Bernard Yack
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 273608 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Bernard Yack |
| PRENOMES | Bernard |
| SOBRENOME | Yack |
| ASSINATURA | YACK B |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Wisconsin–Madison |
| ORCID | 0009-0002-1422-4761 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 29 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 320 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 29 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 1980 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Two Concepts of Plurality
This article argues that pluralism is a much more ambivalent idea than it is ordinarily thought to be, that there is more than one way of being more than one. In particular, it tries to show that plurality, like liberty, can be and has been imagined either negatively or positively: negatively, as the absence of some form of agreement or uniformity; positively, as engagement with competing qualities or commitments. In addition, it argues that the …
What do Liberals Fear
My comments on Kahan’s new history of liberalism have a relatively narrow focus: the book’s organizing concept, fear, rather than its insightful accounts of different authors and movements. I suppose that makes me a “lumper,” in the familiar dichotomy between lumpers and splitters that Kahan cites in his introductory chapter. But I’m afraid that even historians have to lump it sometimes. For you need to know just what idea you’re splitting up, ev…
The Problems of a Political Animal
Taking Freedom Seriously
No understanding of morality has more zealous or influential defenders among academic philosophers than Kant’s. Yet as Michael Rosen demonstrates in The Shadow of God, there is a sense in which Kant’s critics take his conception of freedom more seriously nowadays than his defenders. As a result, contemporary versions of “Kantian ethics” often end up challenging what Rosen calls “the ethics of Kant,” not just the claims of rival moral theories. Ro…
Revisiting The Longing for Total Revolution
This paper reconsiders the arguments of my book, The Longing for Total Revolution, in response to the thoughtful analyses collected in this symposium. It restates the book’s main genealogical and critical arguments about the philosophical sources of uniquely modern forms of social discontent, while distinguishing those arguments from recent attempts to uncover the deeper, theological sources of discontent. It focuses, in particular, on the role p…
Antigone in Hertfordshire
Of Scribes and Tribes
What has made progressives—self-styled champions of the people—the principal targets of populist resentment in contemporary politics? Perhaps it is progressives’ ambivalence about democracy, not merely the racist, sexist and nationalist passions that progressives prefer to blame. Indeed, one of the reasons that progressives find themselves under attack as out-of-touch elitists may be that they are out of touch with the nature and extent of their …
Loyalty versus Fidelity
Loyalty versus Fidelity:A Study in Moral Pluralism Bernard Yack (bio) many of the most familiar moral dilemmas revolve around expressions or expectations of loyalty. Yet these internal moral conflicts remain poorly understood even after we stop dismissing loyalty as little more than an extended form of selfishness or partisanship. Both ordinary and philosophic speech tend to conflate loyalty with another virtue that it resembles: fidelity or fait…
Political Liberalism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Response to Steven J. Mock’s review of Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Debate on Bernard Yack's book Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
Bernard Yack's Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community (2012) was the subject of the eighth in a long‐running series of debates hosted by the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) and the journal Nations and Nationalism in November of 2013. These debates bring together the authors of recent important works in the study of nationalism and ethnicity with appropriate scholars to explore the questions they have provo…
The significance of Isaiah Berlin’s Counter-Enlightenment
This paper takes a close look at Berlin’s claim that the emergence of Counter-Enlightenment pluralism marks a momentous historical watershed. It concludes that Berlin is right to draw our attention to the importance of this event, but that he seriously misinterprets its significance. He has good reason, in particular, to treat Herder as ‘the most formidable adversary of the French philosophes and their German disciples’, but not because Herder pu…
Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
Rhetoric and Public Reasoning
This essay asks why Aristotle, certainly no friend to unlimited democracy, seems so much more comfortable with unconstrained rhetoric in political deliberation than current defenders of deliberative democracy. It answers this question by reconstructing and defending a distinctly Aristotelian understanding of political deliberation, one that can be pieced together out of a series of separate arguments made in the Rhetoric, the Politics, and the Ni…
Modern Peoplehood
Modern Peoplehood. By John Lie. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. 394p. $49.95. This book is a valuable addition to the literature on social identity and modern politics. In the manner of historical sociologists, John Lie synthesizes a vast body of scholarly literature—the book has a 100-page bibliography—in order “to illuminate and sublate the categories of modern peoplehood” (p. ix)
Multiculturalism and the Political Theorists
Popular Sovereignty and Nationalism
This chapter shows that the assumption is mistaken on both fronts: the spread of popular doctrine has altered our understanding of political community in ways that are anything but self–evident and it is by means of this altered understanding of political community that it has made its greatest contribution to the rise and spread of nationalism. The new doctrine of popular replaces direct popular rule, or governmental sovereignty, with what has c…
Gazette
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Can patriotism save us from nationalism? Rejoinder to Viroli
Viroli is right to draw a distinction between republican patriotism and nationalism. But in arguing that the former can correct the problems associated with the latter, he places too much trust in the descriptions of patriotism offered by republican theorists. In practice, republican patriotism has been almost as fierce and hostile to outsiders as nationalism. Patriotism might make us better citizens, but it will not make the world a more peacefu…
The myth of the civic nation
The idea of a purely civic nationalism has attracted Western scholars, most of whom rightly disdain the myths that sustain ethnonationalist theories of political community. Civic nationalism is particularly attractive to many Americans, whose peculiar national heritage encourages the delusion that their mutual association is based solely on consciously chosen principles. But this idea misrepresents political reality as surely as the ethnonational…
Books in Review
Books in Review
Books in Review
Natural Right and Aristotle's Understanding of Justice
DOES ARISTOTLE CLAIM that the nature of things provides us with an absolutely correct standard of justice? In this article, I argue that, despite his reputation as a founder of natural right and natural law theory, he does not. Aristotle certainly insists that right or justice exists nature (phusei) as well as by agreement (Nicomachean Ethics [NE] 1134b30).' That he does so is one of the few points in his discussion of natural and conventional ri…
Books in Review
The myth of the civic nation
The idea of a purely civic nationalism has attracted Western scholars, most of whom rightly disdain the myths that sustain ethnonationalist theories of political community. Civic nationalism is particularly attractive to many Americans, whose peculiar national heritage encourages the delusion that their mutual association is based solely on consciously chosen principles. But this idea misrepresents political reality as surely as the ethnonational…
Popular Sovereignty and Nationalism
This chapter shows that the assumption is mistaken on both fronts: the spread of popular doctrine has altered our understanding of political community in ways that are anything but self–evident and it is by means of this altered understanding of political community that it has made its greatest contribution to the rise and spread of nationalism. The new doctrine of popular replaces direct popular rule, or governmental sovereignty, with what has c…
Rhetoric and Public Reasoning
This essay asks why Aristotle, certainly no friend to unlimited democracy, seems so much more comfortable with unconstrained rhetoric in political deliberation than current defenders of deliberative democracy. It answers this question by reconstructing and defending a distinctly Aristotelian understanding of political deliberation, one that can be pieced together out of a series of separate arguments made in the Rhetoric, the Politics, and the Ni…
Community and Conflict in Aristotle's Political Philosophy
In this article a widespread misperception of Aristotle's political thought is challenged, a misperception shared even by his champions among recent political theorists: that his concept of political community is derived from an image of organic growth and identity, and thus does not account for political conflict. Familiarity with liberal political thought and institutions has led most of Aristotle's contemporary interpreters to look for counter…
The Problems of a Political Animal
Political Liberalism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
The Rationality of Hegel's Concept of Monarchy
In this essay I argue that Hegel's concept of monarchy, far from being more evidence of his supposed abstract rationalism or deference to Prussia, is the most complete modern account of the necessary political conditions of a rational state. Hegel believed that the peculiar historical development of European monarchy made the rational state politically possible. Who rules is the fundamental political problem. Some person or persons must have the …
Multiculturalism and the Political Theorists
Antigone in Hertfordshire
Can patriotism save us from nationalism? Rejoinder to Viroli
Viroli is right to draw a distinction between republican patriotism and nationalism. But in arguing that the former can correct the problems associated with the latter, he places too much trust in the descriptions of patriotism offered by republican theorists. In practice, republican patriotism has been almost as fierce and hostile to outsiders as nationalism. Patriotism might make us better citizens, but it will not make the world a more peacefu…
Books in Review
Natural Right and Aristotle's Understanding of Justice
DOES ARISTOTLE CLAIM that the nature of things provides us with an absolutely correct standard of justice? In this article, I argue that, despite his reputation as a founder of natural right and natural law theory, he does not. Aristotle certainly insists that right or justice exists nature (phusei) as well as by agreement (Nicomachean Ethics [NE] 1134b30).' That he does so is one of the few points in his discussion of natural and conventional ri…
Myth and Modernity
Taking Freedom Seriously
No understanding of morality has more zealous or influential defenders among academic philosophers than Kant’s. Yet as Michael Rosen demonstrates in The Shadow of God, there is a sense in which Kant’s critics take his conception of freedom more seriously nowadays than his defenders. As a result, contemporary versions of “Kantian ethics” often end up challenging what Rosen calls “the ethics of Kant,” not just the claims of rival moral theories. Ro…
Revisiting The Longing for Total Revolution
This paper reconsiders the arguments of my book, The Longing for Total Revolution, in response to the thoughtful analyses collected in this symposium. It restates the book’s main genealogical and critical arguments about the philosophical sources of uniquely modern forms of social discontent, while distinguishing those arguments from recent attempts to uncover the deeper, theological sources of discontent. It focuses, in particular, on the role p…
Of Scribes and Tribes
What has made progressives—self-styled champions of the people—the principal targets of populist resentment in contemporary politics? Perhaps it is progressives’ ambivalence about democracy, not merely the racist, sexist and nationalist passions that progressives prefer to blame. Indeed, one of the reasons that progressives find themselves under attack as out-of-touch elitists may be that they are out of touch with the nature and extent of their …
Loyalty versus Fidelity
Loyalty versus Fidelity:A Study in Moral Pluralism Bernard Yack (bio) many of the most familiar moral dilemmas revolve around expressions or expectations of loyalty. Yet these internal moral conflicts remain poorly understood even after we stop dismissing loyalty as little more than an extended form of selfishness or partisanship. Both ordinary and philosophic speech tend to conflate loyalty with another virtue that it resembles: fidelity or fait…
The significance of Isaiah Berlin’s Counter-Enlightenment
This paper takes a close look at Berlin’s claim that the emergence of Counter-Enlightenment pluralism marks a momentous historical watershed. It concludes that Berlin is right to draw our attention to the importance of this event, but that he seriously misinterprets its significance. He has good reason, in particular, to treat Herder as ‘the most formidable adversary of the French philosophes and their German disciples’, but not because Herder pu…
The Rationality of Hegel's Concept of Monarchy
In this essay I argue that Hegel's concept of monarchy, far from being more evidence of his supposed abstract rationalism or deference to Prussia, is the most complete modern account of the necessary political conditions of a rational state. Hegel believed that the peculiar historical development of European monarchy made the rational state politically possible. Who rules is the fundamental political problem. Some person or persons must have the …
Community and Conflict in Aristotle's Political Philosophy
In this article a widespread misperception of Aristotle's political thought is challenged, a misperception shared even by his champions among recent political theorists: that his concept of political community is derived from an image of organic growth and identity, and thus does not account for political conflict. Familiarity with liberal political thought and institutions has led most of Aristotle's contemporary interpreters to look for counter…
Myth and Modernity
Toward a Free Marketplace of Social Institutions
Books in Review
Books in Review
Natural Right and Aristotle's Understanding of Justice
DOES ARISTOTLE CLAIM that the nature of things provides us with an absolutely correct standard of justice? In this article, I argue that, despite his reputation as a founder of natural right and natural law theory, he does not. Aristotle certainly insists that right or justice exists nature (phusei) as well as by agreement (Nicomachean Ethics [NE] 1134b30).' That he does so is one of the few points in his discussion of natural and conventional ri…
Books in Review
Books in Review
The myth of the civic nation
The idea of a purely civic nationalism has attracted Western scholars, most of whom rightly disdain the myths that sustain ethnonationalist theories of political community. Civic nationalism is particularly attractive to many Americans, whose peculiar national heritage encourages the delusion that their mutual association is based solely on consciously chosen principles. But this idea misrepresents political reality as surely as the ethnonational…
Can patriotism save us from nationalism? Rejoinder to Viroli
Viroli is right to draw a distinction between republican patriotism and nationalism. But in arguing that the former can correct the problems associated with the latter, he places too much trust in the descriptions of patriotism offered by republican theorists. In practice, republican patriotism has been almost as fierce and hostile to outsiders as nationalism. Patriotism might make us better citizens, but it will not make the world a more peacefu…
Gazette
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Popular Sovereignty and Nationalism
This chapter shows that the assumption is mistaken on both fronts: the spread of popular doctrine has altered our understanding of political community in ways that are anything but self–evident and it is by means of this altered understanding of political community that it has made its greatest contribution to the rise and spread of nationalism. The new doctrine of popular replaces direct popular rule, or governmental sovereignty, with what has c…
Multiculturalism and the Political Theorists
Modern Peoplehood
Modern Peoplehood. By John Lie. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004. 394p. $49.95. This book is a valuable addition to the literature on social identity and modern politics. In the manner of historical sociologists, John Lie synthesizes a vast body of scholarly literature—the book has a 100-page bibliography—in order “to illuminate and sublate the categories of modern peoplehood” (p. ix)
Rhetoric and Public Reasoning
This essay asks why Aristotle, certainly no friend to unlimited democracy, seems so much more comfortable with unconstrained rhetoric in political deliberation than current defenders of deliberative democracy. It answers this question by reconstructing and defending a distinctly Aristotelian understanding of political deliberation, one that can be pieced together out of a series of separate arguments made in the Rhetoric, the Politics, and the Ni…
Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
The significance of Isaiah Berlin’s Counter-Enlightenment
This paper takes a close look at Berlin’s claim that the emergence of Counter-Enlightenment pluralism marks a momentous historical watershed. It concludes that Berlin is right to draw our attention to the importance of this event, but that he seriously misinterprets its significance. He has good reason, in particular, to treat Herder as ‘the most formidable adversary of the French philosophes and their German disciples’, but not because Herder pu…
Debate on Bernard Yack's book Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
Bernard Yack's Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community (2012) was the subject of the eighth in a long‐running series of debates hosted by the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) and the journal Nations and Nationalism in November of 2013. These debates bring together the authors of recent important works in the study of nationalism and ethnicity with appropriate scholars to explore the questions they have provo…
Response to Steven J. Mock’s review of Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Political Liberalism
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Of Scribes and Tribes
What has made progressives—self-styled champions of the people—the principal targets of populist resentment in contemporary politics? Perhaps it is progressives’ ambivalence about democracy, not merely the racist, sexist and nationalist passions that progressives prefer to blame. Indeed, one of the reasons that progressives find themselves under attack as out-of-touch elitists may be that they are out of touch with the nature and extent of their …
Loyalty versus Fidelity
Loyalty versus Fidelity:A Study in Moral Pluralism Bernard Yack (bio) many of the most familiar moral dilemmas revolve around expressions or expectations of loyalty. Yet these internal moral conflicts remain poorly understood even after we stop dismissing loyalty as little more than an extended form of selfishness or partisanship. Both ordinary and philosophic speech tend to conflate loyalty with another virtue that it resembles: fidelity or fait…
Antigone in Hertfordshire
Revisiting The Longing for Total Revolution
This paper reconsiders the arguments of my book, The Longing for Total Revolution, in response to the thoughtful analyses collected in this symposium. It restates the book’s main genealogical and critical arguments about the philosophical sources of uniquely modern forms of social discontent, while distinguishing those arguments from recent attempts to uncover the deeper, theological sources of discontent. It focuses, in particular, on the role p…
Political science (26 obras) · Sociology (25 obras) · Philosophy (21 obras) · Law (20 obras) · Philosophy (18 obras) · Politics (18 obras) · Law (17 obras) · Epistemology (16 obras) · Political Philosophy and Ethics (9 obras) · Political economy (6 obras)