The Cultural Values of Europe

What is the cultural identity of Europe? Are there specifically European values? Questions like these are at the centre of a considerable number of political and scholarly debates in contemporary Europe. In this international best-seller, a group of acclaimed thinkers - including Orlando Patterson, S. N. Eisenstadt, Mark Mazower and Wolfgang Schluchter - examine the most important innovations and culturally vital value traditions of Europe to produce an image of contemporary European self-understanding. The volume combines two possible approaches, examining both specific cultural traditions (‘Athens and Jerusalem') and specific values (‘freedom'; ‘rationality'). Boasting some of the leading thinkers in Europe and edited by renowned scholar Hans Joas, The Cultural Values of Europe will be required reading for anyone hoping to understand the common cultural ground in Europe.

Hans Joas is director of the Max Weber Center at the University of Erfurt and professor of sociology and social thought at the University of Chicago. Klaus Wiegandt is founder and CEO of  Forum für Verantwortung (Forum for Responsibility).