Habits of the Heart

This landmark book about America's "habits of the heart" - Tocqueville's expression for the mix of traits essential to our national character - explores the traditions Americans use to make sense of themselves and their society, and it presents one of today's major moral dilemmas: the conflict between our fierce individualism and our urgent need for community and commitment to one another. Basing their research on a massive five-year study of various American communities, the authors conclude that Americans, largely confined to a vocabulary of individualism, have lost the language needed to make moral sense of their lives. Wives and husbands, managers, psychotherapists, local business people, and civic activists tell how hard it can be to commit yourself to others if you believe that "in the end you're really alone, and you really have to answer to yourself." Clearly a product and reflection of our times, Habits of the Heart offers us a forward-looking window on Americans' search for tradition and meaning in life. -- Publisher's website.