Darwinian Evolution And Classical Liberalism

Darwinian Evolution and Classical Liberalism canvasses an array of thinkers from the past to the present as it examines fundamental political, philosophical, ethical, economic, anthropological, and scientific aspects of the ferment between Darwinian biology and classical liberalism. Early chapters focus on classical thinkers like John Locke and Adam Smith, while later chapters provide analyses of present-day classical liberals, focusing especially on F.A. Hayek, Thomas Sowell, and Larry Arnhart, the most prominent advocates of ‘contemporary’ classical liberalism. Thematically, the volume falls into three parts. Part I examines foundational matters, arguing that Darwinism and classical liberalism hold incompatible visions of morality, human nature, and individual autonomy. This section also contends that the free market’s spontaneous order is fully compatible with a teleological (or non-Darwinian) view of the universe. Part II turns to contemporary applications, contending that Darwinism and classical liberalism are at odds in their views of (or implications about) limited government, vital religion, economic freedom, and the traditional family. This section also argues that, since its inception, Darwinism has attenuated core tenets and values of classical liberalism and Western civilization. Part III of the volume contains alternative views to those in the first two parts, adding critical diversity to the book. Respectively, these chapters hold that Darwinian evolution simply has little to say about classical liberalism; an evolutionary account of human volition is fully compatible with the individual choice presupposed in classical liberalism; and evolutionary naturalism, unlike religious alternatives, provides a strong foundation for freedom, morality, and the traditional family.

This volume explores the relationship between Darwinian science and classical liberalism, past and present. The volume begins with chapters examining classical thinkers like John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Adam Smith. Later chapters provide analyses of present-day classical liberals, focusing especially on F.A. Hayek, Thomas Sowell, and Larry Arnhart, the most prominent advocates of 'contemporary' classical liberalism. Thematically, the volume falls into three parts. The first section examines foundational topics, arguing that Darwinism and classical liberalism hold incompatible visions of morality, human volition, individual autonomy, and the origin of order in economics and biology. The second section turns to contemporary applications, contending that Darwinism and classical liberalism are at odds in their views of (or implications about) limited government, vital religion, economic freedom, and the traditional family. This section also argues that, historically, Darwinian theory negatively impacted classical liberalism and Western civilization. The final section of the volume contains alternative perspectives to the views expressed in the first two sections. These chapters hold that Darwinian science simply has little to say about classical liberalism, an evolutionary account of human consciousness and volition is fully compatible with the individual choice presupposed in classical liberalism, and evolutionary science, unlike religious alternatives, provides a strong foundation for freedom, morality, and the traditional family.

Since the field of International Relations was established almost a century ago, many different theoretical approaches have been developed, each offering distinctive accounts of the world, why it has come to be the way it is, and how it might be made a better place. In this illuminating textbook, leading IR scholar, Stephanie Lawson, examines each of these theories in turn, from political realism in its various forms to liberalism, Marxism, critical theory and more recent contributions from social theory, feminism, postcolonialism and green theory. Taking as her focus the major practical issues facing scholars of international relations today, Lawson ably shows how each theory relates to situations ?on the ground?. Each chapter features case studies, questions for discussion to encourage reflection and classroom debate, guides to further reading and web resources. The study of IR is a profoundly normative enterprise, and each theoretical school has its strengths and weaknesses. Theories of International Relations encourages a critical, reflective approach to the study of IR theory, while emphasising the many important and interesting things it has to teach us about the complexities and challenges of international politics today.

Historians of science have long noted the influence of the nineteenth-century political economist Thomas Robert Malthus on Charles Darwin. In a bold move, Piers J. Hale contends that this focus on Malthus and his effect on Darwin’s evolutionary thought neglects a strong anti-Malthusian tradition in English intellectual life, one that not only predated the 1859 publication of the Origin of Species but also persisted throughout the Victorian period until World War I. Political Descent reveals that two evolutionary and political traditions developed in England in the wake of the 1832 Reform Act: one Malthusian, the other decidedly anti-Malthusian and owing much to the ideas of the French naturalist Jean Baptiste Lamarck. These two traditions, Hale shows, developed in a context of mutual hostility, debate, and refutation. Participants disagreed not only about evolutionary processes but also on broader questions regarding the kind of creature our evolution had made us and in what kind of society we ought therefore to live. Significantly, and in spite of Darwin’s acknowledgement that natural selection was “the doctrine of Malthus, applied to the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms,” both sides of the debate claimed to be the more correctly “Darwinian.” By exploring the full spectrum of scientific and political issues at stake, Political Descent offers a novel approach to the relationship between evolution and political thought in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.

"Discusses the chance and randomness as motifs in the writing of Charles Darwin" --publisher

In this enhanced edition, Larry Arnhart continues to ask thought-provoking questions that illuminate the philosophies of some of the most prominent political thinkers throughout history. This clear, well-written guide is an ideal supplement to the original texts he recommends at the beginning of each chapter. In addition to his analysis of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Machiavelli, Descartes, Rousseau, Hegel, Marx, Nietzsche, and Rawls, the author’s well-organized and insightful approach provides an even more comprehensive overview than the earlier editions: • Supplementing the discussion of Leviathan, the chapter on Thomas Hobbes covers Behemoth. • The chapter on John Locke includes his Letter Concerning Toleration as well as the original discussion of Second Treatise of Government. • A chapter on Adam Smith has been added, which discusses Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations. • Leo Strauss is featured, with an examination of Persecution and the Art of Writing and Natural Right and History. • A final chapter analyzes Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature.

During the second half of the twentieth century, economics exported its logic – utility maximization – to the analysis of several human activities or realities: a tendency that has been called “economic imperialism”. This book explores the concept termed by John Davis as “reverse imperialism”, whereby economics has been seen in recent years to have taken in elements from other disciplines. Economics and Other Disciplines sheds light on the current state and possible future development of economics by focusing on it from a philosophical perspective, broadening the concept of rationality in economic theory. The beliefs that prevail in the world today make up a physicalist worldview. This book argues that this pervasive view is harmful for economics as a social science. Do new economic currents like behavioral economics, evolutionary economics, neuroeconomics, institutional economics, happiness economics, the capability approach and civil economy, escape this widespread mentality? What would be an adequate underlying economic ethos? Do these approaches fit into this ethos? Ricardo F. Crespo appraises the contributions from a classical philosophy angle, emphasizing their implications regarding practical reason. This volume is of great importance to those who are interested in political economy, economic theory and philosophy, as well as philosophy of social science.

In 1892, Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley donated the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup – later known as the Stanley Cup – to crown the first Canadian hockey champions. Canada’s Holy Grail documents Lord Stanley’s personal politics, his desire to affect Canadian nationality and unity, and the larger transformations in Anglo-liberal political thought at the time. This book posits that the Stanley Cup fit directly within Anglo-American traditions of using sport to promote ideas of the national, and the donation of the cup occurred at a moment in history when Canadian nationalists needed identifying symbols. Jordan B. Goldstein asserts that only with a transformation in Anglo-liberal thought could the state legitimately act through culture to affect national identity. Drawing on primary source documentation from Lord Stanley’s archives, as well as statements by politicians and hockey enthusiasts, Canada’s Holy Grail integrates political thought into the realm of sport history through the discussion of a championship trophy that still stands as one of the most well-known and recognized Canadian national symbols.