Liberal Education, Commerce, and the Public Good: Toward a Philosophically Informed School of Responsible Freedom, Industry, and Civics
explores the role of civic learning in higher education through the lenses of foundational thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Adam Smith, James Wilson, J.S. Mill, and Tocqueville. Featuring contributions from leading scholars of 17th-19th century political thought, this book addresses the current crisis in liberalism by distinctly drawing lessons from various theories of civic education in classical liberal political philosophy. As a growing number of scholars, leading state-level government actors, and members of civil society direct their attention to how a classical liberal and civic education may help restore America's liberal foundations and institutional guardrails, this book seeks to bridge the gap between two important, burgeoning bodies of scholarship that seek to redress contemporary liberalism's civic, cultural, spiritual, and material challenges. The volume concludes with contributions by directors and academic entrepreneurs who have successfully integrated classical liberal theories of civic education into their leading civic learning centers' academic missions while shining a spotlight on the challenges they currently face in promoting the study of responsible freedom at their respective institutions.