New Forum Books

Peter Berkowitz is Associate Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist and is a regular contributor to The New Republic. Virtue has been rediscovered in the United States as a subject of public debate and of philosophical inquiry. Politicians from both parties, leading intellectuals, and concerned citizens from diverse backgrounds are addressing questions about the content of our character. William Bennett's moral guide for children, A Book of Virtues, was a national bestseller. Yet many continue to associate virtue with a prudish, Victorian morality or with crude attempts by government to legislate morals. Peter Berkowitz clarifies the fundamental issues, arguing that a certain ambivalence toward virtue reflects the liberal spirit at its best. Drawing on recent scholarship as well as classical political philosophy, he makes his case with penetrating analyses of four central figures in the making of modern liberalism: Hobbes, Locke, Kant, and Mill. These thinkers are usually understood to have neglected or disparaged virtue. Yet Berkowitz shows that they all believed that government resting on the fundamental premise of liberalism--the natural freedom and equality of all human beings--could not work unless citizens and officeholders possess particular qualities of mind and character. These virtues, which include reflective judgment, sympathetic imagination, self-restraint, the ability to cooperate, and toleration do not arise spontaneously but must be cultivated. Berkowitz explores the various strategies the thinkers employ as they seek to give virtue its due while respecting individual liberty. Liberals, he argues, must combine energy and forbearance, finding public and private ways to support such nongovernmental institutions as the family and voluntary associations. For these institutions, the liberal tradition powerfully suggests, play an indispensable role not only in forming the virtues on which liberal democracy depends but in overcoming the vices that it tends to engender. Clearly written and vigorously argued, this is a provocative work of political theory that speaks directly to complex issues at the heart of contemporary philosophy and public discussion. New Forum Books makes available to general readers outstanding, original, interdisciplinary scholarship with a special focus on the juncture of culture, law, and politics. New Forum Books is guided by the conviction that law and politics not only reflect culture, but help to shape it. Authors include leading political scientists, sociologists, legal scholars, philosophers, theologians, historians, and economists writing for nonspecialist readers and scholars across a range of fields. Looking at questions such as political equality, the concept of rights, the problem of virtue in liberal politics, crime and punishment, population, poverty, economic development, and the international legal and political order, New Forum Books seeks to explain--not explain away--the difficult issues we face today. "'Whither liberalism?' The question is so shopworn that one is inclined to feel grateful to anyone for asking instead: 'Whence?' Knowing where we came from may not tell us where we are going, but it at least points us in the right direction. Peter Berkowitz has now done us this timely service with Virtue and the Making of Modern Liberalism."---Bret Louis Stephens, Wall Street Journal "In elegantly written studies of Hobbes, Kant, Locke, and Mill, Berkowitz finds that the fathers of modern liberalism, not unsurprisingly, believed that the virtues are necessary even in a liberal regime." "Berkowitz has a talent for careful reading of works of political theory, acute analysis, and clear formulation. All of these make this book a pleasure to read: it is the best written book on political theory I have read in some time."-Jerry Muller, The Catholic University of America "This is an engaging, re

"Co-Winner of the Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Constructive-Reflective Studies, American Academy of Religion" David Novak holds the J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Chair of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. His previous books include Natural Law in Judaism, The Election of Israel, and Jewish Social Ethics. Covenantal Rights is a groundbreaking work of political theory: a comprehensive, philosophically sophisticated attempt to bring insights from the Jewish political tradition into current political and legal debates about rights and to bring rights discourse more fully into Jewish thought. David Novak pursues these aims by presenting a theory of rights founded on the covenant between God and the Jewish people as that covenant is constituted by Scripture and the rabbinic tradition. In doing so, he presents a powerful challenge to prevailing liberal and conservative positions on rights and duties and opens a new chapter in contemporary Jewish political thinking. For Novak, "covenantal rights" are rooted in God's primary rights as creator of the universe and as the elector of a particular community whose members relate to this God as their sovereign. The subsequent rights of individuals and communities flow from God's covenantal promises, which function as irrevocable entitlements. This presents a sharp contrast to the liberal tradition, in which rights flow above all from individuals. It also challenges the conservative idea that duties can take precedence over rights, since Novak argues that there are no covenantal duties that are not backed by correlative rights. Novak explains carefully and clearly how this theory of covenantal rights fits into Jewish tradition and applies to the relationships among God, the covenanted community, and individuals. This work is a profound and provocative contribution to contemporary religious and political theory. "This will be a reference point for all those seeking a profound Jewish consideration of issues in political theory for years to come. It will be read with profit not only by those interested in the Jewish political tradition, but also by moral philosophers, students of Jewish theology, and anyone concerned with the contemporary debate on religion and public affairs."-Alan Mittleman, Muhlenberg College "In preparing this book, Novak has had the insight, grace, and fortune to construct one of those concepts that reorganize and recenter academic debates in a given field. Here it is the concept of 'covenantal rights,' which he offers as an alternative to both liberal natural rights theory and neo-conservative communitarianism The book reflects the depth and breadth of Novak's research and thinking both inside and outside the Jewish tradition."-Peter W. Ochs, University of Virginia

Paul Edward Gottfried is Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College and author of, among other books, Carl Schmitt: Politics and Theory, The Search for Historical Meaning; and The Conservative Movement. Editor in chief of This World, he is also a senior editor of Telos and a contributing editor to Chronicles and Humanitas. In this trenchant challenge to social engineering, Paul Gottfried analyzes a patricide: the slaying of nineteenth-century liberalism by the managerial state. Many people, of course, realize that liberalism no longer connotes distributed powers and bourgeois moral standards, the need to protect civil society from an encroaching state, or the virtues of vigorous self-government. Many also know that today's "liberals" have far different goals from those of their predecessors, aiming as they do largely to combat prejudice, to provide social services and welfare benefits, and to defend expressive and "lifestyle" freedoms. Paul Gottfried does more than analyze these historical facts, however. He builds on them to show why it matters that the managerial state has replaced traditional liberalism: the new regimes of social engineers, he maintains, are elitists, and their rule is consensual only in the sense that it is unopposed by any widespread organized opposition. Throughout the western world, increasingly uprooted populations unthinkingly accept centralized controls in exchange for a variety of entitlements. In their frightening passivity, Gottfried locates the quandary for traditionalist and populist adversaries of the welfare state. How can opponents of administrative elites show the public that those who provide, however ineptly, for their material needs are the enemies of democratic self-rule and of independent decision making in family life? If we do not wake up, Gottfried warns, the political debate may soon be over, despite sporadic and ideologically confused populist rumblings in both Europe and the United States. "After Liberalism is no angry screed, but a dense, probing work full of insight from the author's seeming encyclopedic knowledge of Western thought." "The central fact of the nineteenth century was the emergence of the working class. The central fact of the twentieth century is the emergence of a managerial "New Class" elite, reshaping all modern democracies in its own interest. Gottfried's is a gold-standard analysis of this extraordinary phenomenon, heavily encrusted with sparkling jewels of intellectual history."---Peter Brimelow, Senior Editor, Forbes Magazine "Well-written, very learned, and informative."---Paul Seaton, Society "Although I disagree with the author on many of his points, I strongly recommend it. Gottfried's thesis is refreshingly novel, strongly advanced, and clearly presented. Whether one is interested in the future of the welfare state or family values, or the economic and social future of America, this is a book one wishes to read."-Amitai Etzioni, author of The New Golden Rule "This brilliant and disquieting book should reshape current debates and be essential reading for all who seek to understand them."-Elizabeth Fox-Genovese "This thoughtful work reflects the intellectual qualities of an erudite political philosopher whose knowledge of European political philosophy in the twentieth century is particularly impressive."-John Lukacs

Charles L. Glenn is Professor and Chairman of Administration, Training, and Policy Studies at Boston University School of Education. His previous books include The Myth of the Common School, Choice of School in Six Nations, Educational Freedom in Eastern Europe, and Educating Immigrant Children: Schools and Language Minorities in Twelve Nations. Peter L. Berger is University Professor and Director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture at Boston University. This is a time of far-reaching change and debate in American education and social policy, spurred in part by a rediscovery that civil-society institutions are often better than government at meeting human needs. As Charles Glenn shows in this book, faith-based schools and social agencies have been particularly effective, especially in meeting the needs of the most vulnerable. However, many oppose providing public funds for religious institutions, either on the grounds that it would threaten the constitutional separation of church and state or from concern it might dilute or secularize the distinctive character of the institutions themselves. Glenn tackles these arguments head on. He builds a uniquely comprehensive and persuasive case for faith-based organizations playing a far more active role in American schools and social agencies. And, most importantly, he shows that they could do so both while receiving public funds and while striking a workable balance between accountability and autonomy. Glenn is ideally placed to make this argument. A leading expert on international education policies, he was for many years the director of urban education and civil rights for the Massachusetts Department of Education, and also serves as an Associate Minister of inner-city churches in Boston. Glenn draws on all his varied experience here as he reviews the policies and practices of governments in the United States and Europe as they have worked with faith-based schools and also with such social agencies as the Salvation Army and Teen Challenge. He seeks to answer key theoretical and practical questions: Why should government make greater use of faith-based providers? How could they do so without violating First Amendment limits? What working relationships protect the goals and standards both of government and of the organizations that the government funds? Glenn shows that, with appropriate forms of accountability and a strong commitment to a distinctive vision of service, faith-based organizations can collaborate safely with government, to their mutual benefit and that of those they serve. This is a major contribution to one of the most important topics in political and social debate today. "[T]houghtful and thought provoking."---Raymond Rohrer Roberts, Christian Century "This book has much to offer scholars and policymakers. The recommendations with which Glenn concludes are challenging and are likely to spark useful debate."-William Galston, University of Maryland, College Park "Glenn's argument is an impressive one, making a comprehensive case for a new relationship between government and faith-based organizations that will meet the Constitution's First Amendment requirements, protect the autonomy of the faith-based organizations, and answer some of the most important questions about the crisis of the welfare state and the relation of government to civil society."-James W. Skillen, Center for Public Justice

James Hitchcock is Professor of History at St. Louis University. He is the author of six books, including Catholicism and Modernity. School vouchers. The Pledge of Allegiance. The ban on government grants for theology students. The abundance of church and state issues brought before the Supreme Court in recent years underscores an incontrovertible truth in the American legal system: the relationship between the state and religion in this country is still fluid and changing. This, the first of two volumes by historian and legal scholar James Hitchcock, provides the first comprehensive exploration of the Supreme Court's approach to religion, offering a close look at every case, including some that scholars have ignored. Hitchcock traces the history of the way the Court has rendered important decisions involving religious liberty. Prior to World War II it issued relatively few decisions interpreting the Religious Clauses of the Constitution. Nonetheless, it addressed some very important ideas, including the 1819 Dartmouth College case, which protected private religious education from state control, and the Mormon polygamy cases, which established the principle that religious liberty was restricted by the perceived good of society. It was not until the 1940s that a revolutionary change occurred in the way the Supreme Court viewed religion. During that era, the Court steadily expanded the scope of religious liberty to include many things that were probably not intended by the framers of the Constitution, and it narrowed the permissible scope of religion in public life, barring most kinds of public aid to religious schools and forbidding almost all forms of religious expression in the public schools. This book, along with its companion volume, From "Higher Law" to "Sectarian Scruples," offers a fresh analysis of the Court's most important decisions in constitutional doctrine. Sweeping in range, it paints a detailed picture of the changing relationship between religion and the state in American history. "The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life provides for the general reader a useful road map through the history and case law. The first of the two volumes tells the history rather comprehensively, with a minimum of interpretive overlay. The second tries to understand the story. Hitchcock's work is especially valuable for his extensive coverage of the Court's religion jurisprudence before the deluge--that is, before the 1940s, when the Court deliberately made itself a tribunal of the nation's religious disputes."---Russell Hittinger, First Things "This book and its companion volume provide a concise, but complete account of all the relevant cases since 1789 with sophisticated scholarly analysis. It is by far the best introduction I have seen to all that the Supreme Court has ever said about church and state. Hitchcock presents difficult and controversial material in a fair-minded manner, and the treatment of cases is remarkably free of polemic. A valuable and unique contribution to the field."-Gerard V. Bradley, University of Notre Dame "Hitchcock covers a tremendous amount of American legal history and does so with remarkable clarity and brevity. His arguments are nuanced and always thought-provoking. The book compels a rethinking of prevailing legal doctrines and thus has the potential to have a significant impact on the continuing debate on the constitutional relationships between religion and American life."-Daniel Dreisbach, American University

James Hitchcock is Professor of History at St. Louis University. He is the author of six books, including Catholicism and Modernity. School vouchers. The Pledge of Allegiance. The ban on government grants for theology students. The abundance of church and state issues brought before the Supreme Court in recent years underscores an incontrovertible truth in the American legal system: the relationship between the state and religion in this country is still fluid and changing. This, the second of two volumes by historian and legal scholar James Hitchcock, offers a complete analysis and interpretation of the Court's historical understanding of religion, explaining the revolutionary change that occurred in the 1940s. In Volume I: The Odyssey of the Religion Clauses (Princeton), Hitchcock provides the first comprehensive survey of the court cases involving the Religion Clauses, including a number that scholars have ignored. Here, Hitchcock examines how, in the early history of our country, a strict separation of church and state was sustained through the opinions of Jefferson and Madison, even though their views were those of the minority. Despite the Founding Fathers' ideas, the American polity evolved on the assumption that religion was necessary to a healthy society, and cooperation between religion and government was assumed. This view was seldom questioned until the 1940s, notes Hitchcock. Then, with the beginning of the New Deal and the appointment of justices who believed they had the freedom to apply the Constitution in new ways, the judicial climate changed. Hitchcock reveals the personal histories of these justices and describes how the nucleus of the Court after World War II was composed of men who were alienated from their own faiths and who looked at religious belief as irrational, divisive, and potentially dangerous, assumptions that became enshrined in the modern jurisprudence of the Religion Clauses. He goes on to offer a fascinating look at how the modern Court continues to grapple with the question of whether traditional religious liberty is to be upheld. "Hitchcock's work offers timely admonition to those who are concerned about religion, politics, and society. As church and state increasingly intersect, his proposal offers a compelling way forward: to see separation as governing the relationship between religion and government and accommodation as defining the relationship between religion and culture."---Jeremiah H. Russell, Christian Social Thought "These two volumes are a wonderful gift to the scholarly enterprise of American church-state jurisprudence. They are part of a growing body of literature that is forcing many of us to revisit, either critically or sympathetically, the received understanding of the history of, and the judicial reasoning about, the religion clauses of America's First Amendment. . . . [I]t is the sort of scholarship that for years to come will be included in the canon of works that must be addressed before one offers an alternative or complementary perspective."---Francis J. Beckwith, Journal of Church and State "This book and its companion volume provide a concise, but complete account of all the relevant cases since 1789 with sophisticated scholarly analysis. It is by far the best introduction I have seen to all that the Supreme Court has ever said about church and state. Hitchcock presents difficult and controversial material in a fair-minded manner, and the treatment of cases is remarkably free of polemic. A valuable and unique contribution to the field."-Gerard V. Bradley, University of Notre Dame "Hitchcock covers a tremendous amount of American legal history and does so with remarkable clarity and brevity. His arguments are nuanced and always thought-provoking. The book compels a rethinking of prevailing legal doctrines and thus has the potential to have a significant impact on the continuing debate on the constitutional relationships between religion

Patrick Deneen is Associate Professor of Government and the inaugural Markos and Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis Chair of Hellenic Studies at Georgetown University. He has also taught at Princeton University. He is the author of The Odyssey of Political Theory and a number of articles on ancient and American political thought. The American political reformer Herbert Croly wrote, "For better or worse, democracy cannot be disentangled from an aspiration toward human perfectibility." Democratic Faith is at once a trenchant analysis and a powerful critique of this underlying assumption that informs democratic theory. Patrick Deneen argues that among democracy's most ardent supporters there is an oft-expressed belief in the need to "transform" human beings in order to reconcile the sometimes disappointing reality of human self-interest with the democratic ideal of selfless commitment. This "transformative impulse" is frequently couched in religious language, such as the need for political "redemption." This is all the more striking given the frequent accompanying condemnation of traditional religious belief that informs the "democratic faith.? At the same time, because so often this democratic ideal fails to materialize, democratic faith is often subject to a particularly intense form of disappointment. A mutually reinforcing cycle of faith and disillusionment is frequently exhibited by those who profess a democratic faith--in effect imperiling democratic commitments due to the cynicism of its most fervent erstwhile supporters. Deneen argues that democracy is ill-served by such faith. Instead, he proposes a form of "democratic realism" that recognizes democracy not as a regime with aspirations to perfection, but that justifies democracy as the regime most appropriate for imperfect humans. If democratic faith aspires to transformation, democratic realism insists on the central importance of humility, hope, and charity. "This book offers a serious philosophical and historical basis for current democratic theory. It makes a valuable contribution to the topic of religion and politics and is worthy of careful study. It is well written and immensely readable." "Following in the footsteps of Christopher Lasch, [Patrick Deneen] is concerned to expose what he perceives as the ill-placed object of the democratic faithful -- a trust in human capacities for self-government and progress so perfectionist that it entails the transformation of humans into the divine creatures they can never be.… Unlike so much Christian commentary on democracy, Deneen pursues his critique not as prolegomena for the advocacy of an alternative faith but as a way of proposing a 'chastened' democratic faith, one that might count him among the faithful."---J. Ronald Engel, Journal of Religion "Whether they be 'deliberative liberals,' whose confidence in rationality, science, and technique inspires their democratic quest, or 'agonistic democrats,' those animated by a foundational belief in the citizenship-forming capacity of conflict, these true believers insist on the possibility of profound social transformation with a hope that leans far more on faith than on empirical evidence. Deneen's probing of the origins of this faith is brilliant--an exacting, at times exciting venture into pivotal texts.... What we all need, Deneen implies, is not the absence of faith but a better faith, one that clarifies vision, forges better ties, forces a different reading of our past, and takes us down, down, into the depths of who we, as Americans, as Westerners, and as human beings are."---Eric Miller, Books & Culture "This is a powerful and poignant work in that it refines and deepens contemporary democratic theory. It literally resurrects the perennial wisdom of Reinhold Niebuhr and Christopher Lasch for serious democrats in a fascinating dialogue with Plato, Tocqueville, and Rousseau. Its relevance for our time resounds loudly."-Cornel West, Princeton University, aut

Joshua Mitchellis Professor of Government at Georgetown University, where he teaches the history of political thought. This book is an exploration of Plato's Republic that bypasses arcane scholarly debates. Plato's Fable provides refreshing insight into what, in Plato's view, is the central problem of life: the mortal propensity to adopt defective ways of answering the question of how to live well. How, in light of these tendencies, can humankind be saved? Joshua Mitchell discusses the question in unprecedented depth by examining one of the great books of Western civilization. He draws us beyond the ancients/moderns debate, and beyond the notion that Plato's Republic is best understood as shedding light on the promise of discursive democracy. Instead, Mitchell argues, the question that ought to preoccupy us today is neither "reason" nor "discourse," but rather "imitation." To what extent is man first and foremost an "imitative" being? This, Mitchell asserts, is the subtext of the great political and foreign policy debates of our times. Plato's Fable is not simply a work of textual exegesis. It is an attempt to move debates within political theory beyond their current location. Mitchell recovers insights about the depth of the problem of mortal imitation from Plato's magnificent work, and seeks to explicate the meaning of Plato's central claim--that "only philosophy can save us." "Plato's Fable is . . . a well researched and eloquently expressed work of scholarship, and as such would be a valuable tool for any student of ancient philosophy in particular along with moral, metaphysical and political philosophy in general."---Kenneth Royce Moore, The Philosophical Quarterly "This book represents a singularly original, provocative, and profound interpretation of Plato's Republic. Moreover, it poses a fundamental challenge to contemporary assumptions about the mutability of human nature. A tour de force."-Patrick Deneen, Georgetown University "Mitchell encourages us to read a very familiar text in a new light. His book is rare in that it neither places itself in a particular camp of scholarship, nor ignores the thinking of others. I know of no other book like this one."-Jean Bethke Elshtain, the University of Chicago

David Novak is J. Richard and Dorothy Shiff Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the author of eleven books, including Covenantal Rights (Princeton), which won the 2000 American Academy of Religion Award for best book in constructive religious thought. The Jewish Social Contract begins by asking how a traditional Jew can participate politically and socially and in good faith in a modern democratic society, and ends by proposing a broad, inclusive notion of secularity. David Novak takes issue with the view--held by the late philosopher John Rawls and his followers--that citizens of a liberal state must, in effect, check their religion at the door when discussing politics in a public forum. Novak argues that in a "liberal democratic state, members of faith-based communities--such as tradition-minded Jews and Christians--ought to be able to adhere to the broad political framework wholly in terms of their own religious tradition and convictions, and without setting their religion aside in the public sphere. Novak shows how social contracts emerged, rooted in biblical notions of covenant, and how they developed in the rabbinic, medieval, and "modern periods. He offers suggestions as to how Jews today can best negotiate the modern social contract while calling upon non-Jewish allies to aid them in the process. The Jewish Social Contract will prove an enlightening and innovative contribution to the ongoing debate about the role of religion in liberal democracies. "In his ambitious new book, The Jewish Social Contract, David Novak restores the nexus between theology and politics implicit in covenantalism and social contract. . . . [The book] provides a rationale for how orthodox religious people might accept the legitimacy of the democratic, delimited secular orders in which they live."---Alan Mittleman, First Things "David Novak provides a brilliant reconstruction of Jewish legal and political thought from the Bible to Spinoza and Mendelssohn. And this reconstruction is also an argument: that religious Jews (and by extension, religious Christians), if they understand their heritage, will make the best citizens of a pluralist and secular democratic state. At the same time, Novak also argues that ideological secularists do not make good pluralist citizens. Readers who don't agree with that last point will still find this a book with which it is a pleasure to disagree--and also an education."-Michael Walzer, Institute for Advanced Study "This book breaks important new ground. Novak's thoughtful Jewish voice is welcome and significant."-Peter C. Meilaender, Houghton College, author of Toward a Theory of Immigration "Novak's analysis of the biblical and rabbinic sources is erudite and thought provoking."-Suzanne Last Stone, Yeshiva University

Peter Bauer (Lord Bauer) iwas Professor Emeritus of Economics, London School of Economics, University of London. The author of many books, he was Fellow of the British Academy and Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He died in 2002. Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, is Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. Peter Bauer, a pioneer of development economics, is an incisive thinker whose work continues to influence fields from political science to history to anthropology. As Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen writes in the introduction to this book, "the originality, force, and extensive bearing of his writings have been quite astonishing." This collection of Bauer's essays reveals the full power and range of his thought as well as the central concern that underlies so much of his diverse work: the impact of people's conduct, their cultural institutions, and the policies of their governments on economic progress. The papers here cover pressing and controversial issues, including the process that transforms a subsistence economy into an exchange economy, the reputed correlation between poverty and population density, the alleged responsibility of the West for Third World poverty, the often counterproductive results of foreign aid, and the effects of egalitarian policies on individual freedoms. Bauer addresses these and other matters with clarity, verve, and wit, combining his deep understanding of economic theory and methodology with keen insights into human nature. The book is a penetrating account of how to develop a prosperous economy alongside a free and fair society and a stimulating introduction to the work of a man who has done so much to shape our modern understanding of developing economies and of the relationship of economics to the other social sciences. "This selection of essays will give readers a wonderful opportunity to learn about the rich world of cognizance and analysis erected by one of the great architects of political economy. I feel privileged to be able to offer this letter of invitation."--From the introduction by Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate in economics "For half a century, Peter Bauer has been a towering iconoclast among development economists, consistently unafraid to demolish conventional wisdom with penetrating insight. . . . [T]his excellent collection of essays. . . [is] a wonderful introduction to a mind that takes no prisoners." "Whether or not the reader agrees with [Bauer's] positions, they are carefully and thoughtfully argued." "[Bauer] has also been interested in explaining the Zeitgeist which produced-and in many cases continues to project-the influential ideas and policies which are in such total disregard of readily observable reality. It is these reflections, contained in a number of essays in this book, which are likely to resonate with the general reader observing the contemporary world scene."---Deepak Lal, Times Literary Supplement "The essays here contain many of the key elements of Professor Bauer's thought, which I regard as an oasis of common sense in a desert of muddled thinking.... He goes after weak and self-serving explanations with commendable vigor."-Richard Epstein, University of Chicago

Sotirios A. Barber is Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of On What the Constitution Means and The Constitution of Judicial Power, and coeditor of Constitutional Politics (Princeton). Welfare and the Constitution defends a largely forgotten understanding of the U.S. Constitution: the positive or "welfarist" view of Abraham Lincoln and the Federalist Papers. Sotirios Barber challenges conventional scholarship by arguing that the government has a constitutional duty to pursue the well-being of all the people. He shows that James Madison was right in saying that the "real welfare" of the people must be the "supreme object" of constitutional government. With conceptual rigor set in fluid prose, Barber opposes the shared view of America's Right and Left: that the federal constitutional duties of public officials are limited to respecting negative liberties and maintaining processes of democratic choice. Barber contends that no historical, scientific, moral, or metaethical argument can favor today's negative constitutionalism over Madison's positive understanding. He urges scholars to develop a substantive account of constitutional ends for use in critiquing Supreme Court decisions, the policies of elected officials, and the attitudes of the larger public. He defends the philosophical possibility of such theories while also offering a theory of his own as a starting point for the discussion the book will provoke. This theory holds, for example, that voucher schemes which drain resources from secular public schools to schools that would train citizens to submit to religious authority are unconstitutional; First Amendment issues aside, such schemes defeat what is undeniably an element of the "real welfare" of the people, individually and collectively: the capacity to think critically for oneself. "In this bold book, the case for a 'welfarist' constitution is made carefully and rigorously. Going back to Madison and The Federalist Papers, as well as reinterpreting canonical cases, Barber describes a way of interpreting the US Constitution that departs significantly from the prevailing view. He provides a plethora of sources and rich documentation. . . . [T]his book will provoke much debate among legal scholars." "[A] model of the way one might expect constitutional theory to be done."---Ken I. Kersch, Political Science Quarterly "Barber elegantly (and convincingly) demonstrates that, once negative constitutionalists impose on government a duty to advance the public welfare by punishing theft and fraud and by enforcing contracts, they concede that there is a constitutional duty to help the less fortunate. Issues of how to do so then become issues of practical judgment and political prudence."-Walter F. Murphy, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Emeritus, Princeton University "Contrary to the negative-rights vision of the Constitution that pervades the thinking of liberal and conservative constitutional theory, this superb book demonstrates that the general welfare is a primary obligation of government under the Constitution."-Ronald Kahn, James Monroe Professor of Politics, Oberlin College "In this brilliant book Sotirios Barber follows The Federalist, arguing for a broad and robust understanding of what it means to promote the general welfare."-Jeffrey K. Tulis, University of Texas, Austin "This book is extraordinarily important. It is the most ambitious and realized work of constitutional theory that argues for a positive benefits model of the Constitution. It is also exceptionally well written. The prose is forceful, engaging, and eloquent; the tone is serious and commanding, though disarmingly conversational and accessible. Barber's arguments are at once boldly unconventional and yet derived from traditional sources like Lincoln and The Federalist Papers."-James E. Fleming, Fordham University School of Law "Welfare and the Constitution engages in extensive, subtle, and

"Winner of the 2004 Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, Constructive-Reflective Studies Category, American Academy of Religion" Jeffrey Stout is Professor of Religion at Princeton University. He is the author of Ethics after Babel (Princeton) as well as essays and reviews in such journals as The Monist, New Literary History, and The Journal of Religion. He is a contributing editor of the Journal of Religious Ethics. Do religious arguments have a public role in the post-9/11 world? Can we hold democracy together despite fractures over moral issues? Are there moral limits on the struggle against terror? Asking how the citizens of modern democracy can reason with one another, this book carves out a controversial position between those who view religious voices as an anathema to democracy and those who believe democratic society is a moral wasteland because such voices are not heard. Drawing inspiration from Whitman, Dewey, and Ellison, Jeffrey Stout sketches the proper role of religious discourse in a democracy. He discusses the fate of virtue, the legacy of racism, the moral issues implicated in the war on terrorism, and the objectivity of ethical norms. Against those who see no place for religious reasoning in the democratic arena, Stout champions a space for religious voices. But against increasingly vocal antiliberal thinkers, he argues that modern democracy can provide a moral vision and has made possible such moral achievements as civil rights precisely because it allows a multitude of claims to be heard. Stout's distinctive pragmatism reconfigures the disputed area where religious thought, political theory, and philosophy meet. Charting a path beyond the current impasse between secular liberalism and the new traditionalism, Democracy and Tradition asks whether we have the moral strength to continue as a democratic people as it invigorates us to retrieve our democratic virtues from very real threats to their practice. "[Stout's] vision of democracy is compelling, simultaneously inspiring and comforting. Stout speaks to us as citizens, asks us to read him as citizens, and encourages us to reflect on what sorts of citizens our theologies invite us to be."---Lauren F. Winner, Books & Culture "Stout invites us into a vigorous local democracy in which kids play soccer and a diverse and dedicated group of neighbors team up to protect their community from the encroachment of a large, bureaucratic medical center. . . . Though Stout is fully aware that the social reality is often more bleak, he confronts injustice with a passion born out of his awareness that something much better is not only possible but already exists. If his underlying optimism about American democracy is right, it's hard to refuse his invitation to religious people to participate in it."---Robin W. Lovin, The Christian Century "Stout's book offers many sophisticated and well-argued insights on liberal political philosophy, Christian theology, and the relations between them. It combines historical analysis with illuminating observations regarding current affairs. Its project--to reconcile democracy and religion--is both theoretically fascinating and politically urgent."---Yaacov Ben-Shemesh, Social Theory and Practice "Stout anchors his argument on the question of what role religious premises should play in the reasoning citizens use when they make and defend political positions. His provocative answer is that citizens of a democracy have the right to freedom of thought and expression that includes whatever religious motivations they might have." "[A] book that is important by any reckoning. . . . [It] will significantly advance discussion of liberalism and democracy. . . . At its strongest, Stout's case refreshes with its view of democracy-not simply a 'notion' but a robust tradition that none should abandon."---Craig R. Hovey, Theology Today "Appearing at a time when religion and politics 'run perpetually into one another' with great v

David L. Tubbs is a fellow of the Witherspoon Institute and assistant professor of politics at King's College in New York City. He is former associate editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence. Has contemporary liberalism's devotion to individual liberty come at the expense of our society's obligations to children? Divorce is now easy to obtain, and access to everything from violent movies to sexually explicit material is zealously protected as freedom of speech. But what of the effects on the young, with their special needs and vulnerabilities? Freedom's Orphans seeks a way out of this predicament. Poised to ignite fierce debate within and beyond academia, it documents the increasing indifference of liberal theorists and jurists to what were long deemed core elements of children's welfare. Evaluating large changes in liberal political theory and jurisprudence, particularly American liberalism after the Second World War, David Tubbs argues that the expansion of rights for adults has come at a high and generally unnoticed cost. In championing new "lifestyle" freedoms, liberal theorists and jurists have ignored, forgotten, or discounted the competing interests of children. To substantiate his arguments, Tubbs reviews important currents of liberal thought, including the ideas of Isaiah Berlin, Ronald Dworkin, and Susan Moller Okin. He also analyzes three key developments in American civil liberties: the emergence of the "right to privacy" in sexual and reproductive matters; the abandonment of the traditional standard for obscenity prosecutions; and the gradual acceptance of the doctrine of "strict separation" between religion and public life. "Tubbs has written a fine, valuable polemic, one that rightly highlights the precarious place of children in our promiscuous age."---Dorothea Israel Wobon, Claremont Review of Books "The trenchant questions that Freedom's Orphans raises about contemporary liberalism's potentially misplaced priorities are ones that readers of any political orientation would do well to consider." "Bound to be highly controversial, this book makes important and much needed points, and does so with first-rate scholarly analysis. By defending traditional and indeed sensible positions on marriage, family, children, and procreation that are far from 'politically correct,' David Tubbs offers a refreshing and needed supplement to the positions commonly taken in academia."-Steven D. Smith, University of San Diego "Not only will this book stimulate and inform scholars in a range of disciplines-from social science, history, and political philosophy to child development-but the general public should and will also take an interest. In clear terms, and through careful, balanced, and fruitful research, Tubbs illuminates the weaknesses and dangers arising from the constitutional jurisprudence of such figures as John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin."-Daniel N. Robinson, Georgetown University

Christopher Wolfe is Professor of Political Science at Marquette University. He is the author of How to Interpret the Constitution, Judicial Activism, and The Rise of Modern Judicial Review. The role of the United States Supreme Court has been deeply controversial throughout American history. Should the Court undertake the task of guarding a wide variety of controversial and often unenumerated rights? Or should it confine itself to enforcing specific constitutional provisions, leaving other issues (even those of rights) to the democratic process? That Eminent Tribunal brings together a distinguished group of legal scholars and political scientists who argue that the Court's power has exceeded its appropriate bounds, and that sound republican principles require greater limits on that power. They reach this conclusion by an interesting variety of paths, and despite varied political convictions. Some of the essays debate the explicit claims to constitutional authority laid out by the Supreme Court itself in Planned Parenthood v. Casey and similar cases, and others focus on the defenses of judicial authority found commonly in legal scholarship (e.g., the allegedly superior moral reasoning of judges, or judges' supposed track record of superior political decision making). The authors find these arguments wanting and contend that the principles of republicanism and the contemporary form of judicial review exercised by the Supreme Court are fundamentally incompatible. The contributors include Hadley Arkes, Gerard V. Bradley, George Liebmann, Michael McConnell, Robert F. Nagel, Jack Wade Nowlin, Steven D. Smith, Jeremy Waldron, Keith E. Whittington, Christopher Wolfe, and Michael P. Zuckert. "This is a very impressive collection of essays by a group of scholars who are at, or entering, the peak of their careers-and stars and superstars they are. From a variety of perspectives, but with a shared spirit, they analyze the way the contemporary Supreme Court understands judicial power and its role in the American polity. Rather than harness the courts, they seek to breed a better sort of justice, or less metaphorically, to develop a concept of judicial power and of the place of constitutional law within the polity that will in the long run result in the repair of the wrongs they discover."-James R. Stoner, Jr., Louisiana State University, author of Common-Law Liberty: Rethinking American Constitutionalism "This is one of the few academic books that leave the reader asking for more rather than less. It is by a group of leading scholars who lament the judicial activism of federal courts over the past half-century, and particularly since Roe v. Wade. The variety and trenchancy of its arguments make it a significant contribution to the scholarly, and popular, debate over judicial power."-Charles R. Kesler, Claremont Institute, Editor of the Claremont Review of Books

Neil M. Gorsuch is an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The Future of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia provides the most thorough overview of the ethical and legal issues raised by assisted suicide and euthanasia--as well as the most comprehensive argument against their legalization--ever published. In clear terms accessible to the general reader, Neil Gorsuch thoroughly assesses the strengths and weaknesses of leading contemporary ethical arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia. He explores evidence and case histories from the Netherlands and Oregon, where the practices have been legalized. He analyzes libertarian and autonomy-based arguments for legalization as well as the impact of key U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the debate. And he examines the history and evolution of laws and attitudes regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia in American society. After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia, Gorsuch builds a nuanced, novel, and powerful moral and legal argument against legalization, one based on a principle that, surprisingly, has largely been overlooked in the debate--the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is always wrong. At the same time, the argument Gorsuch develops leaves wide latitude for individual patient autonomy and the refusal of unwanted medical treatment and life-sustaining care, permitting intervention only in cases where an intention to kill is present. Those on both sides of the assisted suicide question will find Gorsuch's analysis to be a thoughtful and stimulating contribution to the debate about one of the most controversial public policy issues of our day. "I believe that anyone who is concerned about the issue must engage with [Gorsuch's] arguments."---Raymond Tallis, Times Literary Supplement "Gorsuch lucidly lays out the key ethical and philosophical arguments on both sides. . . . [This] is the most important book published so far in consideration of ethical and legal issues."---Kevin Yuill, Spiked Review of Books "The author provides a thorough overview of the ethical and legal issues raised by assisted suicide and euthanasia, as well as the most comprehensive argument against their legalization." "Gorsuch reviews the case law and the range of ethical and legal issues surrounding assisted suicide and offers a strong argument against legalization of these practices, even as he considers both positions in the debate." "For those who need insight into the part played by legislators and courts of justice in recent euthanasia discussions, Neil M. Gorsuch's book . . . is an excellent source. . . . [C]omprehensive and well argued."---Theo A. Boer, Journal of Religious Ethics "Neil M. Gorsuch builds a powerful moral and legal argument against [assisted suicide's] legalization, one based on a principle that has largely been overlooked in the debate--the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is wrong." "Thoroughly researched. . . . Gorsuch is especially successful when exploring the relevant legal cases raised by assisted-suicide and euthanasia advocacy."---Wesley J. Smith, First Things "Goruch's book is an exceptional contribution to a debate that is both significant and topical. Every reader, whether or not ultimately persuaded by his arguments, will emerge better equipped to tackle the profound questions surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide. it is essential reading for advocates and opponents alike."---Wendy E. Hiscox, Studies in Christian Ethics "Justice Gorsuch's first published monograph is a philosophically informed argument for the inherent dignity of human life. His prose is clear, his insight powerful. They demonstrate a prescient understanding of the direction the law may go in the end-of-life debate."---Christopher J. Wolfe, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly "A thoughtful, sober, and thorough work, which should be

Daniel N. Robinson is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University. He is Faculty Fellow in Philosophy at Oxford University where he has lectured annually since 1991. He is the author or editor of numerous books including Wild Beasts and Idle Humors: The Insanity Defense from Antiquity to the Present and Aristotle's Psychology. How should a prize be awarded after a horse race? Should it go to the best rider, the best person, or the one who finishes first? To what extent are bystanders blameworthy when they do nothing to prevent harm? Are there any objective standards of moral responsibility with which to address such perennial questions? In this fluidly written and lively book, Daniel Robinson takes on the prodigious task of setting forth the contours of praise and blame. He does so by mounting an important and provocative new defense of a radical theory of moral realism and offering a critical appraisal of prevailing alternatives such as determinism and behaviorism and of their conceptual shortcomings. The version of moral realism that arises from Robinson's penetrating inquiry--an inquiry steeped in Aristotelian ethics but deeply informed by modern scientific knowledge of human cognition--is independent of cognition and emotion. At the same time, Robinson carefully explores how such human attributes succeed or fail in comprehending real moral properties. Through brilliant analyses of constitutional and moral luck, of biosocial and genetic versions of psychological determinism, and of relativistic-anthropological accounts of variations in moral precepts, he concludes that none of these conceptions accounts either for the nature of moral properties or the basis upon which they could be known. Ultimately, the theory that Robinson develops preserves moral properties even while acknowledging the conditions that undermine the powers of human will. "The richness of this work cannot be comprehended in one reading. Whether the reader agrees or not with the author, one has much to learn from the profundity of Robinson's insight into the framing of moral judgment. The reader comes away feeling that this book is a prolegomenon to an expanded version of one or more themes treated within these pages."---Jude P. Dougherty, Review of Metaphysics "This book is a significant contribution to the analytic study of ethics, to the history of ethics, and to the growing field of philosophical psychology. It also offers a hope of common ground between those who study ethics in the analytic way and those who approach it in a way that makes contact with traditional metaphysical outlooks such as that of Aristotle. All serious writers in ethics will want to test their own views in the light of what Robinson has to say. The book should be in all college and university libraries; but it is, I think, so well written that it will attract many nonacademic readers who are interested in ethics. Robinson's prose is correct, clear, supple, elegant, and witty; if only all philosophers could write as well as this unusual psychologist/philosopher/classicist!"-Edward Pols, Bowdoin College "Praise and Blame is a terrific book that will be read with pleasure and profit by scholars in ethics, political theory, law, and related fields. It will appeal both to specialists and to sophisticated nonspecialists. People who are looking for an original take on perennial philosophical questions won't be disappointed. At the same time, readers who are interested in learning what the best classical and contemporary thinkers have had to say about the freedom of the will and its relationship to the moral evaluation of human conduct will find the book more than instructive."-Robert P. George, Princeton University

Timothy P. Jackson is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at The Candler School of Theology at Emory University. He is the author of Love Disconsoled: Meditations on Christian Charity. This book explores the relation between agape (or Christian charity) and social justice. Timothy Jackson defines agape as the central virtue in Christian ethical thought and action and applies his insights to three concrete issues: political violence, forgiveness, and abortion. Taking his primary cue from the New Testament while drawing extensively from contemporary theology and philosophy, Jackson identifies three features of Christian charity: unconditional commitment to the good of others, equal regard for others' well-being, and passionate service open to self-sacrifice for the sake of others. Charity, prescribed by Jesus for his disciples and named by Saint Paul as the "greatest" theological virtue, is contrasted with various accounts of justice. Jackson argues that agape is not trumped by justice or other goods. Rather, agape precedes justice: without the work of love, society would not produce persons capable of merit, demerit, and contract, the elements of most modern conceptions of justice. Jackson then considers the implications of his ideas for several questions: the nature of God, the relation between Christian love and political violence, the place of forgiveness, and the morality of abortion. Arguing that agapic love is to be construed as a gift of grace as well as a divine commandment, Jackson concludes that love is the "eternal life" that makes temporal existence possible and thus the "first" Christian virtue. Though foremost a contribution to Christian ethics, Jackson's arguments and the issues he takes up will find a broader readership. "Jackson is a first-rate scholar who writes clearly and gracefully. Any summary of his argument in Priority of Love can hardly do justice to the facility with which he handles the controversies on each of his major themes and to his provocative sub-themes."---Michael J. Kerlin, America "This book is a passionate, learned, and illuminating inquiry into what Christian love means in a world that largely rejects it. It is reminiscent of the best work of the late Paul Ramsey-in its commitment to the priority of charity in ethics, in its sensitive handling of the relationship between love and justice, in the seriousness with which it discusses issues like warfare and abortion, in its intellectual courage, and in the author's determination to think for himself. Reading Jackson always teaches me something new about the tradition he represents. As readers of his first book, Love Disconsoled, will know, the steadiness of his basic convictions does not prevent him from surprising us with novel reasoning and bold stands. Jackson must now be counted among the premier scholars of Christian ethics in his generation."-Jeffrey Stout, Princeton University

Keith E. Whittington is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton University. Why colleges and universities live or die by free speech Free speech is under attack at colleges and universities today, as critics on and off campus challenge the value of freewheeling debate. In Speak Freely, Keith Whittington argues that universities must protect and encourage vigorous free speech because it goes to the heart of their mission to foster freedom of thought, ideological diversity, and tolerance. Examining hot-button issues such as trigger warnings, safe spaces, hate speech, disruptive protests, speaker disinvitations, and the use of social media by faculty, Speak Freely describes the dangers of empowering campus censors to limit speech and enforce orthodoxy. It explains why universities must make space for voices from both the Left and Right. And it points out how better understanding why the university lives or dies by free speech can help guide students, faculty, administrators, and alumni when faced with unpopular, hateful, or dangerous speech. Timely and vitally important, Speak Freely shows why universities can succeed only by fostering more free speech, more free thought-and a greater tolerance for both. "[A] sophisticated and coolheaded defense of free speech."-Peter Berkowitz, Real Clear Politics "Involve[s] readers in the pleasures of confronting a difficult problem, treating the dangerous views of determined adversaries with an open mind and proceeding with greater confidence as a result."-Jonathan Marks, Wall Street Journal "Cogent and compelling. . . . Speak Freely supplies clarity and good sense to a subject that has been receiving a lot more heat than light."-Glenn C. Altschuler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "The best of the recent books on free speech and higher education." -James Stoner, Law and Liberty "A timely defense of intellectual debate and critical thinking. . . . In the current divisive political climate, Whittington shows why safeguarding the civil exchange of diverse ideas is an urgent need."-Kirkus Reviews

Amitai Etzioni is University Professor at The George Washington University. A past President of the American Sociological Association, he is the author of nineteen books, including The Moral Dimension (The Free Press), The Limits of Privacy (Basic Books), and The New Golden Rule (Basic Books), which won the Simon Wiesenthal Center's 1997 Tolerance Book Award. He was recently awarded the Sociological Practice Association's Outstanding Contribution Award and the Seventh James Wilbur Award for Extraordinary Contributions to the Appreciation and Advancement of Human Values. Amitai Etzioni is one of the most influential social and political thinkers of our day, a man synonymous with the ideas of communitarianism. In this book, Etzioni challenges those who argue that diversity or multiculturalism is about to become the governing American creed. On the surface, America may seem like a fractured mosaic, but the country is in reality far more socially monochromatic and united than most observers have claimed. In the first chapter, Etzioni presents a great deal of evidence that Americans, whites and African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans, new immigrants and decedents of the Pilgrims, continue to share the same core of basic American values and aspirations. He goes on to show that we need not merely a civil but also a good society, one that nurtures virtues. He assesses key social institutions that can serve such a society ranging from revived holidays to greater reliance on public shaming. The most effective sources of bonding and of shared ideas about virtue, he insists throughout, come from the community, not from the state. Etzioni also challenges moral relativists who argue that we have no right to "impose" our moral values on other societies. He responds to those who fear that a cohesive community must also be one that is oppressive, authoritarian, and exclusive. And he explores and assesses possible new sources and definitions of community, including computer-mediated communities and stakeholding in corporations. By turns provocative and reassuring, the chapters here cut to the heart of several of our most pressing social and political issues. The book is further evidence of Etzioni's enduring place in contemporary thought. "Insightful. . . . Etzioni is always thoughtful and deliberate." "Etzioni's liberal communitarianism addresses a serious problem, namely how to arrest the atomisation of modern societies and improve the quality not only of citizenship but of life in general."---Bhikhu Parekh, Times Higher Education Supplement "Written in an uncomplicated style, The Monochrome Society is a significant contribution."---Sean Donlon, Sunday Independent "A series of absorbing and significant reflections on how virtue-sustaining communities may be possible under modern conditions that, at first glance, seem stacked against them . . . A robust defense of communitarianism. . ."---Jonathan Marks, The Responsive Community "A readable collection of essays . . . Sometimes diffuse, more often enlightening: essays that make good individual points and together form a social philosophy worth considering." "Even readers unsympathetic with communitarian ideas will find these well-thought-out and well-written essays thought provoking." "These wide-ranging essays are full of fresh insights and challenging ideas. Etzioni takes us on a voyage of discovery, in an open-minded spirit of study and exploration. He suggests ways of thinking about specific policy areas, including crime, child protection, and the Internet, as well as basic issues in moral and social theory, such as making cross-cultural moral judgments. Anyone interested in communitarian thinking will find much refreshment in this book."-Philip Selznick, University of California, Berkeley "These essays apply sound sociological reasoning to such themes as diversity, human rights, and the maintenance of social norms. They are very well written, avoid

Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey are Senior Fellows at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., and Research Professors at Furman University. They live in Greenville, South Carolina, with their three children. Website jbstorey.com A compelling exploration of how our pursuit of happiness makes us unhappy We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change-even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. In Why We Are Restless, Benjamin and Jenna Storey offer a profound and beautiful reflection on the roots of this malaise and examine how we might begin to cure ourselves. Drawing on the insights of Montaigne, Pascal, Rousseau, and Tocqueville, Why We Are Restless explores the modern vision of happiness that leads us on, and the disquiet that follows it like a lengthening shadow. In the sixteenth century, Montaigne articulated an original vision of human life that inspired people to see themselves as individuals dedicated to seeking contentment in the here and now, but Pascal argued that we cannot find happiness through pleasant self-seeking, only anguished God-seeking. Rousseau later tried and failed to rescue Montaigne's worldliness from Pascal's attack. Steeped in these debates, Tocqueville visited the United States in 1831 and, observing a people "restless in the midst of their well-being," discovered what happens when an entire nation seeks worldly contentment-and finds mostly discontent. Arguing that the philosophy we have inherited, despite pretending to let us live as we please, produces remarkably homogenous and unhappy lives, Why We Are Restless makes the case that finding true contentment requires rethinking our most basic assumptions about happiness. "I have read many critiques of liberalism, but none so original as Why We Are Restless."---Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal "[Benjamin and Jenna Storey's] book is an education in the irony and complexity of the modern quest for contentment, and in the pre-modern sources required for any understanding of how to actually achieve meaningful contentment. . . . I can't recommend it enough."---Yuval Levin, National Review "[A] terrific book. Hard to understand modern secular culture if you don't know anything about Montaigne."---Timothy Keller, New York Times bestselling author "Throughout this excellent book, the Storeys provide a model for how the thought of the past can be made vital."---Diana Schaub, Claremont Review of Books "Unapologetically earnest . . . brave and countercultural."---Joe Moran, Times Higher Education "Written in an engaging and compact style, [Why We Are Restless] is essential reading for all observers of the persistent, often hidden, but increasingly visible unhappiness of contemporary life. Benjamin and Jenna Storey have done us the service of restoring some of the deepest arguments about human happiness that lie at the roots of modern politics."---Adam Thomas, Public Discourse ""Why We Are Restless is a rich analysis of why we are unhappy and what we might begin to do about it.""---Nathaniel Peters, Law & Liberty " Beautifully written and carefully argued, it's as searching as it is subtle. . . . [Why We Are Restless] does a magnificent job of summarizing four hugely important thinkers with impressive clarity, wit, and brevity and raises some profound questions about the modern quest for happiness in the process."---Andrew Wilson, Gospel Coalition "A powerful case that the invention of 'immanent contentment' in early modern France has everything to do with the infinite restlessness of the postmodern United States."---Delaney Thull, Fare Forward "A great read for pastors, theologians, and Christians who want to think deeply and critically about the culture."---Stephen Roberts, Modern Reformation "Culturally significant. . . . this study is a rich resource fo