Bøker av Samuel Gregg

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008 and ongoing debt-related troubles there have been widespread calls to put banking and economic activity on a secure ethical foundation, either by regulation or through voluntary reform. In this volume the authors explore various economic, philosophical and ethical ideas from historical, contemporary, and future-looking perspectives.

Western civilization’s genius is in its synthesis of reason and faith. These foundations are under assault today from Islamists and radical secularists. Unless Western society recovers its confidence in this synthesis and its capacity to magnify human freedom and achievement, our future is limited. This sharp commentary on the rise and current decline of Western Civilization touches on historical moments—including the building of early universities in the Middle Ages and the American Revolution—and figures—including Augustine, Acquinas, Edmund Burke, and Adam Smith—that exemplify the faith-reason synthesis at the heart of Western Civilization, as well as the modern villains that threaten to destroy it. 

Perhaps no issue is more divisive among philosophers, jurists and theologians than the nature of human liberty. Liberty is central to the claims of the Christian Gospel, the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the American Revolution. But discussions about the nature of freedom have been characterized by profound disagreement and unsettling questions. What does it mean to be free? Is freedom worth more than mens' lives? Why should man be free? What, if any, legitmate responsibilities accompany freedom? These subjects are that the heart of Samuel Gregg's new book On Ordered Liberty. Beginning with the insights of Alexis de Tocqueville and some natural law theorists, Gregg suggests that something which he terms 'integral law' must be distinguished from most contemporary visions of freedom. He argues that this new arrangement requires a complete repudiation of utilitarian ideas on the grounds that they are incompatable with human nature. He also recommends a new and more rigorous focus on the basic but often neglected-question: what is man? On Ordered Liberty goes beyond the liberal and conservative divide, asking its readers to think about the proper ends of human choice and actions in a free society.

Once relatively confined to parts of Europe and North America, commercial societies are now found in many other cultures and continents. Yet despite the international spread and growth of commercial order, the moral, economic, and legal foundations of commercial society remain poorly understood, especially in those countries where it first took root. Guided by the thoughts of Alexis de Tocqueville, Samuel Gregg's The Commercial Society identifies and explores the key foundational elements that must exist within a society for commercial order to take root and flourish. Gregg studies the challenges that have consistently impeded and occasionally undermined commercial order, including the persistence of 'corporatist' values and political movements seeking to equalize social conditions. This book offers a historically-grounded analysis for modern audiences interested in philosophy or the history of economics.

Economic Thinking for the Theologically Minded provides an introduction to what has been called 'the economic way of thinking,' which explains some of the critical concepts and foundational assumptions employed in economics.

In this volume a distinguished set of authors explore various economic, philosophical, and ethical ideas from historical, contemporary, and future-looking perspectives.