Die sterbliche Seele der Freiheit

Member of the Bundestag Marco Buschmann advocates for a new justification of liberalism. His book is aimed at those who want to engage with the foundations of liberal democracy. Liberal democracy is facing its greatest test of preservation since World War II. Populism is spreading everywhere. Marco Buschmann explains these phenomena using new insights from political psychology. His thesis is that political concepts only become effective when they resonate with people on a character level. The ancient philosopher Plato referred to this place of passion within humans – the counterpart to reason – as the mortal part of the soul. Buschmann elucidates its power through numerous classic texts and derives arguments for the strength of liberal democracy from them. It can fulfill the claim made in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of 1789: that all human beings are born free and equal in rights and should remain so.