Allyn Fives is Lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway

‘The rampant cruelties of today's politics – indifference toward desperate migrants left to die at sea, acceptance of children caged and separated from parents, abandonment of dissidents that brave brutal repression – make Judith Shklar’s ideas seem even more relevant than when they were written. Allyn Fives shows how Shklar, torn between tolerant scepticism and an overriding abhorrence of cruelty, takes us on a "tour of perplexities". This tour, explains Fives, reveals the possibilities for evaluative political theory in a world of insurmountable moral contradictions.’Kerry Whiteside, Professor, Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College'Fives interrogates Shklar's decision to place cruelty first among the vices in order to examine the nature of freedom and to consider how we should respond to moral conflict. What emerges is a provocative discussion of the liberalism of fear and a thoughtful analysis of the nature of political theory itself.'Edward Hall, Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Sheffield

• 1 The liberalism of fear2 Monism3 Freedom4 Utopia5 Tyranny6 Obligation7 ConclusionsIndex

Allyn Fives is Lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway

‘The rampant cruelties of today's politics – indifference toward desperate migrants left to die at sea, acceptance of children caged and separated from parents, abandonment of dissidents that brave brutal repression – make Judith Shklar’s ideas seem even more relevant than when they were written. Allyn Fives shows how Shklar, torn between tolerant scepticism and an overriding abhorrence of cruelty, takes us on a "tour of perplexities". This tour, explains Fives, reveals the possibilities for evaluative political theory in a world of insurmountable moral contradictions.’Kerry Whiteside, Professor, Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College'Fives interrogates Shklar's decision to place cruelty first among the vices in order to examine the nature of freedom and to consider how we should respond to moral conflict. What emerges is a provocative discussion of the liberalism of fear and a thoughtful analysis of the nature of political theory itself.'Edward Hall, Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Sheffield

• 1 The liberalism of fear2 Monism3 Freedom4 Utopia5 Tyranny6 Obligation7 ConclusionsIndex

Allyn Fives is Lecturer in Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway

‘The rampant cruelties of today's politics – indifference toward desperate migrants left to die at sea, acceptance of children caged and separated from parents, abandonment of dissidents that brave brutal repression – make Judith Shklar’s ideas seem even more relevant than when they were written. Allyn Fives shows how Shklar, torn between tolerant scepticism and an overriding abhorrence of cruelty, takes us on a "tour of perplexities". This tour, explains Fives, reveals the possibilities for evaluative political theory in a world of insurmountable moral contradictions.’Kerry Whiteside, Professor, Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College'Fives interrogates Shklar's decision to place cruelty first among the vices in order to examine the nature of freedom and to consider how we should respond to moral conflict. What emerges is a provocative discussion of the liberalism of fear and a thoughtful analysis of the nature of political theory itself.'Edward Hall, Lecturer in Political Theory, University of Sheffield

• 1 The liberalism of fear2 Monism3 Freedom4 Utopia5 Tyranny6 Obligation7 ConclusionsIndex