In thisfive-day intensive seminar we will examine the roots of our situation exploring fundamental tensions around such phenomena as freedom, self-interest, authority, dogma and common good. Students will study the ideas and perspectives behind modern liberal society and how different ways of thinking have shaped what the common good looks like today. We will read and/or discuss selections of ancient, modern and contemporary writers, including Plato, Mandeville, Rousseau, Marx, Nietzsche, Taylor and Fukuyama.