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

By Ronald W. Dworkin

Book Overview

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.'

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0847682188
• ISBN13: 9780847682188
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.1"