The New Patricians: An Essay on Values and Consciousness

After expounding a patrician set of values, Paterson, a former lecturer in philosophy at the University of Hull, argues that the main issues people face are within their own consciousness and should be resolved by transforming their self-images, rather than changing the external world. He illustrates the themes of the essay in five types of life situations: democracy, change, solitude, luck , and death. He then uses four examples of human achievement jester, poet, rebel, and hero to demonstrate how a successful identity can be created across challenges. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.