The Inner Ocean: Sex and the Search for Modernity in Fin-de-Siecle Russia

By George Kateb

Book Overview

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What is the meaning of individualism in a modern democracy? In this rich and penetrating book, a major political theorist examines the nature of individualism--the concept of self it implies, the ethic it sustains, the personal connectedness it supports, and the politics it requires--and provides a challenging answer.

George Kateb argues that democracy is founded on respect for the dignity of individuals as individuals, and that this respect transforms all human relations. Democratic individuality, in his view, is a way in which individuals whose rights are protected may dare to live their private lives and to conceive their roles as citizens.

Kateb employs the concept of individuality not only to criticize communitarianism and to define the limits of the role of the state, but also to approach global concerns involving our relation to nature. The ten essays of this book explore democratic individuality in light of such topics as the power of political institutions to accommodate and express different values, the moral distinctiveness of representative democracy, the implications of the liberal social contract, and the possibility of human extinction.

Eloquently addressing issues at the heart of democratic life, The Inner Ocean will be of vital interest to scholars and students in American studies, political theory, and moral philosophy.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801427355
• ISBN13: 9780801427350
• Release Date: November 1992
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Thought-provoking, uplifting--a wonderful book

This really is a terrific book. It's in essay form, each one building on Kateb's theme of "democractic individualism." The democratic individual is not isolated, anomic, shut off from the rest of the world. The democratic individual is granted the respect and space for development due all persons, but also realizes her or his connectedness to all other persons. For Kateb, individuals are beings of infinite potential, each able to draw on their "inner ocean," but each also linked others in very real ways, as outlined in the works of Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau. He defends representative democracy as a promoter of this viewpoint but is no defender of the status quo. Respecting all as equal individuals demands much of states and would limit their powers in unaccustomed ways. Especially noteworthy are the chapters "On Political Evil," which would make anyone think twice about the rights and wrongs of warfare, and "Individualism, Communitarianism and Docility," which raises grave and important questions for communitarian political theory and defenders of strong group identification in general. Overall, this is a rare book, both uplifting and provocative. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in conteporary political philosophy or anyone concerned about maintaining respect for the individual.