Global Challenges for Leviathan: A Political Philosophy of Nuclear Weapons and Global Warming

by Furio Cerutti

Overview

In Global Challenges for Leviathan, Furio Cerutti illumines for the reader the precarious situation in which the world currently exists. Far beyond international terrorism and the troubles with globalization in our age, there are two threats that really are global, as they can hurt everyone on earth and can be addressed only by the combined effort of all relevant human groups. Nuclear weapons may now play a lesser role than they did during the Cold War, but they will always endanger the survival of humankind, while global warming can bring disaster to future generations. Not only our obligations to current and future generations but also the very feeling that our life has little meaning if we or our posterity are confronted with man-made annihilation requires us to deal with these two global challenges. Neither the political realism that relies on deterrence and market fundamentalism nor the utopian salvation entrusted to world government provide an adequate response to global challenges. The question that confonts us is whether politics and democracy will be able to put these challenges on their agendas. Cerutti shows how political philosophy can highlight problems and prevent illusions, and how it can teach us to live in an uncertain world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739116883
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	05/16/2008
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.01(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.49(d)

About the Author

Furio Cerutti is professor of political philosophy at the University of Florence, and he has recently co-edited A Soul for Europe and The Search for a European Identity.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 Part I: The Rise and Fall of Modern Political Rationality
Chapter 3 Chapter 1. Risk or Challenge?
Chapter 4 Chapter 2. The Rationality of Modern Political Order
Chapter 5 Chapter 3. The End of Political Modernity
Chapter 6 Chapter 4. The Challenge of Global Warming
Part 7 Part II: Philosophical and Political Perspectives
Chapter 8 Chapter 5. We, the Future Generations, and Humankind
Chapter 9 Chapter 6. Meaning and History under Global Threats
Chapter 10 Chapter 7. The Politics of Global Challenges

Editorial Reviews

Global Challenges for Leviathan offers a bold and innovative approach to two of the most serious problems we face today: global warming and nuclear war. By bringing the insights of political philosophy to bear on these global policy issues, Furio Cerutti has accomplished a real tour de force. This is a book of tremendous erudition, which shows how political philosophy can lend insight into the most serious of contemporary policy problems.

Vivien Schmidt

Furio Cerutti's book Global Challenges for Leviathan is a challenge to every intellectual who seeks not only to understand global problems, but also to contribute to their solution.

Volker Gerhardt

Global Challenges for Leviathan offers a bold and innovative approach to two of the most serious problems we face today: global warming and nuclear war. By bringing the insights of political philosophy to bear on these global policy issues, Furio Cerutti has accomplished a real tour de force. This is a book of tremendous erudition, which shows how political philosophy can lend insight into the most serious of contemporary policy problems.

Vivien A. Schmidt

Furio Cerutti's book Global Challenges for Leviathan is a challenge to every intellectual who seeks not only to understand global problems, but also to contribute to their solution.--Volker Gerhardt, Humboldt University of Berlin

Global Challenges for Leviathan offers a bold and innovative approach to two of the most serious problems we face today: global warming and nuclear war. By bringing the insights of political philosophy to bear on these global policy issues, Furio Cerutti has accomplished a real tour de force. This is a book of tremendous erudition, which shows how political philosophy can lend insight into the most serious of contemporary policy problems.--Vivien A. Schmidt, Jean Monnet Professor of European Integration and Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University

From the Publisher