The Demoralization of Western Culture: Social Theory and the Dilemmas of Modern Living

by Ralph Fevre

Paperback. Covers are a little shelfworn; spine is lightly creased. Text is clear, and pages are sound and clean. TS

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

Reviews

[Tucker]

Fevre maintains that there are four ways to "make sense" and make a morality: common sense, sentiment, religion, science. These spheres have difficulty making sense of each other because they do not share the same methods and and values. I noted that "common sense" and "sentiment" seemed to be his words for what is more commonly called reason and emotion.

I can readily accept his assertion that people in bygone days preferred religion over science, but I was skeptical of his claim that they also preferred sentiment over common sense (the latter including beliefs such as money makes the world go round and sex is part of human nature, which I do not think are exclusively modern orientations).

(Handwritten notes dated 2003 found inside print book in 2017)