“What is valuable in Western Civilization and why is it worth saving?” Alejo José G. Sison, president of the European Business Ethics Network, poses this question at the beginning of his book review of Samuel Gregg’s “Reason, Faith, and the Struggle for Western Civilization.” In his review, Sison notes how Gregg approaches questions about the philosophical roots of Western Civilization with “honesty” and “modesty,” offering a refreshing view of the West without being reductionist.
In proceeding to answer [what is valuable about Western Civilization], Gregg shows admirable honesty and modesty. Honesty because he acknowledges early in the volume his intellectual debt to Benedict XVI and John Finnis in crafting his arguments, and modesty in underplaying his merits in diagnosing the intellectual and moral ills that plague these first years of the second millennium, tracing their roots, and pointing toward possible ways forward. For no small amount of perspicacity is needed to carry out these tasks and to communicate one’s findings clearly and effectively.
Sison hits the nail on the head when he notes that examining the characteristics of Western Civilization is important, given that the contemporary world has “moved quickly from multiculturalism to globalization (and its backlash, populism) to the tyranny of moral relativism.”
Read the full review here.
