Overview

A renowned scholar traces the evolution of modern political philosophy. The Rise and Fall of Rational Control is a bold interpretation of centuries of intellectual revolutions. Based on Harvey C. Mansfield's legendary Harvard course, taught for decades to rapt classrooms, this volume is both a grand work of ideas and an elucidating reflection on liberalism, its eclipse, and the possibility of renewal. Mansfield locates the birth of modern political philosophy in the work of Niccolò Machiavelli, the first to assert that the objective of politics is not to achieve wishful ideals of justice or virtue-as the ancients had it-but to manipulate the brute facts of the world in service of interests. Here rational control, free from the order of gods or God, is the key to achieving the modern order, which can liberate humans from slavery and conflict. Hobbes and Locke later develop Machiavelli's modern idea, laying foundations for liberalism. Then comes the first crisis in the form of Rousseau, who introduces historical change into the very idea of reason, which itself is said to evolve. After Rousseau, history takes center stage, as witnessed in Kant, Marx, and Hegel. The second crisis of modernity arrives with Nietzsche, who casts doubt on reason itself. Ever since, political thought has been stranded in the desert of postmodernism, where Machiavelli's necessities are replaced by faded subjectivity. Tracing the rise and fall of rational control, Mansfield asks where we go from here. Can we progress beyond our unease with what is modern, or should we aim to return somehow to what came before?

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Reviews

Harvey Mansfield is a Harvard treasure, a one-man antidote to liberal complacency… -- Michael J. Sandel, <i>The Harvard Crimson</i> Harvey Mansfield is a legend—not to say a myth. These days, of course, a conservative on the political-science faculty of an Ivy League college may sound as mythical as a minotaur. Perhaps [his] critics viewed him with the same mixture of astonishment and fear as they would the mythical beast. Unfortunately for them, [he] was all too real. -- Tom Cotton, United States Senator for Arkansas [A]n unblinkingly courageous social commentator, Harvey Mansfield is a superb teacher who has fostered a generation of influential students. -- Francis Fukuyama, author of <i>The End of History and the Last Man</i> Professor Mansfield's influence extends beyond the walls of the academy. His insights have deep practical and political importance. Throughout his career Harvey Mansfield has taught us important things about self-government; we need, now more than ever, to heed his wise counsel. -- William J. Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education and author of <i>The Book of Virtues</i>

Author Information

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.

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