Description
Book SynopsisArgues that the West has rejected the laws of God and of nature in a quest for human autonomy. This book contends that, in declaring ourselves free and autonomous, we have, paradoxically, lost a sense of what it means to be human. It offers an analysis of the confusions and contradictions at the heart of the modern condition.
Trade Review"[Manent's] book is probably the most relentless assault on modernity to appear in many years. It is in many ways a brilliant book."--Peter Berger, The Wall Street Journal "Working within a framework that sees the modern project as a sustained attempt to abolish the question of 'man' and replace it with 'history,' Manent breathes new life into the debate between ancients and moderns."--The Review of Politics "Certainly a word of thanks is due to the editors of the New French Thought series, and to Marc A. LePain, the translator of this volume, for making available to an American audience a work of such challenging clarity and depth."--Dianna Schaub, The Washington Times "Manent is perhaps the brightest light in a new generation of French intellectuals."--Russell Hittinger, First Things
Table of ContentsForeword Jean Bethke Elshtain Introduction Part One: THE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS OF MODERN MAN CHAPTER I The Authority of History CHAPTER II The Sociological Viewpoint CHAPTER III The Economic System Part Two: THE SELF-AFFIRMATION OF MODERN MAN CHAPTER IV The Hidden Man CHAPTER V The Triumph of the Will CHAPTER VI The End of Nature Notes Index
