I Have A Broad But Not An

I Have A Broad But Not An Expert Or Scholarly Background In The Jewish Tradition. I've Tried To Learn What I Can From Childhood, But I Am Not An Expert On Jewish Teachings.

There's No Necessary Connection Between Maximizing Social Utility Or Economic Wealth And Creating A Flourishing Democracy. The First Does Not Guarantee The Second. The Only Way To Create A Flourishing Democracy Is To Find Ways To Reason Together About The Big Questions, Including Hard Questions About Justice And The Common Good, To Reason Together About These Questions So That We As Citizens Can Decide How To Shape The Forces That Govern Our Lives.

Other Animals Can Make Sounds, And Sounds Can Indicate Pleasure And Pain. But Language, A Distinctly Human Capacity, Isn´t Just For Registering Pleasure And Pain. It´s About Declaring What Is Just And What Is Unjust, And Distinguishing Right From Wrong. We Don´t Grasp These Things Silently, And Then Put Words To Them; Language Is The Medium Through Which We Discern And Deliberate About The Good.

In Most Of Our Lives, We Are Accustomed To Aiming At Mastery And Control And Dominion- - Over Nature, Over Our Lives, Over Our Jobs, Over Our Careers, Over The Goods That We Buy.

The Relief Of Suffering Is A Great Good. The Curing Of Illness And Disease - These Are Great Human Goods. This Is The Mission Of Medicine.