Product Description: Behind many of the hottest political issues of the current moment ―abortion, stem-cell research, Intelligent Design, Islamic fundamentalism―stands a resurgence of the centuries-old contest between religion and the Enlightenment...read more

With the end of the Cold War, the death of Communism, and the decline of Socialism, what are the primary issues, ideologies, and parties that now structure politics? Melzer, Zinman, and Weinberger have compiled essays from prominent experts to examine the politics of the past to help plot the political future. The first half of the volume addresses OIdentity PoliticsO and OBig GovernmentO and their respective places in the shaping of the United States political environment since the end of the Cold War. The second half of the volume focuses on the political climate in Western Europe, Russia, India, and China. (view table of contents)

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Product Description: Multiculturalism: is it a means of promoting self-esteem among marginalized groups, or is it a dangerous form of relativism? Offering viewpoints from a range of perspectives, this volume addresses the pros and cons of multiculturalism and explores its relationship with liberal democracy...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

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Product Description: This well-integrated group of thirteen papers addresses the intriguing and perplexing issue of whether modern government can handle the problem of technology.

The true key to all the perplexities of the human condition, Rousseau boldly claims, is the "natural goodness of man." It is also the key to his own notoriously contradictory writings, which, he insists, are actually the disassembled parts of a rigorous philosophical system rooted in that fundamental principle. What if this problematic claim-so often repeated, but as often dismissed-were resolutely followed and explored? Arthur M. Melzer adopts this approach in "The Natural Goodness of Man." The first two parts of the book restore the original, revolutionary significance of this now time-worn principle and examine the arguments Rousseau offers in proof of it. The final section unfolds and explains Rousseau's programmatic thought, especially the "Social Contract," as a precise solution to the human problem as redefined by the principle of natural goodness. The result is a systematic reconstruction of Rousseau's philosophy that discloses with unparalleled clarity both the complex weave of his argument and the majestic unity of his vision. Melzer persuasively resolves one after another of the famous Rousseauian paradoxes-enlarging, in the process, our understanding of modern philosophy and politics. Engagingly and lucidly written, "The Natural Goodness of Man" will be of interest to general as well as scholarly readers.