*Starred Review* The Enlightenment project of constructing a rational morality—pronounced dead by commentators on the left and right—has found a champion determined to resurrect it for the twenty-first century. Neiman acknowledges, with distress, that the moral vocabulary of Voltaire, Rousseau, and Kant now survives only among conservatives, whose religious orthodoxies and political agendas she rejects. But progressives must recover that vocabulary, she asserts, if they are to renew society’s commitment to egalitarian justice. Ideologically disarmed by the collapse of Marxism and philosophically paralyzed by the radical skepticism of postmodernism, left-liberal thinkers risk surrendering the young to religious fundamentalists and cynical nihilists if they cannot reclaim the secular ideals of pioneering Enlightenment writers. Committed to the pursuit of happiness through reason, these writers defy their detractors’ caricatures by soberly acknowledging the limits of human faculties, even voicing reverent gratitude for nature’s inexplicable mysteries, while still cultivating hope that human endeavor can advance good and defeat evil. In such mature hope, Neiman finds the possibility for a twenty-first-century moral heroism that brings to our age both the protean adaptability of Homer’s Odysseus and his resourceful resolve to shape his own future. An engaging analysis that will attract even readers who do not share Neiman’s left-liberal premises. --Bryce Christensen
Review
"Her prose is clear and vigorous, and as exhilarating as a good spin class, but don't be mistaken: This is not
Philosophy for Dummies...If you prefer your philosophy to offer make-nice advice ("Tolerate diversity!" "Recycle!"),
Moral Clarity is not for you. Neiman attacks both the left and the right for their failings--and praises them for their different strengths. You might find yourself disagreeing with some of her analyses, which is inevitable--and even desirable. Neiman wants engagement, not sheeplike agreement, and her book is meant to spark conversation." --
Body and Soul Magazine, June 2008"The Enlightenment project of constructing a rational morality--pronounced dead by commentators on the left and right--has found a champion determined to resurrect it for the twenty-first century." --
Booklist (starred review) April 1, 2008"The seemingly endless contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton is, among other things, a referendum on that perennial question: what ails the American left? To this stale discussion Susan Neiman brings a new thought: the problem with our liberal elites, she insists, is a lack of philosophical nerve. The task Neiman sets herself is to rescue today's political left from its own handicaps. Neiman is a subtle and energetic guide to the unjustly maligned Western canon (who) writes with verve and a sometimes epigrammatic wit....Moral Clarity is a plea for renewal, an argument for re-engaging with the moral vocabulary of the country." --
Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008"Neiman's particular skill lies in expressing sensitivity, intelligence and moral seriousness without any hint of oversimplification, dogmatism or misplaced piety. She clearly and unflinchingly sees life as it is, but also sees how it might be, and could be, if we recaptured some of the hopes and ideals that currently escape us." --
The New York Times, July 27, 2008 (Simon Blackburn)"Susan Neiman is a masterly storyteller; her new book Moral Clarity offers retellings of the Odyssey and the Book of Job that are themselves worth the price of admission. But she also has stories about the origins of her own position that place her in both larger intellectual narratives and more local political ones...Her project can be seen as a progressive alternative to (Allan Bloom's) The Closing of the American Mind." --
Slate, May 27, 2008 (K. Anthony Appiah)
