Description: Harvey C. Mansfield traces the birth of modern political philosophy to Machiavelli's brief on behalf of rational control of human affairs, which became the basis of liberalism. But Rousseau, Kant, Marx, and Hegel all issued challenges, and finally Nietzsche doubted reason entirely. Mansfield asks how we can extract ourselves from Nietzsche's trap.
Brief description: Harvey C. Mansfield is William R. Kenan, Jr., Research Professor of Government at Harvard University. The author and translator of many books, he has held Guggenheim and NEH Fellowships and is a recipient of the National Humanities Medal.
Review Quotes: Harvey Mansfield is a Harvard treasure, a one-man antidote to liberal complacency.--Michael J. Sandel