Description: The Limits of Politics
The Limits of Politics
Worldcat Site
This engaging yet deeply serious book deploys great literature to illuminate perennial political issues in the service of discovering the possibilities and limits of politics.  The writing is lucid and conversational in the mode of a first-rate teacher.  Its intention is to involve diverse readers in the shared joy of discovery, and there’s no superfluous scholarly baggage or pointless critical vanity.  A huge amount of insight is displayed on remarkably few pages.  The book deserves a wide audience, and I predict it will, in fact, find a place in many classes on politics and literature.
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
Sep, 2016
9781498503389
74,706
Literary Criticism--GeneralPolitical Science--GeneralPolitical Science--History & Theory
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Chapters
The Limits of Politics
Acknowledgments
The Limits of Politics
This is my fifth book and hopefully not my last. Each of my previous four has been the result of some issue that I could not ignore regardless of how hard I tried. This one is no different. Like the previous four this one is also an incomplete explanation of my political philosophy but in building on the others it helps bring into focus an argument that I hope will be complete before I am no...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
547

The Limits of Politics
Introduction
The Limits of Politics
Human nature encompasses both the rational and the emotional. Modern political science has segregated these two concepts while promoting the supremacy of rationalism. This manner of study reduces the multidimensionality of humans which further reduces how we view and address problems through political means. To...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
2,419

The Limits of Politics
1 - Don’t Pray for War
The Limits of Politics
Humanity’s belief in its own ability to right wrongs permeates nearly every area of our lives. This might be most pronounced in the political arena, where actions are taken often without ample consideration given to unanticipated consequences. Our refusal to admit that we are flawed as well as limited in our capacity to effect positive change only worsens the condition. What would help is an...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
13,304

The Limits of Politics
2 - Is Democracy Worth It?
The Limits of Politics
This chapter explores democracy’s impact on the individual, more specifically, on the character of the individual in order to show the limits of politics within this realm. Democracy increases material abundance and secures individual and group rights. The preference for democracy by policy makers and theorists has reached a near consensus. The defense of democracy, however, remains...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
10,851

The Limits of Politics
3 - Taking Speech Seriously
The Limits of Politics
The aim of this chapter is to give, in James Boyd White’s words, “the kind of attention that will resist the impulse we have to reduce language to slogan and cliché” (2006, 9) within the context of the speech-right discussion. With each right come constituent responsibilities. With freedom of speech the responsibilities include honesty, diligence, and deep thinking. Merely...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
12,253

The Limits of Politics
4 - In Recognition of Limits
The Limits of Politics
The challenge of this chapter is to open readers up to the possibility that what they see is not always all there is and that because one cannot imagine a different system does not mean there is not a better system. Literature gives one the “ability to imagine nonexistent possibilities, to see one thing as another and one thing in another, to endow a perceived form with a...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
8,729

The Limits of Politics
5 - The Limits of Politics
The Limits of Politics
This chapter deals explicitly with the limits of politics; a topic dealt with tangentially throughout the entirety of this text. Rather than establishing unrealistically lofty expectations for politics this chapter sets up an argument that embraces realistic theories of politics that have served as a basis for governments prior to modernity’s run of dominance. By integrating...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
18,022

The Limits of Politics
Conclusion
The Limits of Politics
Due to the size and scope of the political landscape people can lack a sense of connectedness and empathy borne from familiarity. As domestic and global citizens we need to develop a moral imagination that allows us to view our fellow citizens as fully human. “Very often in today’s political life we lack the capacity to see one another as fully human, as more than ‘dreams or...
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
1,276

The Limits of Politics
Bibliography
The Limits of Politics
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
2,392

The Limits of Politics
Index
The Limits of Politics
absolute freedom,2.46 , 3.65 ,
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
4,170

The Limits of Politics
About the Author
The Limits of Politics
Kyle Scott, PhD, has taught political science at Miami University, University of North Florida, Duke University, and now University of Houston. Dr. Scott also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Lone Star College System and is an affiliated faculty member with the Baylor College of Medicine. This is his fifth book and third with Lexington Books.
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
129

The Limits of Politics
Series Page
The Limits of Politics
Series Editor
Kyle Scott
Lexington Books
235

Illustrations