The Age of Selfies: Reasoning About Rights When the Stakes Are Personal (Paperback)

Adam J. MacLeod (author)

£15.95

Paperback 168 Pages / Published: 29/01/2020

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Synopsis

This book diagnoses an unexamined cause of the incivility in our public discourse. Our most contentious controversies today are moral. We disagree not only about questions of efficiency and democracy and civil liberties but also about what is right to do and who we are becoming as a people. We have not yet understood the implications of this shift in public reasoning from discourse about political ideals to debates about moral imperatives. The book prescribes a way to educate ourselves and our young people how to disagree well. We are not able to engage in moral discourse effectively because our educational programs are still organized around obsolete principles of political neutrality. Meanwhile, our young people have learned to bend moral claims in service to self-authorship. Also, different groups of us look to different sources of moral truth. Further complicating our efforts, different generations use the same language to refer to different moral ideas. The book suggests principles for a practical education that is robustly moral, that will enable us to understand and overcome these new challenges. And it lays out a framework for flourishing together in society despite our radical differences.

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9781475854251
Number of pages: 168
Weight: 259 g
Dimensions: 220 x 152 x 12 mm

MEDIA REVIEWS

Adam MacLeod is the rare author who lives the principles he espouses in his newest book. I know this to be true because we have worked together as professors for many years. When Adam and I disagree on political and social issues, as we often do, he is ever the worthiest of opponents; fierce in the defense of his principles but gentle in friendship. I am honored to count Adam among my friends, and I highly recommend his book to anyone who seeks to elevate civil discourse in today's world. It is well worth the read.--Shirley Howell, Professor of Law, Faulkner University
The existence of free societies requires common moral standards that transcend the personal and subjective preoccupations of diverse people. While robust disagreements and controversies are natural and vital, denying natural-law moral standards subverts civil discourse and the foundations of liberty. Adam MacLeod's superb and timely book, The Age of Selfies, examines how our ability to reason together relies upon a civic friendship, goodwill, and trust among one another. The book reveals why moral education is crucial and what educational institutions and practices rooted in unshakable principles are needed to restore the contours of human flourishing.--David J. Theroux, Founder and President, Independent Institute; Founder and President, C.S. Lewis Society of California