In American politics, at least since the Civil War, the great philosophical divide is between "progressives" and "founders" of the American regime. The quarrel has come to be defined in the media as a contest between liberals and conservatives. This book explores the ideological underpinnings of American progressivism. In doing so, it examines the foundations of modern liberalism and conservatism.
The fundamental problem of any science of politics is to explain, however imperfectly, the sources of justice and injustice in politics: What are the "self-evident truths" that inform and drive the public debates? Over time the foundational arguments for justice and injustice, what people regard as self-evident truths, do change. This process of change is at the heart of progressivism.
The original arguments of the progressive movement are obscured or largely forgotten in contemporary political debates. But in a myriad of ways, the original progressive arguments continue to reverberate. They need to be more fully explored and understood in order to seriously engage the differences between liberals and conservatives. Such differences are not likely to be overcome simply by a study of the roots of progressivism, but it is a first step in a more rational debate, which this book will inspire.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: Reflections on American Progressivism
I. The Progressive Project: Darwinian Foundations and Political Science
II. Natural Law and Historical Authority in the Progressive Project
III. Progressive Democracy
IV. The Methodology of Progressive Political Science
V. Progressivism and Its Discontents
Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
Sidney A. Pearson, Jr. is professor emeritus of political science at Radford University, USA. He is the editor of Transaction's Library of Liberal Thought series.
Review :
-Professor Pearson offers a thoughtful and penetrating exploration of the philosophic foundations of Progressive thought. In seeking to better understand the origins and influence of the Progressive science of politics, Pearson is ever respectful of this worthy adversary, all the while taking seriously Progressive thought. Ultimately, Pearson deconstructs the Progressive critique of the American Founding while deftly illuminating why the Constitution is not a problem to be overcome.-
--William F. Connelly, Jr., professor, Washington and Lee University
-Sidney A. Pearson's book is not an exhaustive study of the Progressive movement, but as the title implies, a reflection. This is its great strength. Pearson's probing analysis clarifies both the roots of Progressivism as well as how those principles came to dominate much of the public discourse and most of academia. Progressives grafted Darwinian biology onto social science, thus justifying the Progressive political agenda as historically inevitable. For those who seek to understand how today's Progressives combine moral relativism with a smug belief that their principles are always right, Reflections on American Progressivism is a must read.-
--James F. Pontuso, professor, Hampden-Sydney College
"Professor Pearson offers a thoughtful and penetrating exploration of the philosophic foundations of Progressive thought. In seeking to better understand the origins and influence of the Progressive science of politics, Pearson is ever respectful of this worthy adversary, all the while taking seriously Progressive thought. Ultimately, Pearson deconstructs the Progressive critique of the American Founding while deftly illuminating why the Constitution is not a problem to be overcome."
--William F. Connelly, Jr., professor, Washington and Lee University
"Sidney A. Pearson's book is not an exhaustive study of the Progressive movement, but as the title implies, a reflection. This is its great strength. Pearson's probing analysis clarifies both the roots of Progressivism as well as how those principles came to dominate much of the public discourse and most of academia. Progressives grafted Darwinian biology onto social science, thus justifying the Progressive political agenda as historically inevitable. For those who seek to understand how today's Progressives combine moral relativism with a smug belief that their principles are always right, Reflections on American Progressivism is a must read."
--James F. Pontuso, professor, Hampden-Sydney College
"Professor Pearson offers a thoughtful and penetrating exploration of the philosophic foundations of Progressive thought. In seeking to better understand the origins and influence of the Progressive science of politics, Pearson is ever respectful of this worthy adversary, all the while taking seriously Progressive thought. Ultimately, Pearson deconstructs the Progressive critique of the American Founding while deftly illuminating why the Constitution is not a problem to be overcome."
--William F. Connelly, Jr., professor, Washington and Lee University
"Sidney A. Pearson's book is not an exhaustive study of the Progressive movement, but as the title implies, a reflection. This is its great strength. Pearson's probing analysis clarifies both the roots of Progressivism as well as how those principles came to dominate much of the public discourse and most of academia. Progressives grafted Darwinian biology onto social science, thus justifying the Progressive political agenda as historically inevitable. For those who seek to understand how today's Progressives combine moral relativism with a smug belief that their principles are always right, Reflections on American Progressivism is a must read."
--James F. Pontuso, professor, Hampden-Sydney College
