Revised and updated, this long-awaited second edition provides a comprehensive introduction to what the most thoughtful Americans have said about the American experience from the colonial period to the present. The book examines the political thought of the most important American statesmen, activists, and writers across era and ideologies, helping another generation of students, scholars, and citizens to understand more fully the meaning of America. This new second edition of the book includes chapters on several additional historical figures, including Walt Whitman, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and Ronald Reagan, as well as a new chapter on Barack Obama, who was not prominent in public life when the first edition was published. Significant revisions and additions have also been made to many of the original chapters, most notably on Antonin Scalia, which now updates his full legacy, increasing the breadth and depth of the collection.

An analysis of the thought and work of Augustine, the ancient thinker. This study presents Augustine's arguments against the pridefulness of philosophy, thereby linking him to later currents in modern thought, including Wittgenstein and Freud.

"The Impact of 9-11 on Religion and Philosophy "is the sixth volume of the six-volume series" The Day that Changed Everything?" edited by Matthew J. Morgan. The series brings together from a broad spectrum of disciplines the leading thinkers of our time to reflect on one of the most significant events of our time. With forewords by John Esposito and Jean Bethke Elshtain, the volume's contributors include Philip Yancey, John Milbank, Arvind Sharma, Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, John Cobb, Martin Cook, and other leading authors.

The Religious Sense, the fruit of many years of dialogue with students, is an exploration of the search for meaning in life. Luigi Giussani shows that the nature of reason expresses itself in the ultimate need for truth, goodness, and beauty. These needs constitute the fabric of the religious sense, which is evident in every human being everywhere and in all times. So strong is this sense that it leads one to desire that the answer to life’s mystery might reveal itself in some way. Giussani challenges us to penetrate the deepest levels of experience to discover our essential selves, breaking through the layers of opinions and judgments that have obscured our true needs. Asserting that all the tools necessary for self-discovery are inherent within us, he focuses primarily on reason, not as narrowly defined by modern philosophers, but as an openness to existence, a capacity to comprehend and affirm reality in all of its dimensions. Part of the so-called new religious revival, The Religious Sense avoids any sentimental or irrational reduction of the religious experience. It is a forthright and refreshing call to reassess our lives. In this revised edition, John Zucchi offers a new translation of this seminal and best-selling work.

What is the proper relationship of religion to power? In this collection of essays, a group of interdisciplinary scholars address that question, building on the scholarship of the late Dr. Jean Bethke Elshtain. The first section of this book provides the reader with three previously unpublished essays by Elshtain on the subject of political sovereignty, followed by an interview with the noted ethicist and political theorist. Dr. Elshtain questions the nature of sovereignty in a world where some have elevated the state and the self above the authority of God himself. In the second section of the book, "Sovereignty through the Ages", four scholars explore some of the key questions raised by Dr. Elshtain's work on Just War, resistance to tyranny, political liberalism, and modernity, questioning the ways in which sovereignty may be conceived to reinforce the limitations of human societies and yet seek the greater good. In the third section of the book, entitled "Sovereignty in Context", three essays extend her analysis of sovereignty to different contexts - Latin America, the Islamic world, and the international system as a whole, all the while demonstrating the importance of how religious interpretation contributes to our understanding of political power.

In formulating this collection, Don Browning asked his contributors to respond to a simple question: Has moral relativism run its course? The threats of terrorism, reproductive technology, and globalization have forced us to ask anew whether there are universal moral truths upon which to base political and ethical judgments. In this timely edited collection, distinguished scholars present and test the best answers to this question. This dialogue includes contributions from widely-recognized scholars Richard Bernstein, Amitai Etzioni, Jean Bethke Elshtain, William Galston, Franklin Gamwell, Timothy Jackson, James Turner Johnson, John Kelsay, and Jean Porter. Although the conflict between universalism and relativism is a complex issue with many parts, the contributors to this volume tackle the question at hand in an engaging, thought-provoking manner. These insightful responses temper the strong antithesis between universalism and relativism and retain sensitivity to how language and history shape the context of our moral decisions. This important and relevant work of contemporary political and social thought is ideal for use in the classroom across many disciplines including political science, philosophy, ethics, theology, and law.

As religiously grounded moral arguments have become ever more influential factors in the national debate-particularly reinforced by recent presidential elections and the creation of the faith-based initiative office in the White House-journalists' ignorance about theological convictions has often worked to distort the public discourse on important policy issues. Pope John Paul II's pronouncements on stem-cell research, the constitutional controversies regarding faith-based initiatives, the emerging participation of Muslims in American life-issues like these require political journalists in print and broadcast media to cover religious contexts that many admit they are ill-equipped to understand. Put differently, these news events reflect subtle theological nuances and deep faith commitments that shape the activities of religious believers in the public square. Inasmuch as a faith tradition is an active or significant participant in the public arena, journalists will need to better understand the theological sources and religious convictions that motivate this political activity. The current national discourse has brought faith and its relationship to public policy to the forefront of our daily news. Since 1999, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, through the generosity of the Pew Charitable Trusts, has hosted six conferences for national journalists to help raise the level of their reporting by increasing their understanding of religion, religious communities, and the religious convictions that inform the political activity of devout believers. This book contains the presentations and conversations that grew out of those conferences.

Christianity and Civil Society responds to the crisis of American democracy as perceived by such diverse thinkers as Christopher Lasch, Michael Sandel, Mary Ann Glendon, and Robert Putnam. Despite their philosophical differences, these thinkers highlight a common theme: a decline in the institutions of civil society once held to be the vital center of the American polity. In place of these institutions-such as the family, neighborhood, church, and civic associations-one finds a disturbingly reduced socio-political stage, dominated by an abstract triumvirate of the individual, state, and market as prime actors. Whether taking their inspiration from the political theology of St. Thomas Aquinas and papal encyclicals or from John Calvin and his heirs in the Reformed traditions, the authors assembled here find the doctrinal resources of Christianity indispensable to defending the irreducible identity and value of the social institutions that serve as the connective tissue of a political community. By drawing upon a treasury of social thought little known to most Americans, Christianity and Civil Society offers a fresh vantage point from which to assess the crisis of our polity as well as the best prospects for its renewal.

In Christianity and Human Rights: Christians and the Struggle for Global Justice, Frederick M. Shepherd has collected essays by scholars and activists who, in a wide variety of ways, confront the issue of Christianity's role in the burgeoning movement for human rights. The volume's contributors provide diverse perspectives on the theology behind the idea of human rights, the debate over the its meaning, and the evolution of the struggle for human rights. A wide variety of disciplinary perspectives are represented, from economics, political science and law to history, philosophy and theology. The essays also represent a broad political spectrum, including specific accounts from activists participating in the struggle for human rights. Separate chapters focus on cases from Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. Christianity and Human Rights begins and ends with attempts to synthesize current theory and practice, acknowledging both Christianity's great success and its failures in defending basic human rights around the globe.

Faith and Public Policy turns the spotlight on the role of faith in the public square and the spiritual consequences of public policymaking. The work brings together fourteen of America's most respected writers on the intersection of faith and public policy to discuss the changing roles of government, church, education, and the family. Chapters investigate such issues as inner city programs, the secularization of faith-based programs, the impact of tax policy on the family, and the status of school vouchers. Contributions by Steve Forbes and William E. Simon illustrate the deep personal faith that informs and fuels the public leadership of America's leading thinkers and political figures. Readers will find Faith and Public Policy a timely and vigorous conversation on the commingling of government and religion in America, a country eager to return to the Founding Generation's idea of a nation in covenant with God.

Faith and Public Policy turns the spotlight on the role of faith in the public square and the spiritual consequences of public policymaking. The work brings together fourteen of America's most respected writers on the intersection of faith and public policy to discuss the changing roles of government, church, education, and the family. Chapters investigate such issues as inner city programs, the secularization of faith-based programs, the impact of tax policy on the family, and the status of school vouchers. Contributions by Steve Forbes and William E. Simon illustrate the deep personal faith that informs and fuels the public leadership of America's leading thinkers and political figures. Readers will find Faith and Public Policy a timely and vigorous conversation on the commingling of government and religion in America, a country eager to return to the Founding Generation's idea of a nation in covenant with God.

This collection of original essays by prominent scholars of political theory contends that contemporary ideas of feminism have reached a theoretical impasse because they are unable to reconcile tensions between principles such as equality and difference. Finding A New Feminism places modern concepts of feminism within the historical context of political thought and uses feminism as a lens through which to examine the strengths and weaknesses of liberal democracy, both in practice and in theory. By reconsidering classic works of literature, philosophy, and political theory, the authors identify certain deficiencies of liberal democracy but do not call for its complete abandonment. Instead, they present a new theory of feminism that fosters the reconciliation of conflicting and competing principles, as well as the private and public realms of women's lives. This is compulsory reading for students and scholars of political and feminist theory.

Public Intellectuals: An Endangered Species? investigates the definition, role, and decline of public intellectuals in American society. Drawing from a wide range of commentaries and studies, this edited volume demonstrates the unique importance of public intellectuals and probes the timely question of how their voices can continue to be effective in our ever-changing social, academic and political climates. At a time when many argue that public intellectuals are dying out, the book addresses questions such as who qualifies as a public intellectual? Have their ranks thinned out and their qualities diminished? What is that special service that public intellectuals are supposed to render for the body politic? And, above all, is society being shortchanged?

At a time when democracy in America suffers from a profound sense of cynicism, lack of trust, and disengagement, especially among young adults, this book is a much needed antidote. Here are original essays by some of the most distinguished and insightful political thinkers of our time. No armchair observers, they have advised presidents, been public servants, testified before Congress, helped other countries draft constitutions, worked as journalists, and won teaching awards. They participate ardently in the polity and civil society they write about here. The main focus of the essays is what role universities might be able to play in reviving a sense of citizenship and civic responsibility in our society. They represent different perspectives and differing opinions, making this a rich stimulus for discussion and action. At stake is nothing less than the future strength of democracy in the United States.

Public Intellectuals: An Endangered Species? investigates the definition, role, and decline of public intellectuals in American society. Drawing from a wide range of commentaries and studies, this edited volume demonstrates the unique importance of public intellectuals and probes the timely question of how their voices can continue to be effective in our ever-changing social, academic and political climates. At a time when many argue that public intellectuals are dying out, the book addresses questions such as who qualifies as a public intellectual? Have their ranks thinned out and their qualities diminished? What is that special service that public intellectuals are supposed to render for the body politic? And, above all, is society being shortchanged?

What is it that worries us about cloning? Why do technologies such as in vitro fertilization threaten the family? How does modern biological science threaten the very life it studies? These are important questions that demand a careful examination of science, technology, and the dignity of the human person. The March 2002 symposium Human Dignity and Reproductive Technology brought together philosophers, theologians, scientists, lawyers, and scholars from across the United States to discuss these questions. The essays of this book are the contributions of the symposium's participants. These essays do not simply catalogue recent ethical debates concerning reproduction technologies. Rather, they examine how these technologies impact human life and its innate, undeniable dignity. In accordance with the tradition of the Catholic Church, human dignity is examined from the perspectives of both faith and reason so that the good of technology may promote the dignity of the human person.

This valuable collection examines closely the construction of male and female identity around the theme of collective violence. Why did such violence get "moralized" for men in the case of warfare-but not for women? Women, Militarism and War presents alternatives to both "business as usual" thinking and excessively utopian or naive feminist accounts. Contributors: Jane Bethke Elshtain, Sheila Tobias, Amy Swerdlow, Carol Cohn, Mary C. Segers, Linda K. Kerber, D'Ann Campbell, Kathleen Jones, Joyce Berkman, Cynthia Enloe, Janet Radcliffe Richards and Sara Ruddick.

Civic virtues, public service, and personal sacrifice and responsibility have again become vital questions for Americans struggling with the moral and political problems of citizenship. In Cultivating Citizens Dwight Allman and Michael Beaty bring together some of America's leading social and political thinkers to address the question of civic vitality in contemporary American society. The resulting volume is a serious reflection on the history of civil society and a rich and rewarding conversation about the future American civic order.

Civic virtues, public service, and personal sacrifice and responsibility have again become vital questions for Americans struggling with the moral and political problems of citizenship. In Cultivating Citizens Dwight Allman and Michael Beaty bring together some of America's leading social and political thinkers to address the question of civic vitality in contemporary American society. The resulting volume is a serious reflection on the history of civil society and a rich and rewarding conversation about the future American civic order.

This collection of essays by prominent lawyers, theologians, social scientists, policy makers, and activists examines the reasons why the once treasured institution of marriage has been steadily displaced by a culture of divorce and unwed parenthood. Promises to Keep presents the full text of The Council on Families in America's 1995 investigation, Marriage in America: A Report to the Nation, and the contributors provide suggestions for marital resurrection to counteract trends that have created tragic hardships for children, generated poverty within families, and burdened us with insupportable social costs. Sponsored by The Institute for American Values.

Religion as a Public Good: Jews and Other Americans on Religion in the Public Square explores the often controversial topic of how religion ought to relate to American public life. The sixteen distinguished contributors, both Jewish and Christian, reflect on the topic out of their own disciplines-social ethics, political theory, philosophy, law, history, theology, and sociology. and take a stand based on their religious convictions and political beliefs. The volume is at once scholarly and committed, polemic and civil, reflective and activist. Written in the shadow of 9/11, it invites a new consideration of how religion enhances democratic public life with full awareness of the dangers that religion can sometimes pose. The volume is polemical, as befits the topic, but also civil, as befits a dialogue about an issue of profound significance for democratic citizenship.

Religion as a Public Good: Jews and Other Americans on Religion in the Public Square explores the often controversial topic of how religion ought to relate to American public life. The sixteen distinguished contributors, both Jewish and Christian, reflect on the topic out of their own disciplines-social ethics, political theory, philosophy, law, history, theology, and sociology. and take a stand based on their religious convictions and political beliefs. The volume is at once scholarly and committed, polemic and civil, reflective and activist. Written in the shadow of 9/11, it invites a new consideration of how religion enhances democratic public life with full awareness of the dangers that religion can sometimes pose. The volume is polemical, as befits the topic, but also civil, as befits a dialogue about an issue of profound significance for democratic citizenship.

While other academic disciplines claim a focus around specific subject matter, sociologists think of their field as an approach to understanding the often invisible forces and social contexts that shape the way people conduct their lives. How these forces and contexts are structured is central to sociology. But how do sociologists analyze these invisible structures? This book contributes to our understanding by bringing together a remarkable set of master essays about modern sociology written by some of the leading figures of the field. Each author describes a vision of sociological inquiry or offers an example of research that illustrates approaches and problems encountered in doing sociological work. The collection is rounded out with a prologue by Kai Erikson, an epilogue by Paul DiMaggio, and an extraordinary autobiographical essay by Robert K. Merton. The book is introduced by its editor as a set of reflections, a gathering of visions. But the range of topics and the variety of authors represented make it a valuable introduction to sociology as a discipline and as a way of thinking.

The purpose of this valuable book is to consider recent cultural trends in bioethics from a Catholic perspective. The first section describes modern cultural notions of health and human suffering. It examines the meaning of suffering in the contemporary world and relates this discussion to the ethical issues surrounding abortion, euthanasia, and the competing conceptions of health. The second section discusses the philosophical origins of the culture war through an examination of the problematic bases of various forms of moral relativism and its inability to guide moral action. The third section contextualizes this abstract discussion in the current political and legal debate on biotechnology, marriage, and the family. Bioethics is intended for a lay audience interested in understanding bioethical issues from a Catholic perspective.

In The Civil Society Reader Don Eberly presents the classic writings of the leading scholars and organizers who have brought the civil society debate to the forefront of American politics.