Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice [Hardcover]

Alan Wolfe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2001

Eminent sociologist and public intellectual Alan Wolfe asked Americans what they felt was the difference between right and wrong; what it meant to them to lead a good life; how binding they felt marriage vows were; what they felt their obligations were to an employer; to friends and to themselves; and whether it was always immoral to tell a lie. He asked such questions in order to determine how they really think about morality today in this exhilarating and unnerving era of moral freedom. Wolfe discovered that while values have changed, they are far from absent. Americans of all stripes - from the most radical to the most traditional - want to lead a good life, but in almost every case they are determined to decide for themselves what a good life means. Focusing on traditional virtues of loyalty, honesty, self-restraint and forgiveness, "Moral Freedom" reveals the complexities of living in a society where rather than simply accepting strict conventions, individuals struggle to forge a moral life.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Is loyalty still appreciated in America? Can one still be honest in America today? Is sexual promiscuity a sign of bad character?... What kinds of acts and behaviors are unforgivable?" Using interviews with a diverse group of Americans ranging from gays and lesbians in the San Francisco area and mill workers in small-town America to born-again Christians and Silicon Valley suburbanites sociologist Wolfe (One Nation, After All) poses these and other questions as he surveys the moral landscape of contemporary America. His team's questions focus on the traditional virtues of loyalty, honesty, self-restraint and forgiveness. Throughout their conversations, Wolfe and his interviewers found that even though contemporary Americans reject what they believe are outmoded versions of these virtues, these same Americans struggle to fashion their own versions of them. Moral freedom, Wolfe notes, "means that individuals should determine for themselves what it means to lead a good and virtuous life." He traces the rise of moral freedom to the 1960s and 1970s, and contends that, although it may have some regrettable consequences, this individualistic and pragmatic method of forging morality will shape our moral discourse well into the 21st century. Although there is little new here for keen observers of contemporary American culture and morality, Wolfe's study has the potential to change the ways we think about society and morality in the same way that Robert Bellah's classic Habits of the Heart changed the ways we think about society and religion. (Apr.)Forecast: Wolfe's poll was done in conjunction with the New York Times Magazine, which published the results in a special issue. Wolfe's last book was widely reviewed, and this should be as well.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Wolfe here discusses the results of a national public opinion poll he helped design on American beliefs about values, which he supplemented with detailed interviews of people from eight different U.S. communities. These ranged widely, from the Castro district of San Francisco to San Antonio. Though many writers argue that Americans live in a moral crisis, Wolfe does not concur. He claims, instead, that Americans are still firmly committed to morality, although current values often differ from those of the past. The notion that people are of necessity sinful has lost force. Many of Wolfe's respondents view people as capable of articulating their own values in freedom. The changed emphasis affects a number of particular issues. For example, the virtue of honesty is now taken as more flexible than it was in past eras, and forgiveness has become more central as a trait to be cultivated. Wolfe's sensitive study is highly recommended. David Gordon, Bowling Green State Univ., OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (April 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393048438
• ISBN-13: 978-0393048438
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,696,085 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grave New World?, May 22, 2001

By 

Panopticonman "panopticonman" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice (Hardcover)

You've got to hand it to Alan Wolfe. Building on "Whose Keeper" and "One Nation After All," Wolfe's latest book "Moral Freedom" is a tour de force which examines Americans' views of morality in the age of expressive individualism and rampant consumerism. Using a methodology similar to the one he employed in "One Nation After All," Wolfe interviews a random selection of 200 Americans in 6 geogrphical locations ranging from the Castro district in San Francisco to a small midwestern town in Iowa.

Coupling these interviews with a nationally representative telephone survey conducted with CBS, Wolfe gets down to cases fast. Asking eternal moral questions, e.g. what is virtue, what is vice?, Wolfe comes to a startling conclusion: Americans have for the most part jettisoned traditional teachings of religion in favor of a looser, more pragmatic situational ethics. Although some of Wolfe's respondents hew to very specific religious beliefs, even these individuals are loathe to cast the first stone against those who might not agree with their beliefs.

In terms of narrative strategy, Wolfe uses the gay and lesbian population of the Castro district as one end of the moral spectrum, the small town folks in Iowa as the other pole, and finds they have a lot in common with all the other folks in between. He does stop and point out differences along the way, of course, but in the main, finds considerable agreement. The extended quotes from Americans to whom Wolfe and his colleagues talk demonstrates how smart and thoughtful the average American really is -- as Wolfe showed us in "One National After All." But there is something troubling about their articulateness, too. Some of it sounds like "Oprah-speak" -- there's lots of forgiveness, lots of psychologizing mixed in with the strains of good 'ol American pragmatism.

His main thesis is that we have now arrived in a brave new world of "moral freedom" but have not descended into moral anarchy, a fear espoused by moral philosophers from the Greeks onward is a tad overdone. (His short survey of moral philosophers' views on the question is illuminating -- but for his real thinking on these questions look at "Whose Keeper"). It may be that Wolfe is given to seeing the new era of "moral freedom" because of a kind of teleological necessity induced by his earlier works. I mostly buy it -- it makes a good story -- but I'm a little skeptical that the diverse voices he captures here really add up to proving his thesis.

Still, thought-provoking, insightful, using empirical social science in conjunction with his theoretical speculations, with "Moral Freedom" Wolfe has pushed his exploration of morality into a new and invigorating space.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Assessment of American Values, March 8, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice (Paperback)

Wolfe provides a litmus test of where we are in America today as we move towards greater moral freedom. He does not provide personal pronouncements of what should be considered right or wrong. Rather, he interviews people from varying social backgrounds to get their views on matters ranging from indulgence of the self to forgiveness of others. Wolfe captures Americans' search for a moral compass in world that has drastically changed from their parents' time. He shows how individuals are trying to cultivate their own sense of morality while trying to balance allegiance to one's self and to society as a whole. In the face of monumental change, American conversation regarding our values has been polarized between two competing, and extreme, dogmas. Wolfe provides a balanced framework to assess where we're headed. "Moral Freedom" is a must read for anyone wishing to find solutions that work for mainstream America.

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time, June 21, 2007

By 

Bryan D. Kline "DotConnector" (Bloomington, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice (Paperback)

This would be a great book to read with a book club or a couple friends. The content makes for great conversation. It is also written in a way that makes reading easy.