appeal, serves mainly to promote economic growth, shield us from fearsome dictators, and free us to pursue our various conceptions of the good." -The Independent Review "On good liberal grounds alone, academic liberals should appreciate David Walsh's powerful new defense of liberalism. A valuable contribution to the increasingly edifying debate led by conservatives over liberalism's future, this book gently but firmly exposes the illusions that conceal from contemporary liberalism the source of the liberal spirit's formidable moral authority." -First Things
