Tocqueville's Political and Moral Thought: New Liberalism

The nineteenth-century French statesman and political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville described himself as a ‘liberal of a new kind’. This book is a significant contribution to a better understanding of liberalism and of the distinctive character of Tocqueville’s liberalism in particular.
The main focus of the book is the nature of Tocqueville’s liberalism.
The author argues that Tocqueville seeks to reconcile the Christian and the citizen in the context of modernity and explores the question of how Tocqueville’s work synthesizes religion and politics. Key themes discussed include:
• the relationship between faith and reason;
• the individual and community;
• patriotism and religion;
• history and nature.
An overall picture of Tocqueville’s idea of civilization is also presented.
This is the first book that seeks to penetrate the set of principles that have shaped the distinctive character of Tocqueville’s liberalism. The author shows that the consequences that are derived from these principles generate interesting and significant insights into the nature of liberalism.
Tocqueville’s Moral and Political Thought will be essential reading for advanced students and academics of political theory, philosophy and those interested in liberalism and the work of Alexis de Tocqueville.
M.R.R. Ossewaarde is lecturer in sociology at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. His research interests include the sociology of morality, politics and law.