In this book, Amitai Etzioni, public intellectual and leading proponent of communitarian values, defends the view that no society can flourish without a shared obligation to “the common good.” Rejecting claims made by some liberal thinkers that it is not possible to balance individual rights with uncoerced civic responsibility, Etzioni explores a number of key issues which pose important questions for those concerned with promoting the common good in contemporary society. Are we morally obliged...

Privacy is perhaps the most hallowed of American rights—and most people are concerned that new technologies available to governments and corporations threaten to erode this most privileged of rights. But in The Limits of Privacy, Amitai Etzioni offers a decidedly different point of view, in which the right to privacy is balanced against concern for public safety and health. Etzioni looks at five flashpoint issues: Megan's Laws, HIV testing of infants, deciphering of encrypted messages, national...

One of the world's leading sociologists and most quoted intellectuals in America today, Amitai Etzioni has been the subject of numerous profiles in all the major media and has worked both with members of the Clinton Administration and Republican senators on social issues and policy. Now, in this important new book, he invites us to explore how a good society should operate and what values we must bring to our social interactions if we are to achieve stronger and more enduring community ties.As...