Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver: Honoring the Work of Leon R. Kass

by Yuval Levin editor, National Affairs (Editor), Thomas W. Merrill (Editor), Adam Schulman (Editor), Eric Cohen (Contribution by), Rebecca Dresser (Contribution by)

Overview

Leon R. Kass has been helping Americans better understand the human condition for over four decades—as a teacher, writer, scholar, public champion of the humanities, and defender of human dignity. From bioethics to civic education, from interpreting the Bible to weighing the moral implications of modern science, Kass has offered wisdom, guidance, and instruction. In this volume, fifteen of Kass's admirers, including students, colleagues, and friends, honor his work by reflecting on the broad range of subjects to which he has devoted his life's work. Some of the essays offer interpretations of great works of literature and philosophy from Homer, Sophocles, and Plato to Rousseau, Franklin, Jane Austen, Hawthorne, and Henry James. Others examine the significance of Leon Kass's work as a bioethicist and Chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics and as an interpreter of the Book of Genesis. The essays collected in Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver offer a sense of the breadth of Kass's interests and insights and of the influence he has had on generations of scholars. The reader is further acquainted with the career of Leon R. Kass by a biographical introduction and a comprehensive listing of his published writings and the courses he has taught.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739141601
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	05/13/2010
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Yuval Levin is editor of National Affairs and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC. Thomas W. Merrill is assistant professor of government at American University in Washington, DC, and was a senior research analyst at the President's Council on Bioethics. Adam Schulman is a tutor at St. John's College, Annapolis, and was a senior research consultant at the President's Council on Bioethics.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Career of Leon Kass Harvey Flaumenhaft ix

1 The Homecoming of Penelope Amy A. Kass 1

2 The World through Ben's Bifocals Ralph Lerner 21

3 Medicalizing Childhood Gilbert Meilaender 35

4 Washington Square Harvey C. Mansfield 49

5 The Silence of the Spartan Harvey Flaumenhaft 65

6 Torah Transformed Michael Fishbane 89

7 Leon Kass and the Poets Paul McHugh 101

8 Toward a Richer Public Bioethics Rebecca Dresser 109

9 Philosophic Anthropology in Rousseau and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Nelson Lund 123

10 Self-knowledge and Moral Seriousness in Jane Austen's Pride Prejudice Adam Schulman 153

11 From Hearth-Fires to Hell-Fires Diana J. Schaub 175

12 Fraternity in Antigone Paul W. Ludwig 197

13 Children of Skeptics Thomas W. Merrill 227

14 The God-Seeking Animal Eric Cohen 247

15 The Traditional Animal Yuval Levin 257

Courses Taught Leon R. Kass 273

Published Writings of Leon R. Kass 275

Index 287

About the Contributors 291

Editorial Reviews

This book is a liberal education in itself. The friends and students of Leon Kass have written engagingly and searchingly about literature, politics, science, philosophy, and God in the generous, humane, and dignified spirit of their philosopher-physician-scientist mentor. Each and every chapter is a gem; my compliments to the editors for paying such meticulous attention to detail and form.

Peter Augustine Lawler

This book is a liberal education in itself. The friends and students of Leon Kass have written engagingly and searchingly about literature, politics, science, philosophy, and God in the generous, humane, and dignified spirit of their philosopher-physician-scientist mentor. Each and every chapter is a gem; my compliments to the editors for paying such meticulous attention to detail and form.--Peter Augustine Lawler, Berry College

I don't know that any worldly honor is sufficiently lofty to do justice to the intellectual achievements and public contributions of Leon Kass. If one comes close, however, surely it is this splendid collection of essays by his admirers, associates, and former students. Readers who, like Dr. Kass himself, are true philosophers--lovers of wisdom--will find in this volume much to love.--Robert P. George, Visiting Professor, Harvard Law School; McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

A spectacular achievement. Leon Kass's students and friends have done him, and themselves, proud. The consistently high quality of these diverse essays--some of them virtual apples of gold themselves--makes this volume a fitting tribute to a stellar thinker and gifted teacher.--William Kristol, editor, The Weekly Standard

From the Publisher

This book is a liberal education in itself. The friends and students of Leon Kass have written engagingly and searchingly about literature, politics, science, philosophy, and God in the generous, humane, and dignified spirit of their philosopher-physician-scientist mentor. Each and every chapter is a gem; my compliments to the editors for paying such meticulous attention to detail and form.

Peter Lawler

A spectacular achievement. Leon Kass’s students and friends have done him, and themselves, proud. The consistently high quality of these diverse essays—some of them virtual apples of gold themselves—makes this volume a fitting tribute to a stellar thinker and gifted teacher.

William Kristol

I don't know that any worldly honor is sufficiently lofty to do justice to the intellectual achievements and public contributions of Leon Kass. If one comes close, however, surely it is this splendid collection of essays by his admirers, associates, and former students. Readers who, like Dr. Kass himself, are true philosophers—lovers of wisdom—will find in this volume much to love.

Robert P. George