Another Liberalism: Romanticism and the Reconstruction of Liberal Thought

by Nancy L. Rosenblum

Another Liberalism contributes an original perspective to debates about the nature and foundations of liberal thought. In it Nancy Rosenblum describes the dynamic of romanticism and liberalism as one of mutual opposition and reconciliation. She argues that romanticism sees liberalism as cold, contractual, and aloof. And conventional liberal legalism disdains romanticism's longing for all that is personal, unique, and expressive. We learn, however, that romanticism, chastened by its excesses and frustrated by its failures, can "come home" to liberalism. We also learn that liberalism can accommodate individuality and expressivity, reclaiming what it had repressed. Rosenblum creates a typology of romantic reconstructions of liberal heroic individualism, communitarianism, and a new face of pluralism. The author draws on nineteenth--and twentieth--century philosophy and on Thoreau, Humboldt, Constant, Stendhal, and Mill, among others, and on contemporary political theorists for whom romanticism is a source not only of aversion to liberalism but also of resources for reform.

225 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2013

About the author

Nancy L. Rosenblum is the Senator Joseph Clark Research Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government at Harvard University. Her books include Good Neighbors: The Democracy of Everyday Life in America and On the Side of the Angels: An Appreciation of Parties and Partisanship (both Princeton). She lives in New York City.