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Why Can't We Be Good?
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Why Can't We Be Good? Paperback - 2008

by Jacob Needleman

The respected philosopher and author of "The American Soul" embarks on his most gripping and broadly appealing work, asking the ultimate question of human nature: Why do we repeatedly violate our most deeply held values and beliefs?


Summary

The widely respected social philosopher embarks on his most gripping and broadly appealing work, asking the ultimate question of human nature: Why do we repeatedly violate our most deeply held values and beliefs?

After nearly forty years of weighing humanity's deepest dilemmas-working in settings ranging from university and high school classrooms to corporate offices and hospitals-bestselling author, philosopher, and religious scholar Jacob Needleman presents the most urgent, deeply felt, and widely accessible work of his career.

In Why Can't We Be Good? Needleman identifies the core problem that therapists and social philosophers fail to see. He depicts the individual human as a being who knows what is good, yet who remains mysteriously helpless to innerly adopt the ethical, moral, and religious ideas that are bequeathed to him.

From the publisher

The widely respected social philosopher embarks on his most gripping and broadly appealing work, asking the ultimate question of human nature: Why do we repeatedly violate our most deeply held values and beliefs? After nearly forty years of weighing humanity's deepest dilemmas-working in settings ranging from university and high school classrooms to corporate offices and hospitals-bestselling author, philosopher, and religious scholar Jacob Needleman presents the most urgent, deeply felt, and widely accessible work of his career. In Why Can't We Be Good? Needleman identifies the core problem that therapists and social philosophers fail to see. He depicts the individual human as a being who knows what is good, yet who remains mysteriously helpless to innerly adopt the ethical, moral, and religious ideas that are bequeathed to him.

Details

  • Title Why Can't We Be Good?
  • Author Jacob Needleman
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 1st Trade Pbk. E
  • Pages 304
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Tarcherperigee, U.S.A.
  • Date January 31, 2008
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9781585426201 / 1585426202
  • Weight 0.78 lbs (0.35 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.01 x 6.04 x 0.82 in (22.89 x 15.34 x 2.08 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Good and evil, Ethics
  • Dewey Decimal Code 170

Media reviews

"As usual Jacob Needleman gets to the heart of the matter with eloquence and efficiency. Perhaps it would be better to say the dark heart of the matter, for we find ourselves beset with trials and tribulations of our own shameful making. How to get out? Here is the road map-with a beautiful speck of light at the end of a very difficult path. This is Needleman's best work." -Ken Burns "An immensely learned man who is unembarrassed by the big questions that many of his fellow philosophers prefer to dodge." -Chicago Tribune "This book doesn't offer quick fixes or shortcuts, but it does present a way for readers attempting to follow an ethical, spiritual path to recognize, understand, and assimilate their human limitations." -New Age Retailer

About the author

The acclaimed author of The American Soul, Why Can't We Be Good? and Money and the Meaning of Life, Jacob Needleman is Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University, and former Director of the Center for the Study of New Religions at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley. He lives in Oakland, CA.
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