Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought [Paperback]

Professor James W. Ceaser (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0300084536 | ISBN-13: 978-0300084535 | Publication Date: July 11, 2000

For too many people, America has become the primary symbol of all that is grotesque, deadening, and oppressive. It is time, says James Ceaser in this provocative book, to take America back, to reaffirm confidence in our principles, and to remind ourselves that the real America-as opposed to the symbolic one-has forged a system of liberal democratic government that has shaped the destiny of the modern world. "A splendid, . . . important book."-Adam Wolfson, Wall Street Journal "A fascinating compendium of misconceptions about America, a catalog of expressions of European anxiety and paranoia that may be followed down to the historical present. . . . Ceaser's knowledge of European political traditions is prodigious, and he puts it to excellent use. . . . Like all good histories, his is motivated by an impassioned concern for our precarious present."-Richard Wolin, The New Republic "An important book . . . about the European image of the United States, showing the ways in which philosophers of both left and right have constructed a symbolic America often bearing little resemblance to the place itself. [This] wryly written . . . book is a timely corrective to loose thought in the academy and a candid appeal to reason."-John S. Gardner, The Weekly Standard "Gracefully written and provocative."-Solomon L. Wisenberg, Wilson Quarterly

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Ceaser (government and foreign affairs, Univ. of Virgina) distinguishes between the "metaphysical or symbolic" America (the notion of America as a materialistic, decadent country) and the "real" America (America as a preeminent bastion of freedom and opportunity). The negative concept, he argues, originated in Europe?primarily in Germany and France. To flesh out this idea, he traces the thought of pertinent Germans from Hegel to Heidegger ("with passages through Spengler and Junger") and the French from Buffon to Bandrillard ("with passages through Maistre and Kojeve"). An engagingly written excursion through American and European political and intellectual history. this book touches on an important issue in contemporary American society: not only how other countries see America but the negative attitudes prevalent among certain groups, including academics here at home. In view of the climate of opinion surrounding Waco and Oklahoma City, this book's positive appraisal, written in a style accessible to the lay reader, could be of interest to a wide readership.?Leon H. Brody, U.S. Office of Personnel Mgt. Lib., Washingon, D.C.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

... splendid.... [an] important book. -- The Wall Street Journal, Adam Wolfson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (July 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300084536
• ISBN-13: 978-0300084535
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,327,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's about anti-americanism, December 16, 2001

By 

Nirolf "Nirolf" (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought (Paperback)

This book is about the intellectual roots of anti-american sentiment. It traces anti-americanism back to 18th century France where Buffon, a famous biologist, developed a theory about the degeneracy of animals and plants in the New World. Although Franklin and Jefferson reacted against Buffon thesis it was to have a brilliant future. James W. Ceaser shows how it morphed through two centuries of intellectual aberrations from having racial, economic to philosophical foundations. Central in his essay are figures like Heidegger and Baudrillard.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reconstructing America, November 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought (Paperback)

Ceaser eloquently captures the intellectual and political foundations of today's anti-america climate. Ceaser provides a clear, yet thorough genealogical analysis of this movement, and manages to spark occasional laughter while providing clever personal insight into the greatest intellectual debates of the 20th century, including the thought of Kojeve, Strauss, Heidegger, and Baudillard. This book has in it the spirit of Alan Bloom's "Closing of the American Mind," Roger Kimball's "Tenured Radicals," and Peter Lawler's "Postmodernism Rightly Understood."

2 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A lot of academic jargon, March 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Reconstructing America: The Symbol of America in Modern Thought (Hardcover)

This book is not really worth reading. It's loaded with academic jargon, and it skips around a lot. It starts off well, but overall, the book is boring and hard to follow.