Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Basic Books (2020), 384 pages
Description
"In Morality, the distinguished religious leader and philosopher Rabbi Jonathan Sacks diagnoses our troubled times as a period of "cultural climate change." Delivering an insightful critique of our modern condition, and assessing its roots and causes from the ancient Greeks through the Reformation and Enlightenment to the present day, Sacks argues that there is no liberty without morality, and no freedom without responsibility"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member HandelmanLibraryTINR
The world is in crisis. Liberal democracy is embattled, public discourse has grown toxic, identity politics and extremism deepen social divisions, and the rise of a victimhood mentality calls for “safe spaces” but stifles debate. In Mortality, Jonathan Sacks, respected faith leader and public
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intellectual, traces today’s crisis to or loss of a strong, shared moral code and our elevation of self-interest over the common good. Sacks leads readers from Ancient Greece to the present day to show that there is no liberty with morality and no freedom without responsibility. He believes that all of us must play our part in rebuilding our common moral foundation and rediscovering what we have in common despite our differences. “It is a wake-up call to a world that has become self-obsessed, self-centered and lonely, and whose moral standards have withered as a result."―Jerusalem Post Show Less
LibraryThing member NaggedMan
Read this if you share Sacks' (and my) concern for the real and imminent threat to the norms of society and democracy that have served us reasonably well for the past century.
My one negative about this moving and readable book is that Sacks focuses too much on the USA experience and fails to note
My one negative about this moving and readable book is that Sacks focuses too much on the USA experience and fails to note
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the significant differences between the USA and the UK. While we (UK) do have a distressing tendency to follow where America leads, I believe we still have time on this side of the pond to notice and avoid the dire depths to which discourse has sunk 'over there'. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookomaniac
One of the advantages of an e-reader is that you can perfectly check how many times a certain word occurs in a book. In this case, Jonathan Sacks uses the word 'morality' more than 500 times, roughly twice per page. He literally slaps you in the face with it. There is nothing wrong with that,
Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) was a prominent voice in the field of societal responsibility. For decades he was Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in the United Kingdom, and in that capacity also a member of the House of Lords. In other words, someone who was constantly acting on the public stage. And that is clearly noticeable in this book, where he examines the loss of a common morality in our modern society. Using a striking image he speaks of a 'cultural climate change': universal moral values have given way to relativism and 'devaluation' of the common good.
Sacks analyzes how it has come to this, in a very detailed argument, where the emphasis is on the bad consequences of individualism gone too far, and with the cultural revolution of the 1960s and postmodernism in a leading role. He occasionally suggests that the loss of a common moral pedestal threatens to degenerate into decadence and decay, with the obligatory reference to the end of the Roman Empire. Sacks clearly couldn’t avoid the dangerous cliff of the clichés. Moreover, this example makes it clear that he primarily has in mind the social, unifying function of morality. In that sense, his concept of morality is closely related to Emile Durkheim's concept of religion. Hence the suggestion by some reviewers that the title of this book should have been on what is now the subtitle, namely 'restoring the common good in divided times'. By the way, the term 'common good' only appears about 80 times.
It should therefore come as no surprise that at the end of his book Sacks argues for a new covenant, a commitment by citizens in a society to appreciate that collective good, to respect other opinions and try to look for the middle ground, knowing that our society has become far more complex and diverse than, say, 100 years ago: “We can no longer build national identity on religion or ethnicity or culture. But we can build it on covenant. A covenantal politics would speak of how, as a polity, an economy and culture, our fates are bound together. We benefit from each other. And because this is so, we should feel bound to benefit one another. It would speak about the best of our traditions, and how they are a heritage we are charged with honouring and handing on to future generations. It would be warmly inclusive. A nation is enlarged by its new arrivals who carry with them gifts from other places and other traditions. It would acknowledge that, yes, we have differences of opinion and interest, and sometimes that means favouring one side over another. But we will never do so without giving every side a voice and a respectful hearing. The politics of covenant does not demean or ridicule opponents. It honours the process of reasoning together. It gives special concern to those who most need help, and special honour to those who most give help.”
Of course, I can only adhere to such a plea against polarization; it is a necessary condition to help to build up a rightful society. But at the same time it isn't a sufficient one, it’s very clear that it stops short of offering real and helpful proposals to reach that middle ground, of offering a positive project. In other words, Sacks’ discourse remains stuck in vagueness, only pleading for a general kind of tolerance. So, despite its commendable perspective and its discussion of pertinent issues of our society, this book did not live up to its expectations. Maybe that’s also because it also leaves a lot to be desired in terms of form: at various times you seem to be reading a general intellectual treatise, a collection of interesting but divergent reflections, rather than a book focused on a central topic.
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unless the author does not properly explain what he means by that word. And that is somewhat the case here.Jonathan Sacks (1948-2020) was a prominent voice in the field of societal responsibility. For decades he was Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community in the United Kingdom, and in that capacity also a member of the House of Lords. In other words, someone who was constantly acting on the public stage. And that is clearly noticeable in this book, where he examines the loss of a common morality in our modern society. Using a striking image he speaks of a 'cultural climate change': universal moral values have given way to relativism and 'devaluation' of the common good.
Sacks analyzes how it has come to this, in a very detailed argument, where the emphasis is on the bad consequences of individualism gone too far, and with the cultural revolution of the 1960s and postmodernism in a leading role. He occasionally suggests that the loss of a common moral pedestal threatens to degenerate into decadence and decay, with the obligatory reference to the end of the Roman Empire. Sacks clearly couldn’t avoid the dangerous cliff of the clichés. Moreover, this example makes it clear that he primarily has in mind the social, unifying function of morality. In that sense, his concept of morality is closely related to Emile Durkheim's concept of religion. Hence the suggestion by some reviewers that the title of this book should have been on what is now the subtitle, namely 'restoring the common good in divided times'. By the way, the term 'common good' only appears about 80 times.
It should therefore come as no surprise that at the end of his book Sacks argues for a new covenant, a commitment by citizens in a society to appreciate that collective good, to respect other opinions and try to look for the middle ground, knowing that our society has become far more complex and diverse than, say, 100 years ago: “We can no longer build national identity on religion or ethnicity or culture. But we can build it on covenant. A covenantal politics would speak of how, as a polity, an economy and culture, our fates are bound together. We benefit from each other. And because this is so, we should feel bound to benefit one another. It would speak about the best of our traditions, and how they are a heritage we are charged with honouring and handing on to future generations. It would be warmly inclusive. A nation is enlarged by its new arrivals who carry with them gifts from other places and other traditions. It would acknowledge that, yes, we have differences of opinion and interest, and sometimes that means favouring one side over another. But we will never do so without giving every side a voice and a respectful hearing. The politics of covenant does not demean or ridicule opponents. It honours the process of reasoning together. It gives special concern to those who most need help, and special honour to those who most give help.”
Of course, I can only adhere to such a plea against polarization; it is a necessary condition to help to build up a rightful society. But at the same time it isn't a sufficient one, it’s very clear that it stops short of offering real and helpful proposals to reach that middle ground, of offering a positive project. In other words, Sacks’ discourse remains stuck in vagueness, only pleading for a general kind of tolerance. So, despite its commendable perspective and its discussion of pertinent issues of our society, this book did not live up to its expectations. Maybe that’s also because it also leaves a lot to be desired in terms of form: at various times you seem to be reading a general intellectual treatise, a collection of interesting but divergent reflections, rather than a book focused on a central topic.
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Awards
National Jewish Book Award (Winner — 2020)
Original language
English
Physical description
384 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
1541675312 / 9781541675315
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