Two Faces of Liberalism

Rating:
Summary: Fundamental critique of liberal fundamentalism
Review: Gray has done everyone a great service by skewering the rights based liberal philosophy of thinkers like John Rawls. Though it seems that Gray (like most Anglo-Saxons) is unaware of the Continental critique (think Habermas), he still does a good job of making some readers aware of the Enlightenment project that seems to grip too many people. Luc Ferry does a better job of this in my mind because he nods to the critiques and tries to move towards a solution. Unfortunately it may be that Americans find his Frenchness offensive. In that case Gray's work here has opened the possibility of moving beyond the dialectic of enlightment (sorry Frankfurt School)and towards one of "modus vivendi". It also doesn't share the faults that his earlier book, "False Dawn" had, an overweening attempt to criticize without ever coming to some sort of solution.

Rating:
Summary: Fundamental critique of liberal fundamentalism
Review: Gray has done everyone a great service by skewering the rights based liberal philosophy of thinkers like John Rawls. Though it seems that Gray (like most Anglo-Saxons) is unaware of the Continental critique (think Habermas), he still does a good job of making some readers aware of the Enlightenment project that seems to grip too many people. Luc Ferry does a better job of this in my mind because he nods to the critiques and tries to move towards a solution. Unfortunately it may be that Americans find his Frenchness offensive. In that case Gray's work here has opened the possibility of moving beyond the dialectic of enlightment (sorry Frankfurt School)and towards one of "modus vivendi". It also doesn't share the faults that his earlier book, "False Dawn" had, an overweening attempt to criticize without ever coming to some sort of solution.