Moderate Conservatism
Reclaiming the Center
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6564201 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Kekes (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University at Albany, SUNY, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publication date | 2022-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Moderate Conservatism (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University PressNew York (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oso/9780197668061.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W4306927046 |
| Open Library | OL38447754M |
| ISBN | 9780197668061 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
Moderate Conservatism is a response to the alarming state of politics in America. It is a reasoned moderate account of the primary political values of the rule of law, justice, liberty, equality, and property, a criticism of extremist accounts of them, a defense of our 300-year-old constitutional democracy, and a criticism of all forms of political extremism. The American political system has endured because the Constitution has guided the balance of the often-conflicting claims of these basic political values. All of them are now threatened by extremists who politicize aspects of life that should be left to the discretion of individuals. Both parties have been hijacked by extremists who proclaim their grievances and the immorality of those who disagree with them. They willfully disregard the destructive consequences of their polemics for the political system on which the well-being of all of us depends. The aim of this book is to protect the vital center of American political system from extremist threats. It is a reminder of what we have and are in danger of losing. The center is sustained by the many millions of citizens who live private lives, earn a living, raise a family, and expect the political system to provide the conditions in which they can do so. They are the backbone of the American political system, the apolitical majority who are subjected to the poisonous lies of extremists. The justification of this political system is the voluntary support of those who live in it. Moderate conservatives know that the protection of the political system depends on its continuous adaptation to changing circumstances. This requires flexibility, not rigid adherence to any political dogma. This book is a reasoned defense of the political values that have long sustained us as we face difficult internal problems and conflicts, and external enemies.
Conservatism · Constitution · Criticism · Democracy · Discretion · Economic Justice · Immorality · Law and economics · Morality · Political science · Political system · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |