The Way of Life: John Paul II and the Challenge of Liberal Modernity

by Carson Holloway

Overview

The passing of John Paul II provoked questions about the Pope, particularly in his relation to modernity. Was he opposed to the tenets of modernity, as some critics claimed? Or did he accommodate modernity in a way no Pope ever had, as his champions asserted? In The Way of Life, Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that John Paul II's critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope's thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781932792966
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	06/25/2008
Pages:	204
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Carson Holloway (Ph.D. Northern Illinois University) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a former William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He is the author of Magnanimity and Statesmanship (2008), The Right Darwin: Evolution, Religion, and the Future of Democracy (2006), and All Shook Up: Music, Passion, and Politics (2000).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Preface

1. Introduction

2. The Gospel of Life and the Culture of Death

3. Hobbes and the Origins of Liberal Modernity

4. Locke’s Theistic Liberalism

5. Hume and the Morality of Sympathy

6. The Ambiguity of the American Founding

7. Tocqueville and the Moral Trajectory of Modern Democracy

8. Conclusion

Bibliography

What People are Saying About This

Holloway explicates how the late John Paul II profoundly understood the foundations of modern liberalism.

Daniel J. Mahoney

In this lucid and insightful book, Carson Holloway brings political philosophy to bear on John Paul II's "critique of liberal modernity." Holloway shows that the Polish Pope was neither a "progressive" nor a "reactionary" but instead a proponent of true humanism rooted in the most august classical and Christian wisdom. This indefatigable defender of human liberty and dignity rejected the premises underlying 'philosophical modernity'—materialism, hedonism, utilitarianism—precisely because they were incompatible with "the truth about man."

David Novak

Holloway explicates how the late John Paul II profoundly understood the foundations of modern liberalism.

Editorial Reviews

Recommended. General readers, all undergraduates, graduates, and researchers.

CHOICE

Holloway explicates how the late John Paul II profoundly understood the foundations of modern liberalism.

-David Novak, J. Richard and Dororthy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies, University of Toronto

From the Publisher