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Liberalism and the problem of knowledge : a new rhetoric for modern democracy

Willard, Charles Arthur.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press,
Pub date: 1996.
Pages: x, 384 p. ;
ISBN: 0226898458
1 copy available at University of Alberta - Rutherford Library.
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University of Alberta - Rutherford Library
  Copy Material Location
JC 574 W55 1996 1 Book On Shelf
Liberalism and the problem of knowledge : a new rhetoric for modern democracy
    Willard, Charles Arthur.
Liberalism and the problem of knowledge : a new rhetoric for modern democracy
    Willard, Charles Arthur.
Full View From Catalog
Personal Author: Willard, Charles Arthur.
Title: Liberalism and the problem of knowledge : a new rhetoric for modern democracy / Charles Arthur Willard.
Publication info: Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1996.
Physical description: x, 384 p. ; 23 cm.
Content type: text txt
Media type: unmediated n
Carrier type: volume nc
Series Added Entry-U: New practices of inquiry.
Subject term: Liberalism.
Subject term: Democracy.
Subject term: Epistemics.
Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: Introduction: The Yankee Way to Knowledge -- Pt. I. The Public and Its Problems: One More Time. 1. Authenticity and the Rhetoric of Trauma. 2. Romancing the Gesellschaft: Community and the Fallacy of Common Ground. 3. Commensuration and Unificationism. 4. Foucault's Trap. 5. Pluralism, the Public, and the Problem of Knowledge. 6. Democracy in America: A Thought Experiment -- Pt. II. Discourse across Differences. 7. Epistemics. 8. The Uses of Argument Fields. 9. Fields as Organizations. 10. A Theory of Presumption. 11. Desperately Seeking Dewey. 12. Epilogue: A Rhetoric for Modern Democracy.
Summary: In this witty and provocative study of democracy and its critics, Charles Willard debunks liberalism, arguing that its exaggerated ideals of authenticity, unity, and community have deflected attention from the pervasive incompetence of "the rule of experts." He proposes a ground of communication that emphasizes common interests rather than narrow disputes. The problem of "unity" and the public sphere has driven a wedge between libertarians and communitarians. To mediate this conflict, Willard advocates a shift from the discourse of liberalism to that of epistemics. As a means of organizing the ebb and flow of consensus, epistemics regards democracy as a family of knowledge problems - as ways of managing discourse across differences and protecting multiple views.
Summary: Building a bridge between warring peoples and warring paradigms, this book also reminds those who presume to instruct government that they are obliged to enlighten it, and that to do so requires an enlightened public discourse.
Series Statement: (New practices of inquiry.)
ISBN: 0226898458 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN: 0226898466 (pbk : alk. paper)
key: 1792326
LCCN: 95051761