Annotated Bibliography
Adler, Mortimer. 1953. Great Books of the Western World. WHOLE SET
Great Books of the Western World consists of 517 of the most remarkable
contributions to Western society. It encompasses items from history, philosophy,
science and literature. These books cover everything from the classics of Aristotle to
more recent phenomenon. The ideas, inventions, mindsets and discoveries that have
made the western world what it is today are covered in these tomes.
Fogel, Robert William. The fourth Great Awakening and the future of egalitarianism.
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Fogel takes into account both the past, present and future of periodic revivals that
religion has brought to us. He goes into how social reformation has been established
from such movements. He tells us that from the least to the greatest that we are
destined soon for a great burst of egalitarian progress. He goes into the three great
spiritual awakenings of the past and the social thinking that preceded and followed
them. While the previous spiritual awakenings focused on redistributing wealth, the
upcoming spiritual awakening will be focused on people becoming more self aware
and having a hunger for knowledge and learning.
Hodgson, Godfrey. The myth of American exceptionalism. New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 2010.
When we think that as Americans that we have to spread our ideas of democracy,
and share our capitalistic views with every nation, we are fooling ourselves. America
is not as wonderful as she thinks she is. We have become complacent in our mindless
patriotism and we don’t recognize our history for what it is. Because of our arrogance,
the rest of the world can no longer relate to us. This book researches the history of
how we have exaggerated our own history and become corrupted in the process.
Hutchins, Robert Maynard, and Mortimer Jerome Adler. . The Great Ideas
Today. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica. VARIOUS VOLUMES
The Great Ideas today series is an addition or supplementation to The Great
Books of the Western World. This book series gives new thought, breath and life to
the ideals and notations of the previous book set. It adds annual developments and
special features not found in the original series.
Lipset, Seymour Martin. American exceptionalism: a double-edged sword. New York:
W.W. Norton & Company, 1997.
America is a country that was born out of the pains of birth of a new nation.
Because of our history of fighting for our freedom and what we believe in, or think
we believe in, we have both intentionally and unintentionally set ourselves apart from
the rest of the world. This book explains why and how we have set ourselves apart
and how our moral structure has infiltrated every part of American culture and
expectation.
Ignatieff, Michael. American exceptionalism and human rights. Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 2005.
This book goes over three types of American exceptionalism. These include the
fact that we support treaties as long as we don’t have to be a part of them, criticizing
other nation and peoples for doing what we already do or don’t do and our judges not
paying attention to what other courts of lesser or higher jurisdiction find in their
rulings. The book also goes over the history of exceptionalism in society and our
varying institutions.
McClellan, James Liberty. 2000. Order and Justice: An Introduction to the
Constitutional Principles of American Government. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund.
This book wants to make its reader aware of what our constitution truly means
and says. The purpose and original intent is gone over in detail. Separation of the
powers and federalism in general are also covered. The history of America’s quest for
independence and a separation from England are also covered and lead to how the
constitution was born from these efforts.
Murray, Charles A. 2013. American Exceptionalism: An Experiment in History.
Washington, D.C.: AEI Press.
In 1776 and the century that followed, both the United States and the rest of the
free world saw the United States as set apart as a wonderful ideal to be and to strive
for. In the 18th and 19th centuries we were set apart because of our political and social
ideals and achievements. Sometime during the 20th century, we veered off of our
original course and became arrogant and decided that we should police the world.
What separates us from the rest of the world, is not just a matter or geography, but our
history and how we carry ourselves in spite or it or because of it.
Tocqueville, Alexis De, and Phillips Bradley. 1945. Democracy in America. New
York: Knopf.
The author of this book came to the United States to report back to Europe what
constituted life in a free state of mind. He was astounded that in 1831 that compared
to the rest of the world, there was for that period of time a great equality among men.
