American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders

(Paperback)

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In The American Soul, philosopher and bestselling author Jacob Needleman takes a new measure of the inner beliefs and spiritual sensibilities of the great iconoic figures of American history - Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and Frederick Douglas - and of the successes and failures that have shaped America's development as a nation - the destruction of the culture of Native Americans; the defeat in Vietnam; and the enduring influence of America's all-but-forgotten early mystical communities. What emerges is a rediscovery of the timeless truths hidden within the founding vision of America. Free of all religious and philosophical dogma, and liberated ffom historical and political cliches, this uniquely American vision calls us toward a renewed understanding - based in the essential wisdom that has guided every great civilisation - of the purpose of our inner lives and the hope that America can give to an increasingly threatened world. The American Soul is a remarkable achievement. It recovers the wisdom of the founders of the American republic in a new and exciting way, yet it doesn't avoid the many problems we have in appreciating them...In a situation where history has fallen victim to the culture wars, this book is a godsend.

Reviews

"If ever a work of philosophical ideas arrived at a time when human events make it not only timely but urgently relevant, The American Soul is such a book." -San Francisco Chronicle

"So literate it comes close to poetry...[This] book makes you think and rethink most of the ideas you ever had about the stunning people who give American history both its exceptionalism and its commonalities." -Martin Peretz

Author Bio

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.