Conscience and Its Enemies: Confronting the Dogmas of Liberal Secularism

by Robert P. George, Mary Ann Glendon (Foreword by)

Overview

Assaults on religious liberty and traditional morality are growing fiercer. Here, at last, is the counterattack.

This revised and updated paperback edition of the acclaimed Conscience and Its Enemies showcases the talents that have made Robert P. George one of America's most influential thinkers. Here George explodes the myth that the secular elite represents the voice of reason. In fact, it is on the elite side of the cultural divide where the prevailing views are little more than articles of faith.

Conscience and Its Enemies reveals the bankruptcy of these too often smugly held orthodoxies while presenting powerfully reasoned arguments for classical virtues.In defending what James Madison called the "sacred rights of conscience"—rights for which government shows frightening contempt—George grapples with today's most controversial issues: same-sex marriage, abortion, transgenderism, genetic manipulation, euthanasia and assisted suicide, religion in politics, judicial activism, and more. His brilliantly argued essays rely not on theological claims or religious authority but on established scientific facts and a philosophical tradition that extends back to Plato and Aristotle.

Conscience and Its Enemies sets forth powerful arguments that secular liberals are unaccustomed to hearing—and that embattled defenders of traditional morality so often fail to marshal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610171410
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	04/04/2016
Series:	American Ideals & Institutions Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. He has received the Presidential Citizens Medal, the Bradley Prize for Intellectual and Civil Achievement, and trhe Canterbury Medal of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He chairs the U.S. Commission of International Religious Freedom and has served on the President's Council on Bioethics. Professor George holds degrees from Swarthmore, Harvard, and Oxford.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Part I Fundamentals

1 Common Principles, Common Foes 3

2 The Limits of Constitutional Limits 14

3 Private Acts, Public Interests 23

4 Liberalism, Liberation, and the Liberal Arts 27

5 Judicial Despotism: Lessons from the "Great Emancipator" 42

6 Some Hard Questions about Affirmative Action 53

7 Immigration and American Exceptionalism 61

Part II Morality and the Public Square

8 Natural Law, God, and Human Dignity 71

9 Why Moral Truths Matter 91

10 Two Concepts of Liberty… and Conscience 106

11 Religious Liberty: A Fundamental Human Right 115

12 What Marriage Is-and What It Isn't 126

13 The Myth of a "Grand Bargain" on Marriage 142

14 God and Gettysburg 147

Part III Life and Death

15 Conscience and Its Enemies 155

16 When Life Begins 165

17 Embryo Ethics What Science Tells US, What Justice Demands of Us 168

18 The Personal and the Political Some Liberal Fallacies 186

19 A Right to Life Denied or a Right to Die Honored? 194

20 The "Relics of Barbarism," Then and Now 202

Part IV Good Guys and … Not-So-Good Guys

21 Harry Blackmun: Improbable Liberal Icon 209

22 Andrew Sullivan: A Walking Contradiction 214

23 Bernard Nathanson: A Life Transformed by Truth 220

24 He Threw It All Away: On the Greatness of Richard John Neuhaus 227

25 A Practical Philosopher in Every Way G. E. M. Anscombe 233

26 The Achievement of John Finnis 237

27 Elizabeth Fox-Genovese A Life Well Lived 248

28 Eugene Genovese Truth Teller 251

Notes 261

Acknowledgments 275

Index 277

Editorial Reviews

This country’s most influential conservative Christian thinker.” —New York Times Magazine

“As a critic of liberalism, George is devastating. Generally attributing honest motives to his opponents, he nevertheless ruthlessly exposes [their] sophistries.”—
National Review

“There’s not a dull or insignificant page in the whole volume. . . . I don’t think we get better, or more consequential, commentary on the modern crisis.” —Washington Times

“Brilliant . . . Should be required reading.” —Commentary

“Puts George’s highly burnished philosophical and constitutional learning on full display . . . George speaks for a sizable number of conscientious objectors to America’s ruling liberal secularism.” —New York Times Book Review

“George’s claim to that title [‘This country’s most influential conservative Christian thinker’] is made abundantly clear in this collection of incisive, accessible essays, which seek to expose and confront the dogmas of liberal secularism while also directing and deepening modern conservatism. . . . Intended for a wide audience, the book deserves one.” —Claremont Review of Books

“Could not be more timely. A treasure trove of thought-provoking reflections by one of the best minds of our time.” —Mary Ann Glendon, from the foreword

“An important primer on the most pressing issues of our time . . . George’s incomparable expertise will give even the most seasoned reader new insights.” —Catholic World Report

“Few thinkers speak as clearly as Robert P. George. . . . He is a model democratic citizen. . . . The book offers some of the strongest arguments at all levels of public discourse, from anthropology to the meaning of conscience and marriage.” —Library of Law and Liberty

“One of the nation’s most respected legal theorists . . . Even people who profoundly disagree with some of his conclusions [respect] his sheer brilliance, the analytic power of his arguments, the range of his knowledge . . . [and] a deeply principled conviction, a profound and enduring integrity.” —Elena Kagan, Supreme Court justice

“One of the most incisive legal and moral thinkers working today.” —First Things

“An indispensable man.” —Touchstone

From the Publisher

[George's] newest book, Conscience and Its Enemies…bring[s] together an accessible group of essays that put his highly burnished philosophical and constitutional learning on full display. They should, at the very least, unsettle those whose only experiences of social conservatism are the blunderings of Todd Akin and the theatrics of Rush Limbaugh, and perhaps even lead to some reflection that rises above the media brawl.

The New York Times Book Review - Kay S. Hymowitz