The Limits of Politics: Making the Case for Literature in Political Analysis

(Hardback)

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As political units grow it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain a shared sense of humanity and to recognize people as individuals rather than anonymous beings. To overcome our most pressing political issues we need to develop a moral imagination so that we may renew our sense of connectedness and responsibility to one another. Bringing together politics and art is one way this can be accomplished. This book draws upon political sources as well as works in literature, film and theater to show the limits of politics and the need for a moral imagination.

Reviews

This engaging yet deeply serious book deploys great literature to illuminate perennial political issues in the service of discovering the possibilities and limits of politics. The writing is lucid and conversational in the mode of a first-rate teacher. Its intention is to involve diverse readers in the shared joy of discovery, and theres no superfluous scholarly baggage or pointless critical vanity. A huge amount of insight is displayed on remarkably few pages. The book deserves a wide audience, and I predict it will, in fact, find a place in many classes on politics and literature. -- Peter Lawler, Berry College
The Limits of Politics is an invigorating and stimulating work designed to confront a number of contemporary perceptions and misconceptions. Kyle Scott makes a strong case for the value of the arts and humanities because they remind us that to be human requires us to be humble and not to imagine that systems we design can answer all our problems. Politics is too important to be left to the politicians and political scientists because it concerns us all. Reading literature carefully requires us to think, in particular, to think about difficult moral problems and the rights, values and desires of other people. Ranging from just war theory to the abuse of free speech, from the perils of democracy to the advantages of federalism, via Plato, Aquinas, Stendhal, Dostoevsky, George Orwell and William Golding, this is a book which reminds us why serious thinkers have always understood that literature matters. -- Andrew Hadfield, University of Sussex
Politics can never make a person better, Kyle Scott remarks aptly. Some claimed, though, that delving into the world of fiction can make us better, more empathetic, and, ultimately, more responsible citizens. Scott corroborates this argument, but focuses on a human virtue that is often neglected, not least in the realm of politics: humility. Effortlessly interweaving the study of political theorists with poetry, fiction, and film, Scott emphasizes the importance of humility with regards to core political problems. Thereby, he makes the virtue his own, and adapts a tone that will make this book a pleasure to read for both scholars and readers new to political thought. -- Claudia Franziska Brhwiler, University of St. Gallen

Author Bio

Kyle Scott is a lecturer at the University of Houston.