The Way of Life: John Paul II and the Challenge of Liberal Modernity

The passing of John Paul II provoked questions about the Pope, particularly in his relation to modernity. Was he opposed to the tenets of modernity, as some critics claimed? Or did he accommodate modernity in a way no Pope ever had, as his champions asserted? In The Way of Life, Carson Holloway examines the fundamental philosophers of modernity-from Hobbes to Toqueville-to suggest that John Paul II's critique of modernity is intended not to reject, but to improve. Thus, claims Holloway, it is appropriate for liberal modernity to attend to the Pope's thought, receiving it not as the attack of an enemy but as the criticism of a candid friend.

Carson Holloway (Ph.D. Northern Illinois University) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a former William E. Simon Visiting Fellow in Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He is the author of Magnanimity and Statesmanship (2008), The Right Darwin: Evolution, Religion, and the Future of Democracy (2006), and All Shook Up: Music, Passion, and Politics (2000).