Democracy

Democracy surrounds us like the air we breath, and is normally taken very much for granted. Across the world democracy has become accepted as an unquestionably good thing. Yet upon further examination the merits of democracy are both paradoxical and problematic, and the treasured values of liberty and equality can be used to argue both for and against it. In the historical section of the book, Ross Harrison clearly traces the history of democracy by examining the works of, amongst others, Plato and Aristotle, Hegel and Marx. Informed by facts and detailed knowledge of these famous thinkers, Harrison provides a clear and cogent justification of democracy.

Ross Harrison

Preface. 1. Self Rule 2. The Greeks 3. The Negative Liberal Tradition: Hobbes and Locke 4. Rousseau 5. Revolutions, Liberty and Law 6. Bentham and the Mills 7. Reason in History: Hegel and Marx 8. Foundations 9. Knowledge 10. Autonomy 11. Equality 12. Threading some Paradoxes 13. An Impartial Conclusion Booknotes