The Politics of Persons
Cambridge University Press, 9/17/2009
EAN 9780521760560, ISBN10: 0521760569
Hardcover, 286 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm
Language: English
It is both an ideal and an assumption of traditional conceptions of justice for liberal democracies that citizens are autonomous, self-governing persons. Yet standard accounts of the self and of self-government at work in such theories are hotly disputed and often roundly criticized in most of their guises. John Christman offers a sustained critical analysis of both the idea of the 'self' and of autonomy as these ideas function in political theory, offering interpretations of these ideas which avoid such disputes and withstand such criticisms. Christman's model of individual autonomy takes into account the socially constructed nature of persons and their complex cultural and social identities, and he shows how this model can provide a foundation for principles of justice for complex democracies marked by radical difference among citizens. His book will interest a wide range of readers in philosophy, politics, and the social sciences.
1. Introduction
Part I. Selves
2. The social conception of the self
a critical taxonomy
3. The post-modern subject
4. The narrative self
5. Memory, agency, and the self
Part II. Autonomy
6. Political persons
7. The historical conception of autonomy
8. Relational autonomy
9. The dynamics of social identities
Part III. Justice
10. Justice over time
history, public reason, and political legitimacy
Bibliography.
Review of the hardback: 'The Politics of Persons is a rich and provocative work that makes a significant contribution both to autonomy theory and to political philosophy. Lively and erudite, it is a landmark work that is the most comprehensive treatment to date of how these two fields can, and should, interrelate. It should thus be read by all interested in either political philosophy or autonomy theory, and is absolutely essential reading for anyone interested in both.' James Stacey Taylor, The College of New Jersey