Rights--The New Quarrel between the Ancients and the Moderns, Vol. 1

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by Luc Ferry,

Translated by Franklin Philip

University of Chicago Press

Due/Published November 1990, 151 pages, cloth

ISBN 0226244717

This is the first part of a projected four-volume work. Ferry begins with a discussion of Leo Strauss and Martin Heidegger. "He recounts Heidegger's critique of the metaphysics of modernity and then examines Strauss's extension of this critique into the domain of political philosophy, where, accordingto Ferry, it forms the starting point of his appeal to the classical natural right as an alternative to modern political thought. While accepting Strauss's critique of historicism, Ferry rejects the . . . return to the ancients, arguing that it is destructive of the most important positive achievements of modernity--the ideals of equality and human rights. In the second half of the book, Ferry outlines his own vision of a modern political philosophy. . . . He draws upon the critical philosophy of Kant and Fichte, which, he suggests, can provide the foundation for a renewal of modern political thought." (Publisher's note)

In recent years, an increasing number of thinkers have grown suspicious of the Enlightenment ideals of progress, reason, and freedom. These critics, many inspired by Martin Heidegger, have attacked modern philosophy's attempt to ground a vision of the world upon the liberty of the human subject. Pointing to the rise of totalitarian regimes in this century, they argue that the Enlightenment has promoted the enslavement of human beings rather than their freedom.