In this elegantly written book, Mark S. Cladis invites us to reflect on the nature and place of the public and private in the work of Rousseau and, more generally, in democratic society. The tension between the hopes and desires of the individual and the requirements of a shared public life were at the heart, or the knot, of Rousseau''s life and thought. Cladis skillfully leads the reader on an exploration of the conflicting claims with which Rousseau wrestled - prerogatives and obligations to self, friends, family, vocation, civic life, and to humanity. At the juncture of diverse theological and secular traditions, Rousseau forged a vision of human happiness found not exclusively in the public or private, but in a complex combination of the two. Ultimately, however, Public Vision, Private Lives narrates a tragic tale. Placing Rousseau at the crossroads of Enlightenment optimism and Augustinian pessimism, Cladis elucidates Rousseau''s uncomfortable, double vision. In one direction, Rousseau beheld humans able to transform their societies humanely; in the other, he perceived humans destined for immense suffering unless they dodge social involvement. At this awkward juncture, Rousseau sought to remind us of both our responsibility for ourselves and our powerlessness to radically transform ourselves. In Part I, Cladis employs the Garden-Fall myth to narrate Rousseau''s rather dismal account of the human journey into social life. Yet contrary to most interpreters of Rousseau, Cladis maintains that if we categorically identify the natural with the good and the social with evil, we fail to do justice to Rousseau''s provocative account of our joy and sorrow in solitude and community. Part II explores the limits and possibilities of Rousseau''s three paths to partial redemption - the public path (the reformed society), the private path (the escape into solitude), and the tense, middle way between them. Throughout this study, Cladis listens closely to the religious pitch in Rousseau''s voice. He convincingly shows that Rousseau, when attempting to portray the most characteristic aspects of the public and private, reached for a religious vocabulary. Honouring both love of self and love of that which is larger than the self - these twin poles, with all the tension between them - mark Rousseau''s work, vision, and challenge - the challenge of 21st century democracy.
Industry Reviews
"Elegantly organized and engagingly written, serving at once as a window into the origins of modernity and as a mirror of our present condition. . Highly Recommended"--Choice
"Cladis's new book does for Rousseau what his first book did for Durkheim. For he has provided a rich historical context for understanding Rousseau's most important works while also shedding a great deal of fresh light on contemporary concerns in philosophy, political theory, and religious thought. This is the most important discussion of the conflicts between public and private life yet written by a specialist in modern religious thought. The writing is clear
and vigorous, the thinking is careful and well-informed throughout. A wonderful book."--Jeffrey Stout, Professor of Religion, Princeton University
"Mark Cladis moves us to appreciate the ways in which heartfelt piety and robust democracy can check and cross-fertilize one another. More specifically, he highlights the necessity of balancing public rules and private aspirations, charitable concern for the common good and prudential love of self, group obligations and solitary affinities, the fallen city and the amoral garden, secular reason and sacred hope, etc. Elaborating Rousseau's stance 'at the
crossroads of Augustinian pessimism and Enlightenment optimism,' Cladis is able to identify the 'ineluctable tension' between various political and personal goods, without simply dissolving all commitment into
one or the other. With Public Vision, Private Lives, Cladis takes his place among the leading contemporary theorists of democracy and its ongoing relation to religious sense and sensibility."--Timothy P. Jackson, author of The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice
"Though Mark Cladis is a careful and sympathetic reader of Rousseau's writings, his book is not a conventional work of Rousseau scholarship. In fact, there is nothing conventional about it at all. Cladis likens it to a walking tour with Rousseau, a famous walker, at his side, not as his 'guide' but as his conversation partner. The conversation gives rise to a highly original, deepgoing reflection on private satisfactions and public challenges--and the painful,
unavoidable conflicts between them. It takes some surprising turns in order to survey the present human condition from fresh angles of vision. Cladis is a perceptive observer of contemporary life, and
its critic, but it is the life he shares, and he writes of it with love."--Stephen Crites, Professor of Philosophy and Hedding Professor of Moral Science, Wesleyan University
"Though Mark Cladis is a careful and sympathetic reader of Rousseau's writings, his book is not a conventional work of Rousseau scholarship. In fact, there is nothing conventional about it at all. Cladis likens it to a walking tour with Rousseau, a famous walker, at his side, not as his 'guide' but as his conversation partner. The conversation gives rise to a highly original, deepgoing reflection on private satisfactions and public challenges--and the painful,
unavoidable conflicts between them. It takes some surprising turns in order to survey the present human condition from fresh angles of vision. Cladis is a perceptive observer of contemporary life, and
its critic, but it is the life he shares, and he writes of it with love."--Stephen Crites, Professor of Philosophy and Hedding Professor of Moral Science, Wesleyan University
"Mark Cladis moves us to appreciate the ways in which heartfelt piety and robust democracy can check and cross-fertilize one another. More specifically, he highlights the necessity of balancing public rules and private aspirations, charitable concern for the common good and prudential love of self, group obligations and solitary affinities, the fallen city and the amoral garden, secular reason and sacred hope, etc. Elaborating Rousseau's stance 'at the
crossroads of Augustinian pessimism and Enlightenment optimism,' Cladis is able to identify the 'ineluctable tension' between various political and personal goods, without simply dissolving all commitment into
one or the other. With Public Vision, Private Lives, Cladis takes his place among the leading contemporary theorists of democracy and its ongoing relation to religious sense and sensibility."--Timothy P. Jackson, author of The Priority of Love: Christian Charity and Social Justice
"Elegantly organized and engagingly written, serving at once as a window into the origins of modernity and as a mirror of our present condition. . Highly Recommended"-- Choice
"Cladis's new book does for Rousseau what his first book did for Durkheim. For he has provided a rich historical context for understanding Rousseau's most important works while also shedding a great deal of fresh light on contemporary concerns in philosophy, political theory, and religious thought. This is the most important discussion of the conflicts between public and private life yet written by a specialist in modern religious thought. The writing is clear
and vigorous, the thinking is careful and well-informed throughout. A wonderful book."--Jeffrey Stout, Professor of Religion, Princeton University
