A World beyond Politics?: A Defense of the Nation-State

Description

We live in the grip of a great illusion about politics, Pierre Manent argues in A World beyond Politics? It's the illusion that we would be better off without politics--at least national politics, and perhaps all politics. It is a fantasy that if democratic values could somehow detach themselves from their traditional national context, we could ent

Pierre Manent teaches political philosophy at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales in Paris. His books include "An Intellectual History of Liberalism" and "The City of Man" (both Princeton).

"In this dazzling book, French political philosopher Pierre Manent tries to provide an 'impartial overview of the political order--or disorder--of today's world.' Few living thinkers could hope to pull off such an ambitious undertaking, but Manent is surely one... The reader will find much ... of interest in this heady book: meditations on egalitarianism, modern art, the French novel, sexual identity, science and faith, the French and American revolutions, the morality of international relations--on and on, all delivered in Manent's glistening prose, ably translated by Marc LePain... It's an ideal introduction to political philosophy in the new millennium."--Brian C. Anderson, National Review "By simultaneously insisting upon the (limited) intelligibility of natural, human, and political matters and remaining open to the questions that invite theological responses, Manent has already achieved a great deal and put us all in his debt."--Thomas S. Hibbs, First Things "A World beyond Politics? is a remarkable tour d'horizon that happens to be a genuine tour de force."--James W. Ceaser, Claremont Review of Books "Pierre Manent may be the best student of political philosophy alive, and this is probably his most penetrating, wonderful, and accessible book. A World beyond Politics? certainly deserves to be the most influential political analysis written this century so far."--Peter Augustine, Perspectives on Politics