Cities of Words: Pedagogical Letters on a Register of the Moral Life

Since Socrates and his circle first tried to frame the Just City in words, discussion of a perfect communal life—a life of justice, reflection, and mutual respect—has had to come to terms with the distance between that idea and reality. Measuring this distance step by practical step is the philosophical project that Stanley Cavell has pursued on his exploratory path. Situated at the intersection of two of his longstanding interests—Emersonian philosophy and the Hollywood comedy of remarriag...