false 31882479 124819 2737476 0151011974 9780151011971 30 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2737476.Moral_Clarity_A_Guide_for_Grown_Up_Idealists 3.68 60 Moral Clarity, she shows how resurrecting a moral vocabulary—good and evil, heroism and nobility—can steer us clear of the dogmas of the right and the helpless pragmatism of the left. In search of a framework for forming clear opinions and taking responsible action on today’s urgent political and social questions, Neiman reaches back to the eighteenth century, retrieving a set of virtues—happiness, reason, reverence, and hope—that were held high by every Enlightenment thinker. She shows that the pursuit of moral clarity is not a matter of religious faith but is open to all who are committed to these ideals, believers and nonbelievers alike. And she draws on literature, evolutionary theory, and other contemporary research to show why, by keeping before us the distinction between the real and the possible, these ideals continue to guide and inspire.]]> 93828 3.79 99 36 4 4 false Mon Nov 17 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 02 22:08:39 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 18 07:32:32 -0800 2008
Moral Clarity is really sort of three books in one. The first, and probably the best, is an examination of the philosophical underpinnings of modern progressive ideals in the Enlightenment, with particular reference to the works of, you guessed it, Immanuel Kant. If you want a lively history of Enlightenment moral thinking, you can't beat this book. Neiman even makes Kant seem comprehensible, although, as when I was a freshman, I expect that my understanding will fade quickly unless refreshed.

The second book is one in which Neiman argues that modern progressives have given up all their best rhetorical weapons by refusing to use moral language, to talk about things like good and evil and heroism. Perhaps her arguments here are more aimed at academics. I've never had a problem saying that torture or discrimination are evil, and that alone hasn't helped me convince anyone who voted for the Bush administration or Prop 8 to do otherwise.

Third, Neiman presents a number of anecdotes or case studies to illustrate concepts like evil and heroism from a progressive point of view. Not every example she gives is a winner - I love a good neep about Homer as much as anyone, but her chapter on Odysseus still strikes me as a bit of a digression. I do like her examination of the way the Holocaust has become the benchmark of evil in our discourse, and how we really need to develop a vocabulary for talking about evil that allows for things less absolutely evil than the planned genocide of 12 million people to be labeled as evil.

In all: much better as history of philosophy than as a plan for political action, but still a worthwhile and thought-provoking read. ]]>