Moral Problems in American Life: New Perspectives on Cultural History (New Perspectives on Cultural History S) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0801432707 ISBN 13: 9780801432705

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1998

Synopsis

American history is filled with moments of grave moral doubt and institutional crisis, with conflicts over fundamental values, with ethical dilemmas and paradoxes. This volume surveys the moral landscape of the American past from slavery to the Vietnam War. Bringing together fourteen of the most original historians practicing today, the book illuminates a critical dimension of American history, even as it shows how historical study contributes to present-day debates about values and the moral life.These essays examine a wide range of questions that have engaged past generations of Americans and persist into the present-questions about the composition of a moral community and the case for civil disobedience, about the appropriate responses to injustices and inequalities, and about the ethical implications of artistic expression, school curricula, sexual behaviors, and popular media. Focusing on the impact of moral problems on everyday experience, the authors consider these questions in light of reform movements and religious practices; changing social institutions such as marriage, public schools, labor unions, and penitentiaries; and enduring moral forces from the Bible to the U.S. Constitution. Together their essays give historical context to a wide variety of American practices and beliefs and, in doing so, provide a new framework for understanding cultural life.

About this title

Review

"This collection is a worthy tribute to the authors' mentor and a coherent work in its own right. It will surely find its way onto the reading list of those few remaining classes that are labeled 'intellectual' history. With luck, it will be read by students and their professors who care about clarifying ambiguous issues in clear and elegant prose."

--The Journal of the Early Republic

Synopsis

American history is filled with moments of grave moral doubt and institutional crisis, with conflicts over fundamental values, with ethical dilemmas and paradoxes. This volume surveys the moral landscape of the American past from slavery to the Vietnam War. Bringing together essays from 14 practicing historians, the text illuminates a critical dimension of American history and shows how historical study contributes to present-day debates about values and the moral life. The essays examine a wide range of questions which have engaged past generations of Americans and persist into the present - questions about the composition of a moral community and the case for civil disobedience, about the appropriate responses to injustices and inequalities, and about the ethical implications of artistic expression, school curricula, sexual behaviours, and popular media. Focusing on the impact of moral problems on everyday experience, the authors consider these questions in light of reform movements and religious practices; changing social institutions such as marriage, public schools, labour unions, and penitentiaries; and enduring moral forces from the Bible to the US Constitution.

Together, the essays provide a historical context for a variety of American practices and beliefs, and a framework for understanding cultural life.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0801432707
• ISBN 13: 9780801432705
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368
• Editor: Halttunen Karen, Perry Lewis