Le 29 septembre 2008, à l’orée d’une crise financière et bancaire majeure, le philosophe américain Michael Walzer publiait dans la revue qu’il a fondée, Dissent, un article important, intitulé : « Une note sur l’avidité : qui est réellement responsable de la crise financière ? » L’argument de Walzer était simple, mais dévastateur : les politiques qui critiquent l’avidité des banquiers sont hypocrites, car c’est sur l’avidité que repose l’ensemble de notre système économique libéral, et cel...

Assaltata dai sovranisti, minacciata dalle derive del capitalismo e continuamente messa in discussione, la democrazia attraversa oggi un grave momento di crisi. La distanza crescente tra cittadini e politica, soprattutto tra i più giovani, sembra aver creato un vuoto di rappresentanza per quelle parti sociali che hanno storicamente alimentato con l’impegno politico il motore del cambiamento nelle nostre società. A cinquant’anni dalla sua pubblicazione, e per la prima volta in Italia, quest...

C’è stato un tempo in cui liberalismo era un “ismo” come qualunque altro, ma quel tempo, secondo Michael Walzer, si è concluso. Adesso “liberale” non descrive una specifica ideologia, bensì una posizione morale. Il termine perciò si comprende meglio come aggettivo anziché come sostantivo: si può essere un “democratico liberale”, un “nazionalista liberale”, un “intellettuale liberale”. Walzer elenca le caratteristiche definite da “liberale” in un inventario dei suoi più profondi impegni pol...

From a premier political philosopher, a penetrating investigation into the moral and ethical questions raised by war.**“A magnificent book, an honor to its writer...a book that makes for a return of civilized discussion of the question of the morality of war.”―**New York Review of BooksJust and Unjust Wars has forever changed how we think about the ethics of conflict. In this modern classic, political philosopher Michael W...

A testament to what it means to be liberal by one of the most prominent political philosophers of our eraThere was a time when liberalism was an ism like any other, but that time, writes Michael Walzer, is gone. “Liberal” now conveys not a specific ideology but a moral stance, so the word is best conceived not as a noun but as an adjective—one is a “liberal democrat” or a “liberal nationalist.” Walzer itemizes the characteristics described by “liberal” in an invent...

A testament to what it means to be liberal by one of the most prominent political philosophers of our eraThere was a time when liberalism was an ism like any other, but that time, writes Michael Walzer, is gone. “Liberal” now conveys not a specific ideology but a moral stance, so the word is best conceived not as a noun but as an adjective—one is a “liberal democrat” or a “liberal nationalist.” Walzer itemizes the characteristics described by “liberal” in an invent...

In tempi in cui i fondamenti della convivenza civile sembrano sempre più incerti e le ideologie appaiono svanite, i temi del radicalismo politico e della rivoluzione tornano a imporsi con forza. Con La rivoluzione dei santi, classico dimenticato di Michael Walzer, il grande filosofo statunitense individua nell’esperienza puritana del Seicento l’emergere di una forma originale di politica radicale, costruita sull’insolita convergenza tra vocazione religiosa, disciplina collettiva e tensione...

"Razón, política y pasión" lleva a cabo una crítica del liberalismo desde el interior del liberalismo mismo, pues, tal como indica su autor, parte del supuesto de que es necesaria una teoría que pueda explicar y apoyar la movilización y la solidaridad democráticas, y tal teoría, si es que es posible, ha de ser una teoría liberal. Walzer analiza la desigualdad alojada, por así decirlo, en las asociaciones involuntarias, cuya importancia rara vez reconocen las teorías liberales, la experienc...

Something that has been needed for decades: a leftist foreign policy with a clear moral basisForeign policy, for leftists, used to be relatively simple. They were for the breakdown of capitalism and its replacement with a centrally planned economy. They were for the workers against the moneyed interests and for colonized peoples against imperial (Western) powers. But these easy substitutes for thought are becoming increasingly difficult. Neo-liberal capitalism is t...

In this eagerly awaited book, political theorist Michael Walzer reports his findings after decades of reading and thinking about the politics of the Hebrew Bible. Attentive to nuance while engagingly straightforward, Walzer examines the commentary of the ancient biblical writers and discusses the implications for such urgent modern topics as the nature of political society, hierarchy and justice, the use of political power, the justification for and rules of warfare, and the responsibiliti...

In this eagerly awaited book, political theorist Michael Walzer reports his findings after decades of thinking about the politics of the Hebrew Bible. Attentive to nuance while engagingly straightforward, Walzer examines the laws, the histories, the prophecies, and the wisdom of the ancient biblical writers and discusses their views on such central political questions as justice, hierarchy, war, the authority of kings and priests, and the experience of exile.Because there are many ...

Michael Walzer is one of the world’s most important political thinkers, whose major works, such as Spheres of Justice and Just and Unjust Wars, have transformed many central debates in contemporary political philosophy.In this book, Toby J. Reiner provides the most wide-ranging and up-to-date introduction to his work available. Reiner examines his writings on topics ranging from justice in war, humanitarian intervention and migration ethics to distributive justice...