Sacred Order/Social Order: The Crisis of the Officer Class: The Decline of the Tragic Sensibility

Philip Rieff earned recognition as one of the most profound social theorists of culture and authority of the twentieth century. Through such works as Freud: The Mind of the Moralist and The Triumph of the Therapeutic, he proved himself an incisive interpreter of Freud and his legacy. His work now culminates with the long-awaited trilogy, Sacred Order/Social Order, a three-volume work on social theory and contemporary culture.

In Volume 2, The Crisis of the Officer Class: The Death of the Tragic Sensibility, Phillip Rieff continues his assault against the deathworks of our modern age. Invoking his theory developed in Volume 1, he develops his critique of our current culture as distinguishable only by its rejection of any and all visions of sacred order.

Philip Rieff (1922–2006), Benjamin Franklin Professor of Sociology and University Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, was the author of the classic works Freud: Mind of the Moralist, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, and Fellow Teachers, and the editor of The Collected Papers of Sigmund Freud. Kenneth S. Piver is a psychiatrist in private practice in San Diego, California. Alan Woolfolk is Professor of Sociology, Associate Provost, and Director of Core Curriculum at Oglethorpe University.