For Common Things
Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today
Published on 24. November 2010
256 pages
978-0-307-75727-2 (ISBN)
Description
Jedediah Purdy calls For Common Things his "letter of love for the world's possibilities." Indeed, these pages--which garnered a flurry of attention among readers and in the media--constitute a passionate and persuasive testament to the value of political, social, and community reengagement. Drawing on a wide range of literary and cultural influences--from the writings of Montaigne and Thoreau to the recent popularity of empty entertainment and breathless chroniclers of the technological age--Purdy raises potent questions about our stewardship of civic values.
Most important, Purdy offers us an engaging, honest, and bracing reminder of what is crucial to the healing and betterment of society, and impels us to consider all that we hold in common.
Most important, Purdy offers us an engaging, honest, and bracing reminder of what is crucial to the healing and betterment of society, and impels us to consider all that we hold in common.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
09/2000
Vintage Books
€16.30
Article exhausted; check different version
Book
08/1999
Random House USA Inc
€38.53
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
A Harvard graduate who was home schooled in rural West Virginia until he was fourteen, Jedediah Purdy is the author of four other books, Being America, The Meaning of Property, and A Tolerable Anarchy, After Nature. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and is currently the Robinson O. Everett Professor of Law at Duke University.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- About the Author
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Avoiding the World
- Chapter Two: The Absence of Politics
- Chapter Three: The Practice of the Public
- Chapter Four: The Law of the Land: Political Choice and Attentiveness
- Chapter Five: The Neighbor and the Machine: Technology and Responsibility
- Chapter Six: Irony and Ecstasy
- Afterword to the Vintage Edition
- Acknowledgments
- Selected Bibliography
- Copyright
