C.B. MacPherson: Dilemmas of Liberalism and Socialism

by William Leiss

Book by Leiss, William

Paperback

First published December 1, 1988

Reviews

[Donald]

I thought this was pretty good. It's a brief intellectual biography of CB Macpherson that maps out some of the developments in his commitments and thinking. The book helped me get an overview of Macpherson and his relationship to academia. Leiss argues that Macpherson's sensibility of academic commitment and social reform undergird his liberalism and socialism. This does seem to make sense, although I'm not sure how transferable these arguments would be to others. Part of the book is dedicated to arguing that developed economies are now mixed in such a way that Macpherson's opposition of capitalism and socialism is dated. After so many years of neoliberalism this seems dated in itself, but I thought it was an interesting in reference to Macpherson's thinking around the public interest.