Character and Opinion in the United States

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About this book

American habits of thought come under George Santayana's scrutiny in these essays, developed largely from lectures given to British audiences. Drawing on decades of acquaintance with the United States, he writes as an observer whose affection for the country accompanies sharp criticism. His subjects include New England's literary and religious inheritance, academic life, and the philosophies of William James and Josiah Royce.

The discussion connects ideas with public life: confidence in achievement, the duty of private judgement, and the pull between material success and spiritual freedom. In his treatment of Royce, Santayana examines the uneasy attempt to reconcile moral effort with a belief that the world as a whole is good. Readers interested in American intellectual history will find a personal assessment of how national habits, university teaching, and philosophical arguments shape one another.

About the author

George Santayana

George Santayana was a philosopher, poet, critic, and novelist whose work examined reason, imagination, culture, and the place of human life within nature. Sonnets and other verses, first published in 1894, belongs to his early poetic career and shows the formal discipline that remained important to his prose style.