The Rise of the Imperial Self: America'S Culture Wars in Augustinian Perspective

The Rise of the Imperial Self establishes a geneaology of aristocracy and places America firmly within an aristocratic tradition originally articulated by St. Augustine, but adapted to American society by Alexis de Tocqueville. Ronald W. Dworkin then traces the evolution of American culture from Tocqueville's America, when American aristocracy was defined by a love of something beyond the self to today's preoccupation with individuality, self-expression, autonomy, and self-esteem-the 'imperial self.'

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Introduction Part 2 Part I: America and the City of Man Chapter 3 Expressive Individualism, Manicheism, and the "Higher Self" Chapter 4 The Expressive Individualist, the Donatists, and the Honor of Work Chapter 5 Christianity, Public Opinion, and the Republican Principle in the Imagination of Tocqueville's American Chapter 6 Pelagianism in the Society of Expressive Individualism Chapter 7 Donatism in the Society of Expressive Individualism Chapter 8 Platonism in the Society of Expressive Individualism Chapter 9 The Expressive Individualist and Self-Esteem Chapter 10 The Expressive Individualist and the Spirit of Ressentiment Part 11 Part II: America and the City of God Chapter 12 The Creation of the Aristocrat in the City of God Chapter 13 Tocqueville's American as an Aristocrat in the City of God Chapter 14 The Fall of the Aristocrat in the City of God and the Rise of the "Organization Man" Chapter 15 The Rise of the Imperial Self Chapter 16 Contents Chapter 17 Bibliography Chapter 18 Index

About the Author :
Ronald W. Dworkin is a fellow at the Institue for American Values and co-director of the Calvert Institute for Policy Research.

Review :
yields some starkingly original insights. . . . is plausible and obviously the product of considerable thought and erudition. This ambitious book finds a template for the "culture Wars " of contemporary America in the culture wars of late antiquity. Dworkin pursues his interesting thesis with creativity and with some success. An important contribution to the literature on the historical roots of expressive individualism. . . . the book has great breadth and depth and it covers a large intellectual territory. The book is especially useful for historians, philosophers and psychologists who are interested in the development and maintenance of the imperial self. A brilliant and illuminating interpretation of contemporary America and the recent great transformation in the American character. Dworkin employs both the political vision of Tocqueville and the religious vision of Saint Augustine to explain our nation and ourselves with extraordinary originality, depth, and wisdom.