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"BRC-27-'55" ; Caption title. ; Includes bibliographical references. ; Mode of access: Internet.

Considers the contributions of the late sociologist Edward Shils to social scientific thinking on the nature of "the good society." In contrast to conventional thinking, which supposes that a good society demands a relatively intense social & political bonding among its members, Shils proposed that society demands no more than a loose attachment to common political values. Moreover, Shils warned that efforts to create a greater harmony of values would likely end in destruction of both plurality & liberty. His recently republished analysis of the (Joseph) McCarthy hearings, the Torment of Secrecy (1996), illustrates these themes, as do his writings on the role of the university in US life. It is concluded that Shils's complex conservative-liberal view of society offers a distinctive & useful standard against which any society, practice, or individual may be measured. 14 References. D. Ryfe

FOR FRANK KNIGHT, THE FACT THAT INDIVIDUALS ARE FREE TO ENGAGE IN ECONOMIC PURSUITS BRINGS OUT BOTH THE BEST AND THE WORST IN HUMAN NATURE. THE SAME COMPETITIVE ECONOMY THAT LIBERATES INDIVIDUALS TO CHOOSE THEIR OWN ECONOMIC GOALS ALSO PROVIDES THEM WITH SOCIALLY UNDESIRABLE WANTS AND FOSTERS HABITS POTENTIALLY AT ODDS WITH THE DEMANDS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY. GIVEN KNIGHT'S DESIRE TO DEFEND HUMAN LIBERTY AND HIS CONCESSION THAT LIBERTY IS LIKELY TO BE ABUSED, HIS VERSION OF LIBERALISM MUST OF NECESSITY BE ANTICONSEQUENTIALIST. PARADOXICALLY, KNIGHT'S PHILOSOPHICAL PLURALISM -- HIS INSISTENCE THAT THERE ARE ANY NUMBER OF INCOMMENSURABLE PERSPECTIVES ON THE GOOD OR JUST SOCIETY -- UNDERLIES BOTH HIS CRITICISM OF THE "ETHICAL" POSSIBILITIES OF THE COMPETITIVE ORDER AND HIS DEFENSE OF HUMAN LIBERTY AGAINST THE DANGERS OF SOCIAL PLANNING.