Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and maps
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Part I St. Thomas Jefferson
- Part II Blacks and the pursuit of happiness
- Part III Yours for a better world
- Part IV A history of moral confusion
- 8 William James and Leo Strauss
- 9 The status of the good life
- 10 Choosing to be free
- Epilogue
- Appendix: tables with comments
- References
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
9 - The status of the good life
from Part IV - A history of moral confusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and maps
- List of tables
- List of boxes
- Acknowledgments
- Prologue
- Part I St. Thomas Jefferson
- Part II Blacks and the pursuit of happiness
- Part III Yours for a better world
- Part IV A history of moral confusion
- 8 William James and Leo Strauss
- 9 The status of the good life
- 10 Choosing to be free
- Epilogue
- Appendix: tables with comments
- References
- Index of names
- Index of subjects
Summary
There is something divine about you if you can put the case for injustice so strongly, and yet believe that right is better than wrong … But I do not see how I am to help you, witness my failure to convince you just now, when I thought I had demonstrated the superiority of justice in my conversation with Thrasymachus.
(Plato, Republic, II, 368)Without Nature or Plato or Aristotle or God to hand us our ideals, how do we know how to view good and evil? We must do what every thinking human being has done both before and after the rise of philosophy. You do not just accept whatever most people in your culture happen to believe. When I recommend Jefferson's ideals, they should carry no weight at all simply because you are an American and they were formulated by a revered American. Unless you find that they resonate with you, you have no good reason to adopt them or take pride in your nation's moral heritage. You should read widely, survey the diversity of ideals that human kind has developed, try to put yourself in their shoes, and reflect. Then you look within and ask certain questions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Where Have All the Liberals Gone?Race, Class, and Ideals in America, pp. 236 - 263Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008