The Thriving Society: On the Social Conditions of Human Flourishing

Between the scylla of utopia and the charybdis of despair, the authors of these essays consider how modern society and its various institutions might be guided so that those who inhabit them might flourish. From a variety of perspectives and with diverse expertise, the essayists in The Thriving Society discuss foundational issues, institutional challenges, and controversial policies, from market freedom to family stability, from university culture to foreign affairs and public health. They neither supply a handbook for reform nor pen an apology for the past or the present. Instead, they launch citizens on a path to understanding how contemporary social practices sometimes facilitate and sometimes threaten human happiness--and so encourage citizens to think and act in responsible and innovative ways. "The scholars of the Witherspoon Institute have dedicated their careers to holding our nation accountable to its ideals. In The Thiving Society they consider the future of our culture; for those invested in our nation, its institutions, and their fellow man, it is essential reading." Arthur Brooks President American Enterprise Institute "Our social and cultural debates too often take the prerequisites for a thriving society for granted. But it is precisely those prerequisites that are now at risk in American life. Securing them against those risks is the defining challenge of our time-a challenge that goes beyond politics, beyond culture, to the deepest human truths. This volume of essays offers wise, profound reflections on those preconditions for flourishing. It is an essential handbook for anyone concerned for the future of American life." Yuval Levin Hertog Fellow Ethics and Public Policy Center