What We Can't Not Know: A Guide - Hardcover

Budziszewski, J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 189062649X ISBN 13: 9781890626495

Publisher: UNKNO, 2003

Synopsis

J. Budziszewski’s newest book is about the lost world of common truths—what we all really know about right and wrong.

We are passing through an eerie phase of history. The things that everyone really knows are treated as unheard of, and the principles of decency are attacked as indecent. Exposing the emptiness of contemporary moral fashions, Budziszewski explores the rules of human conduct that we can’t not know.

Budziszewski’s purpose is to "bolster the confidence of plain people in the rational foundations of their common moral sense." He shows that certain moral truths—"as real as arithmetic"—are part of the equipment of a rational mind. They are not only true for all, but at some level known to all. Yet, paradoxically, they are under attack. He explains why.

Addressing "the persuaded, the half-persuaded, and the wish-I-were-persuaded," Budziszewski shows the unanimity of Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish traditions about these common truths. But what about the unpersuaded—those who deny the reality of the moral law, who are on the other side of the great dispute over the basic norms for human life? Civility, he insists, does not require that this unprecedented gulf be papered over. What’s needed are charity and clarity, which he provides in abundance.

"A few times in a generation, if we are fortunate, moral intelligence finds a voice as lucid, engaging, and relentless as that of J. Budziszewski," says Richard John Neuhaus, publisher of First Things.

About this title

From the Author

This book is about the lost world of common moral truths -- what we all really know about right and wrong. I hope to achieve two things. The first is to bolster the confidence of plain people in the rational foundations of their common moral sense. This requires not only explaining what these foundations are, but also explaining why this common sense is under attack -- especially explaining how it is even possible for what we all really know to be denied, and why this doesn't mean that isn't really known. The second goal is to present the explanation in such a way that all of the people who think and write about the common truths can achieve a firmer alliance in their defense. This is necessary because the traditions which do affirm the common truths speak in such different ways that the unanimity of their affirmation is obscured.

My goal is less to present my own theory (though of course I have one) than to defend the universal moral inheritance of the human race. Because many are hostile to this universal inheritance, I expect to hit a few nerves. That may make it a bit harder than usual to know whether the more hysterical sort of reviewer is reacting to what I've actually said, or merely expressing fury against things like the Ten Commandments. For this reason, I encourage potential readers to read Amazon's samples from the book and decide for themselves what they think. Happy reading!

From the Inside Flap

We are passing through an eerie phase of history in which the things that everyone really knows are treated as unheard of, a time in which the elements of common decency are themselves attacked as indecent. But J. Budziszewski, author of the acclaimed Revenge of Conscience, sets out to explore the lost world of common moral truths—what we all really know about right and wrong.

Bolstering the confidence of plain people in their common moral sense, Budziszewski explains its rational foundations and why it is under attack. His bracing account prepares us to address the uncertain, the disoriented, and the self-deceived among our neighbors in a way which may bring them back to moral sanity.

"A gentle but incisive diagnosis of our daily evasions and rationalizations." Russell Hittinger, University of Tulsa

Inside Back Flap

J. BUDZISZEWSKI is an associate professor of government and philosophy at the University of Texas. He is the author of The Revenge of Conscience: Politics and the Fall of Man, Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law, and How to Stay Christian in College.

"A few times in a generation, if we are fortunate, moral intelligence finds a voice as lucid, engaging, and relentless as that of J. Budziszewski." Richard John Neuhaus, Editor in Chief, First Things

Edition details

• Publisher: UNKNO
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 189062649X
• ISBN 13: 9781890626495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 264