Freedom and Virtue: The Conservative/ Libertarian Debate

"Arguments about the nature of liberty and its relationship to a normative moral tradition lie at the heart of many contemporary political controversies. This is especially true of the spirited exchange between conservatives and libertarians. In Freedom and virtue, George W. Carey has compiled a group of essays that explore what unites and what divides the adherents of these two important American intellectual traditions. The arguments in these essays touch on the most fundamental questions of political philosophy: what is the nature of man? What should be the relative role of reason, tradition, and religion in ordering society and the state? When does individual liberty begin to undermine the moral norms necessary for the maintenance of civil society? Is there an objective moral order to which liberty ought to be subordinated? In examining these and other questions in a provocative and lively manner, Freedom and virtue invites us to speculate on the future of democracy in the United States" -- Publisher's description.