Human Dignity and Liberal Politics

"The present study pulls together the fruit of a lifetime of reflection by Riordan on the theme of the common good and its promise to bring a humane future into focus. Rather than the despair of opting out or the utopian demand for a world made new, Riordan suggests that our world already possesses reserves of spirit that the Church, and the long tradition reaching back to the Greeks, has never lost. What makes his project of great interest is that it was precisely on the basis of an appeal to the common good that the Christian philosophic tradition posed its own critique of liberal modernity." — David J. Walsh, professor of politics, Catholic University of America

"In an increasingly polarized world where disagreements quickly turn into violent conflicts, Riordan makes a crucial contribution to understandings of the common good. By reclaiming the teaching from critics of liberalism, he shows how the common good can be used to evaluate policies in a way that puts human dignity at the center of decision-making." — Maria Power, senor research fellow, Las Casas Institute for Social Justice, University of Oxford

"Dr. Riordan provides an innovative and exciting theory of the common good, an in-depth triangulation between liberal political philosophy, republican theory, and Catholic social thought. A must read for anybody working in social philosophy; it has greatly enriched my own work." — James G. Murphy, professor of philosophy, Loyola University Chicago

"This book is a vital contribution to a vibrant field. Riordan's clarion call is this: that we think and act beyond the polarizations of our age; that we remain engaged with a fragile world replete with need of, and possibilities for, new collaborations; that within our all too human differences we seek, with hope, enduring and truly common goods." — Anna Rowlands, St. Hilda Professor of Catholic Social Thought and Practice, Department of Theology and Religion, Durham University