This collection of essays relates personal belief with public morality by presenting an interdisciplinary study of values as a stimulus for public debate where religion and society can interact constructively. The essays are the outcome of a year long interdisciplinary conversation on values among different departments at Saint Louis University. The term conversation suggests an open-minded and open-ended forum where meanings are grappled with and ongoing exploration of new possibilities is encouraged. The essays examine both process and policy questions that arise when values are respected in public life.
Contents: Introduction: Public Conversation on Values, Gerard Magill and Marie D. Hoff; Process; The Justification of Toleration, Richard H. Dees; The Literature of the Essay and the Discourse of Values, Vincent G. Casaregola; Hermeneutics and Democracy: Religious Dialogue on Values in the Public Arena, Gerard Magill; Democratic Morality: Perspectives from the Women's Movement, Wynne Walker Moskop; Social Values and Bureaucratic Morality, Kathryn E. Kuhn; Policy; The Welfare State and Social Justice, Marie D. Hoff; The American Health Care System and the Pursuit of Health, Jean deBlois, CSJ; Technology and the Environment: Conquest, Harmony, and Stewardship, Gregory R. Beabout; Environmental Law and Democratic Legitimacy, Douglas R. Williams; Culture, Values, and the Christian University, Richard W. Dumphy, S.J.
