Two‐faced liberalism: John Gray's pluralist politics and the reinstatement of enlightenment liberalism
- 1 January 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Critical Review
- Vol. 14 (4) , 441-458
- https://doi.org/10.1080/08913810008443568
Abstract
In Two Faces of Liberalism, John Gray pursues the dual agenda of condemning familiar liberal theories for perpetuating the failed “Enlightenment project,” and promoting his own version of anti‐Enlightenment liberalism, which he calls “modus vivendi.” However, Gray's critical apparatus is insufficient to capture accurately the highly influential “political” liberalism of John Rawls. Moreover, Gray's modus vivendi faces serious challenges raised by Rawls concerning stability. In order to respond to the Rawlsian objections, Gray would have to reinstate the aspirations and principles characteristic of Enlightenment theories of liberalism.This publication has 7 references indexed in Scilit:
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