The Ennobling of Democracy: The Challenge of the Postmodern Age

Pangle, political science professor at the University of Toronto, believes liberal democracy is in grave danger of losing its way in the tricky Cold War ``endgame.'' Geared to academics, this ambitious, dense philosophical discourse rethinks the foundations of democratic society through a dialogue with Locke, Kant, Jefferson, Montesquieu, Hume, Plato and other seminal figures. Diagnosing the ``disintegration all around us'' from the classical republican perspective of Aristotle and Socrates, Pangle presents a batter of prescriptions involving workplace democracy and greater citizen participation in government; he espouses policies encouraging the aged to remain employed, urges tough-minded incentives for hard work as part of welfare programs and advocates civic education as the heart of American public schooling. The last chapter defines the goals of higher education in terms of a Socratic dialogue with great books. (Jan.)