The Needs of StrangersThis thought provoking book uncovers a crisis in the political imagination, a wide-spread failure to provide the passionate sense of community "in which our need for belonging can be met." Seeking the answers to fundamental questions, Michael Ignatieff writes vividly both about ideas and about the people who tried to live by them from Augustine to Bosch, from Rosseau to Simone Weil. Incisive and moving, "The Needs of Strangers" returns philosophy to its proper place, as a guide to the art of being human. |
From inside the book
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Page 31
... daughters , he says , and a daughter does not reason her father's needs ; to do so would be to deny the reality of familial obligation . To ask for reasons is not merely insulting or disobedient ; it puts into question the plain meaning ...
... daughters , he says , and a daughter does not reason her father's needs ; to do so would be to deny the reality of familial obligation . To ask for reasons is not merely insulting or disobedient ; it puts into question the plain meaning ...
Page 35
... daughters will give him only what any old beggar needs - food , shelter and clothing ; they will not give him his due a retinue . - Let us contrast these claims . What a man needs he does not earn or deserve . He does not have to ...
... daughters will give him only what any old beggar needs - food , shelter and clothing ; they will not give him his due a retinue . - Let us contrast these claims . What a man needs he does not earn or deserve . He does not have to ...
Page 37
... daughters see before them just another anonymous beggar . The tacit ground between father and daughter has been sheared away by greed , revenge and power , the words put in place of the unspoken have only the meaning that power wishes ...
... daughters see before them just another anonymous beggar . The tacit ground between father and daughter has been sheared away by greed , revenge and power , the words put in place of the unspoken have only the meaning that power wishes ...
Contents
Tragedy and Utopia | 7 |
THE NATURAL AND THE SOCIAL | 25 |
THE BODY AND THE SPIRIT | 100 |
Copyright | |
3 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
The Needs of Strangers: An Essay on Privacy, Solidarity, and the Politics of ... Michael Ignatieff No preview available - 1986 |
The Needs of Strangers: An Essay on Privacy, Solidarity, and the Politics of ... Michael Ignatieff No preview available - 1986 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam Smith amour de soi Augustine Augustinian autarky basic need beggar belonging blind body Bosch's Boswell Cambridge capacity capitalist certainty choice choose Christian citizens civic claim commercial society common consolation Cordelia creatures critique daughters David Hume death desire Discourse on Inequality division of labour duty economic equality father flesh fraternity freedom give happiness Haywain heath Hieronymus Bosch human nature human needs Hume Treatise Hume's hunger individuals inequality insisted invisible hand J. G. A. Pocock justice King Lear Lear's liberty live London madness man's Marx means metaphysical modern moral necessity needs of strangers never obligation Paradise Pascal passion Penguin Philosophy Physiocratic pity poor question reason reconcile Religion religious republic respect retinue rich Rousseau Saint satisfaction scarcity secular self-command Social Contract solidarity species spiral of need spirit spiritual need Stoic things Thou Tom O'Bedlam tragedy utopia virtue vision welfare yearning