Most studies of the development of American ideas concentrate upon the growth of our political values and institutions. By contrast, this unique work goes directly to the core philosophical issues surrounding our sense of personal and social identity. It carefully examines the efforts of our major thinkers to elaborate a humanism adequate to our experience by breaking free from the theocentric cosmology imposed upon the nation by the New England Puritans. As these reflections record the quest for a new understanding of human nature, they also raise the possibility of a more comprehensive humanism grounded in a Catholic Christianity. Person and Society in American Thought will be of interest to students and scholars in the disciplines of philosophy and religion, as well as those of history, sociology, and literature.

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The Author: Cornelius Francis Murphy, Jr. since earning his doctoral law degree at Boston College in 1957 and his Master of Laws degree from the University of Virginia in 1962, has taught at the University of Maine and Duquesne University. In addition, he was a Visiting Scholar In Residence at Harvard University. His broad international and national interests have opened university teaching opportunities in Spain and China. During his multifaceted career, Murphy has published six books and numerous articles in the fields of legal, political, and social philosophy. His most recent publication, Theories of World Governance (1999), is now being translated into Chinese.