George Kateb has been one of the most respected and
influential political theorists of the last quarter century.
His work stands apart from that of many of his
contemporaries and resists easy summary. In these essays
Kateb often admonishes himself, in Socratic fashion, to keep
political argument as far as possible negative: to be
willing to assert what we are not, and what we will not do,
and to build modestly from there some account of what we are
and what we ought to do. Drawing attention to the
non-rational character of many motives that drive people to
construct and maintain a political order, he urges greater
vigilance in political life and cautions against “mistakes”
not usually acknowledged as such. Patriotism is one such
mistake, too often resulting in terrible brutality and
injustices. He asks us to consider how commitments to ideals
of religion, nation, race, ethnicity, manliness, and courage
find themselves in the service of immoral ends, and he
exhorts us to remember the dignity of the individual. The
book is divided into three sections. In the first, Kateb
discusses the expansion of state power (including such
topics as surveillance) and the justifications for war
recently made by American policy makers. The second section
offers essays in moral psychology, and the third comprises
fresh interpretations of major thinkers in the tradition of
political thought, from Socrates to Arendt.
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