Liberalism, Nihilism and Modernity in the Political Thought of John Gray

Abstract

This analysis of John Gray’s political thought explores the tension between his early commitment to a ‘modus vivendi’ model of civil association and his more recent commitment to communitarianism, on the one hand, and attempts to combat what he considers to be the nihilism latent in modern technological civilization, on the other. It concludes that although Gray has found no way of resolving this tension, the more enduring interest of his work lies at a deeper level, in his attempt to identify the conditions for what may be termed a ‘philosophy of modesty’ which is diametrically opposed to the western dream of becoming masters of the universe.