About the book, from the publisher:
The political system of contemporary democracies is far from perfect and our dissatisfactions with it are many. Nevertheless it is the envy of the world and the finest political system that has thus far emerged in the course of human history. Its chief merit is that it provides the political goods – such as liberty, toleration, justice, property, and equality – we need for our well-being. Politics involves never-ending disagreements about how to resolve unavoidable conflicts among these and other goods, and the art of politics is to find, again and again, optimal resolutions to these disagreements.
In The Art of Politics, John Kekes explains how ideologues, have strayed from this fundamental philosophy, believing that their understanding of the political goods – whatever that may be – is the only correct one. From Marxists to Fascists and Islamists, ideologues cope with political disputes in with violent defenses of their rigid beliefs.
The Art of Politics’ refreshing meditation on the nature of political affairs proves that this is a dangerous and unproductive mistake. Kekes reveals that the stifling state of politics in the world’s democracies is not fundamentally a product the left-right, liberal-conservative divide, but a battle between unbending ideologues and their opponents. The Art of Politics is a case for political toleration and a caution against the inflexibility of ideology.
