The Social Philosophers: Community and Conflict in Western Thought

Western ideas of moral authority, freedom, consensus, and personality emerge from humankind’s search for community

In this provocative, classic, absorbing work of social and intellectual history, Robert Nisbet advances the idea that Western social philosophy arose during the disintegration of the ancient Greek and Roman communities, and has been preoccupied ever since with the problem of community lost and community to be gained. He further contends that Western ideas of moral authority, fre...