The Way of Life: John Paul II & the Challenge of Liberal Modernity

by Carson Holloway

The passing of John Paul II provoked questions about the Pope, particularly in his relation to modernity. Was he opposed to the tenets of modernity, as some critics claimed? Or did he accommodate modernity in a way no Pope ever had, as his champions asserted? In "The Way of Life," Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that John Paul II's critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope's thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

204 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2006

About the author

Carson L. Holloway teaches political science at the U of Nebraska & was a trustee of Shimer College & a visiting fellow at Princeton's James Madison Program. He's recipient of a John M. Olin Foundation faculty fellowship & of grants from the H.B. Earhart* & Wm E. Simon Foundations. He's a member of the Family Research Council, American Inst for History Education, CatholicVote.org & Board Member of NHE-PAC (home educators) & director of The Assn for the Study of Free Institutions (freestudies.org). He's contributed articles to The National Review, Catholic Social Science Review & The Witherspoon Inst. [*Earhart's provided funding to European organisations promoting right-wing/neoliberal agendas. Regular recipients include the Inst of Economic Affairs think-tank & the Atlanticist Centre for Strategic Studies at the Univ of Reading headed by former Reagan official Colin S. Gray.]