The Struggle for a Decent Politics On "Liberal" As an Adjective

<p>A testament to what it means to be liberal by one of the most prominent political philosophers of our era</p><p><br></p><p>&quot;Walzer is perhaps our foremost pilot on these rocky shoals. In his preface, he writes that this may be his last book. One hopes not.&quot;--James Traub, New York Times</p><p><br></p><p>There was a time when liberalism was an ism like any other, but that time, writes Michael Walzer, is gone. &quot;Liberal&quot; now conveys not a specific ideology but a moral stance, so the word is best conceived not as a noun but as an adjective--one is a &quot;liberal democrat&quot; or a &quot;liberal nationalist.&quot;</p><p><br></p><p>Walzer itemizes the characteristics described by &quot;liberal&quot; in an inventory of his own deepest political and moral commitments--among other things, to the principle of equality, to the rule of law, and to a pluralism that is both political and cultural. Unabashedly asserting that liberalism comprises a universal set of values (&quot;they must be universal,&quot; he writes, &quot;since they are under assault around the world&quot;), Walzer reminds us in this inspiring book why those values are worth fighting for.</p>