Public Vision, Private Lives Rousseau, Religion, and 21st-Century Democracy

by Cladis, Mark S.

• ISBN13: 9780195125542
• ISBN10: 0195125541
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Listening closely to the religious pitch in Rousseau's voice, Cladis convincingly shows that Rousseau, when attempting to portray the most characteristic aspects of the public and private, reached for a religious vocabulary. Honoring both love of self and love of that which is larger than theself--these twin poles, with all the tension between them--mark Rousseau's work, vision and challenge--the challenge of 21st-century democracy.

Author Biography

Mark S. Cladis is Professor and Chair in the Department of Religion at Vassar College.

Table of Contents

Preparing for the Journey: An Introduction	3	(32)
I. From the Garden to the City: The Tragic Passage
1. Nature's Garden	35	(9)
2. Revisiting the Garden's Solitaires	44	(8)
3. From the Garden to the Blessed Country: The Precarious Passage	52	(12)
4. The Rush to Slavery	64	(15)
5. The City: Life in the Ousted Condition	79	(21)
6. Overcoming Moral Evil: Rousseau at the Crossroads	100	(25)
II. Paths to Redemption
7. Reforming the City: The Extreme Public Path	125	(29)
8. Evading the City: The Private Path	154	(18)
9. The Mountain Village: The Path to Family, Work, Community, and Love	172	(15)
10. Reconciling Citizen and Solitaire: Religious Dimensions of the Middle Way	187	(27)
11. Residual Conflict: Democracy and Ineluctable Friction	214	(15)
Conclusion: A Way Forward: Rousseau and 21st-Century Democracy	229	(20)
Notes	249	(30)
Works Cited	279	(6)
Index	285