To Flourish or Destruct

Christian Smith is a force to conjure with in sociology, both in its empirical forays (studies of youth and religious life) and in its higher reaches of theory, where his work sets out to move culture, morality, and identity to the center of social thought.  We published his 2011 book, What Is a Person?, to critical plaudits and healthy sales.   Striking a middle path between extremes of positivist science and relativism, Smith’s theory of personhood teased out how we can know what is good in personal and social life, and what sociology can tell us about human rights and dignity.  To Flourish or Destruct is a sequel.  It builds on the earlier book to explore the question of human motivations for action.  In arguing for a sociological turn in a more humanist direction, he sets up a scaffolding for a philosophy of moral realism that makes human flourishing (the realization of basic human goods) a centerpiece of social science.  Smith’s Aristotelian account of flourishing argues that genuinely investing in the flourishing of other people is a necessary condition for personal flourishing--in short, learning to love others.  The guiding assumption is that flourishing is the natural aim of all human life.   He then turns to the question of evil (the absence or privation of what is good), with extended consideration of Stalin and Hitler and totalitarianism in general, in contrast to his inventory of basic human goods, motivations, and interests.  The title poses the question:  will I flourish or will I destruct?  On which path is my life moving?