Ordinary Vices

Zusammenfassung Judith Shklar draws from a brilliant array of writers-Moliere and Dickens on hypocrisy! Jane Austen on snobbery! Shakespeare and Montesquieu on misanthropy! Hawthorne and Nietzsche on cruelty! Conrad and Faulkner on betrayal-to reveal the nature and effects of the vices. Klappentext The seven deadly sins of Christianity represent the abysses of character! whereas Shklar's "ordinary vices"--cruelty! hypocrisy! snobbery! betrayal! and misanthropy--are merely treacherous shoals! flawing our characters with mean-spiritedness and inhumanity. Shklar draws from a brilliant array of writers--Moliere and Dickens on hypocrisy! Jane Austen on snobbery! Shakespeare and Montesquieu on misanthropy! Hawthorne and Nietzsche on cruelty! Conrad and Faulkner on betrayal--to reveal the nature and effects of the vices. She examines their destructive effects! the ambiguities of the moral problems they pose to the liberal ethos! and their implications for government and citizens: liberalism is a difficult and challenging doctrine that demands a tolerance of contradiction! complexity! and the risks of freedom.

Auteur

Judith Shklar was, before her death, John Cowles Professor of Government, Harvard University, and a MacArthur Fellow.

Texte du rabat

The seven deadly sins of Christianity represent the abysses of character, whereas Shklar's "ordinary vices"--cruelty, hypocrisy, snobbery, betrayal, and misanthropy--are merely treacherous shoals, flawing our characters with mean-spiritedness and inhumanity.
Shklar draws from a brilliant array of writers--Moliere and Dickens on hypocrisy, Jane Austen on snobbery, Shakespeare and Montesquieu on misanthropy, Hawthorne and Nietzsche on cruelty, Conrad and Faulkner on betrayal--to reveal the nature and effects of the vices. She examines their destructive effects, the ambiguities of the moral problems they pose to the liberal ethos, and their implications for government and citizens: liberalism is a difficult and challenging doctrine that demands a tolerance of contradiction, complexity, and the risks of freedom.

Contenu

Introduction: Thinking about Vices 1. Putting Cruelty First 2. Let Us not be Hypocritical 3. What is Wrong with Snobbery? 4. The Ambiguities of Betrayal 5. Misanthropy 6. Bad Characters for Good Liberals Notes Credits Index