Virtue and Voice: Habits of Mind for a Return to Civil Discourse

Civil society is losing its civility.

Many Americans think public manners and behavior have deteriorated, especially in public discourse about polarized political, moral, and cultural issues. But democracy and cultural progress require a robust civility in public discourse if they are to be successful endeavors. Our sharply divided world is in great need of a civility that facilitates respect, honor, and kindness toward ideological opponents.

The contributors to this edited volume represent philosophical, theological, psychological, historical, and sociological perspectives, providing analysis of intellectual virtue and vice as well as explorations of their application to specific problems in contemporary society. In acknowledging the current climate of contentious and ineffective civil discourse, Virtue & Voice highlights how the cultivation of intellectual virtue can renew our voices and heal the broken state of our public discourse.

Includes contributions from:

• Robert Audi
• Jason Baehr
• Christena S. Cleveland
• Peter C. Hill
• George M. Marsden
• Richard J. Mouw
• Michael Pace
• Adam C. Pelser
• Robert C. Roberts
• Ryn West
• Linda Zagzebski

Gregg Ten Elshof is a professor of philosophy at Biola University. He is author of I Told Me So: Self-Deception and the Christian Life, which won Christianity Today's 2009 Book Award for Christian Living, and Confucius for Christians.

Evan Rosa is the director of Biola University s Center for Christian Thought and teaches philosophy at Biola University. He is the editor of CCT's journal, The Table, and earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy and linguistics at University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Fullerton, CA, with his wife and four children.