The Growth of the Liberal Soul

by David Walsh

In The Growth of the Liberal Soul, David Walsh provides a dazzling defense of liberalism by confronting the core difficulty of the liberal democratic tradition in explaining and justifying itself.

David Walsh’s groundbreaking work addresses a pivotal crisis in liberal democratic self-understanding, as many leading thinkers abandoned the search for a foundation in human nature or moral truth. Without a firm footing, proponents of liberalism could not explain its initial extraordinary success or the recent seeming unraveling of its own moral code. Instead, Walsh argues that Christianity and philosophy formed the original foundation for liberalism, and that only the ideals of service, self-responsibility, and the sacredness of each person can provide the grounding that liberalism desperately needs.

As Walsh seamlessly weaves together the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, Kant, Hegel, Tocqueville, Nietzsche, and other leading thinkers, The Growth of the Liberal Soul crafts a compelling defense of liberalism and issues an inspiring call to see liberty not as an invitation to universal egoism, but as the pursuit of the greatest justice, freedom, and fulfillment for all members of the community.

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1997

Reviews

[Brian Mandeville · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. Repetitive at times, but overall a beautiful articulation of what constitutes the soul of the liberal project