Morality

Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times

By: Jonathan Sacks

Narrated by: Jonathan Sacks

Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A distinguished religious leader's stirring case for reconstructing a shared framework of virtues and values.

With liberal democracy embattled, public discourse grown toxic, family life breaking down, and drug abuse and depression on the rise, many fear what the future holds.

In Morality, respected faith leader and public intellectual Jonathan Sacks traces today's crisis to our loss of a strong, shared moral code and our elevation of self-interest over the common good. We have outsourced morality to the market and the state, but neither is capable of showing us how to live. Sacks leads listeners from ancient Greece to the Enlightenment to the present day to show that there is no liberty without morality and no freedom without responsibility, arguing that we all must must play our part in rebuilding a common moral foundation.

A major work of moral philosophy, Morality is an inspiring vision of a world in which we can all find our place and face the future without fear.

©2020 Jonathan Sacks (P)2020 Basic Books

Critic reviews

"Jonathan Sacks is one of the great moral thinkers of our time. His latest book, Morality, applies his powerful approach to the unprecedented challenges of our time - social, political, economic, and above all, cultural. May his words be heeded throughout the land." (Robert D. Putnam, author of Bowling Alone and The Upswing)

"Jonathan Sacks has produced a work of extraordinary depth, beauty, urgency, and erudition. If the prophets of the Hebrew Bible came back to guide liberal democracies and anxious citizens through this difficult time, but first they studied modern history and social science, this is the book they would write for us." (Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind and coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind)

"This major work in moral philosophy and theology should engage all readers, but particularly scholars, undergraduates, and graduate students." (Library Journal)

Most enriching

I am on my 3rd time reading/listening.

Each time I discover more. Jonathan Sacks brilliantly burrows down to the heart of matters and what REALLY matters.

I particularly like that he is the narrator. His intention and conviction come across on his voice and are clearly understood.

A profound book for our time.

The theses and breadth of Jonathan Sacks’ presentation of morality are not only impressive, but instructive and powerful - understanding of which has never felt so critical. His deep and clearly loving insight into our humanity is a gift. To hear his narration, imbued with his compassion and fidelity to our potential as a species and as ultimately moral beings, is heartwarming. (He will be so missed.) And It is also a charge: to harness the courage to take up a way of living with each other that is based on a shared sense of compassion - a covenant, as he describes - predicated upon moral principles.

This book provides a truly revolutionary foundation for the transformation that we need to embark upon if we are to survive - as sages and religious leaders have expounded for millennia.

(Paired wonderfully with Marianne Williamson’s A Politic of Love.)

Really great book. love so much of it.

I love Jonathan's optimism as i havent always been so inclined in recent years. His distinction between contracts and covenant and why the latter is vital to the survival of western democracy is spot on.

Read this book

Well written and evidence-based. This book brings much need soul back into political discourse

Brilliant

Amazing book with deep insights that draws from a wide range of intellectual traditions. A book to read and reread.

Most imperative read for our time

Morality by Jonathan Sacks is possibly the single most important read to restore our common faith in humanity and chart a path towards a better more cohesive and happier society. His integration of literature history religion and philosophy is unparalleled. I recommend it to anyone who is motivated to see society and themselves differently and create a better life for themselves their families and community at large

So needed in this timeline

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks words will carry throughout generations. Thank you for being used by Hashem to bring this work to publish.

Great Idea

In my humble opinion: Jonathan has done a great job of compiling historical opinions of diverse thinkers. He has also expressed genuine hope for reconciliation of the diversity. Hopefully, this elaborate work will inspire more people to initiate implementation plans that are simple and practical.
On a critical note, Jonathan’s focus is on western history and religions. As an Indian Hindu I would want to respectfully extend Jonathan’s idea more eastward.

A fresh analysis of the failure of western civilisation

Jonathan Sacks presents a powerful analysis and stinging indictment of the disintegration of western moral values and its’ consequences. His thesis is that Morality, defined as a shared belief in right and wrong grounded in civil society, culture and tradition, has been outsourced to the Market and the State, relegating to those realms a task they are singularly incapable of performing. The result has been the destruction of community, the isolation of the individual and the collapse of the very basis of world order. His research and scholarship are impeccable. His role as Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations in the UK for 22 years adds an experiential dimension that give his words great weight and authority. The book is so full of quotable bits of wisdom and insight that I found myself wanting a pen and paper as I listened to the Audible edition in my car. The audible version is in Mr. Sacks own voice, and given his recent passing(sadly for the world) this adds another poignant dimension to this edition. There is so much here that cannot be captured in a short review. I will add just one of my pieces of wisdom from the book: “When the State replaced the Community, Morality was replaced by Politics.” Hear, Hear, Mr. Sacks! Rest in Peace my newfound friend.

An apolitical analysis of why the World is mess!

Narration was excellent. Content understandable and well grounded, based solid history,sociological trends, and historical standards what constitutes the relationship between functional societies and their founding principles and the subsequent deterioration of them.