The self, the individual, and the community Book

Traditional political theory has placed the individualist libertarian, F.A. Hayek, and utilitarian socialist planners, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, at opposite ends of the political spectrum. This book argues that, far from being mutually antagonistic, the philosophies of Hayek and the Webbs are subtly different aspects of a single tradition. Drawing attention to the underlying sympathies and affinities linking their work and viewing all three as bona fide bearers of the liberal banner, Dr. Crowley explores the relationship between politics, economics, and sociology in the liberal intellectual tradition. Liberalism, he concludes, fails to take into account the idea of community and, in its search for objective knowledge, is essentially anti-political and therefore removed from the real world.