Liberals often worry that inviting moral and religious argument into the public sphere runs the risk of intolerance and coercion. These essays respond to that concern by showing that substantive moral discourse in a pluralist society is not at odds with progressive public purposes. Introduction 1(8) I AMERICAN CIVIC LIFE 1 America's Search for a Public Philosophy 9(26) 2 Beyond Individualism: Democrats and Community 35(11) 3 The Politics of Easy Virtue 46(4) 4 Big Ideas 50(4) 5 The Problem with Civility 54(5) 6 Impeachment Then and Now 59(4) 7 Robert F. Kennedy's Promise 63(6) II MORAL AND POLITICAL ARGUMENTS 8 Against State Lotteries 69(4) 9 Commercials in the Classroom 73(4) 10 Branding the Public Realm 77(4) 11 Sports and Civic Identity 81(4) 12 History for Sale 85(4) 13 The Market for Merit 89(4) 14 Should We Buy the Right to Pollute? 93(4) 15 Honor and Resentment 97(4) 16 Arguing Affirmative Action 101(4) 17 Should Victims Have a Say in Sentencing? 105(4) 18 Clinton and Kant on Lying 109(4) 19 Is There a Right to Assisted Suicide? 113(4) 20 Embryo Ethics: The Moral Logic of Stem Cell Research 117(5) 21 Moral Argument and Liberal Toleration: Abortion and Homosexuality 122(25) III LIBERALISM, PLURALISM, AND COMMUNITY 22 Morality and the Liberal Ideal 147(9) 23 The Procedural Republic and the Unencumbered Self 156(18) 24 Justice as Membership 174(5) 25 The Peril of Extinction 179(4) 26 Dewey's Liberalism and Ours 183(13) 27 Mastery and Hubris Judaism: What's Wrong with Playing God? 196(15) 28 Political Liberalism 211(37) 29 Remembering Rawls 248(4) 30 The Limits of Communitarianism 252(11) Notes 263(16) Credits 279(2) Index 281