The Wheatley Institution

Another Wheatley Publication

The Wheatley Institution is happy to announce the publication of a new book aimed at sustaining our particularly American form of civic life. Wheatley Senior Fellow Daniel N. Robinson, co-editor of the book, explains,

"Contemporary life in the Western democracies moves increasingly away from the core assumptions and larger aims to which Western civilization has given full expression. The problems are general rather than regional or national, though they appear with worrisome intensity and persistence in the United States. There is little attention given to the foundations of civic life and to the institutions traditionally established for the preservation of these foundations: the government, the schools, the courts, the arts, the churches and the family. Within higher education – itself a varied and often aimless congeries of less than disciplined academic studies – no attention is paid to the presuppositions of life under the rule of law, of civic life in general, of preparation for such a life and of signs that such a life may not be a “given”. So, too, with family life in which neither the lessons nor the models of moral progress appear with required regularity if children are in time to occupy responsible positions in the public world."

In response to these concerns, the Wheatley Institution invited seven remarkable scholars to address various aspects of the foundations of civic life. The result is The American Founding: Its Intellectual and Moral Framework, edited by Professor Robinson and Richard Williams, director of the Wheatley Institution. The book will be released by Continuum at the end of June 2012.

Response to the book:

"Professors Robinson and Williams have brought together an all-star group of scholars to tackle in the round a vexing question for anyone who cares about America's democracy: how are we to revive the founders' defining belief that our political regime depends upon the presence of a virtuous citizenry. . . . This volume is an especially timely and valuable primer on how we might recover our tradition." -Gerard V. Bradley, Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

"This is an impressive collection of essays by leading scholars investigating different aspects of the American Founding. . . The book will be accessible to non-scholars and should stimulate further reading, reflection, and discussion." -David L. Tubbs, King's College, New York City

The American Founding: Its Intellectual and Moral Framework is available from Continuum (http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=168383&SearchType=Basic) and other fine booksellers.