Liberty and the Idea of the West
ABSTRACT
This conference examined the Western tradition of liberty under law, and the role of the Middle Ages and of Christianity in the long evolution of Western liberty. Finally, it addressed the question of whether or not the concept of the West should be understood more broadly than simply equating it with liberal democracy.
READING LIST
Conference Readings
Acton, John Emerich Edward Dalberg. Selected Writings of Lord Acton, Volume I: Essays in the History of Liberty. Edited by J. Rufus Fears. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1985.
Berman, Harold J. Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1983.
Collins, Randall. Weberian Sociological Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Jones, Eric. The European Miracle: Environments, Economics and Geopolitics in the History of Europe and Asia, Third Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Koch, Richard and Chris Smith. Suicide of the West. New York: Continuum, 2006.
Stark, Rodney. The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism and Western Success. New York: Random House, 2006.