Is civility a virtue? / James Schmidt --
Civic meetings, cultural meanings / Lawrence Cahoone --
Trust, confidence, and the problem of civility / Adam B. Seligman --
Beyond courtesy / Adam McClellan --
The belligerence of dogma / Stephen Toulmin --
The ethical status of civility / Robert B. Pippin --
Response to Robert B. Pippin / Daniel O. Dahlstrom --
Are we losing our virtue? / Alan Wolfe --
Response to Alan Wolfe / Lawrence Cahoone --
Civility and the limits to the tolerable / Edwin J. Delattre --
Civility in the family / Carrie Doehring --
On Confucian civility / Henry Rosemont Jr. --
Harmony, fragmentation, and democratic ritual / David B. Wong --
Sacred civilities / Ninian Smart --
Making peace / Virginia Straus.

"Are Americans less civil than they used to be? If so, is that a bad thing? Perhaps we are just learning to be more honest. And what does civility mean? Is it just good manners? Or is civility a question of morality?" "In this lively conversation on an increasingly significant theme, major philosophers and religious scholars argue the issue on three levels. The first is manners: Henry Rosemont argues the Confucian case that manners are the substance of social relations, while Edwin Delattre and Adam Seligman believe that the issue is deeper than that; and the sociologist Alan Wolfe is persuaded that we are not less civil or ill-mannered than our predecessors. Secondly, as a social issue, James Schmidt, Lawrence Cahoone, and Adam Seligman turn to questions of structure and meaning in a civil society; Ninian Smart, David Wong, and Virginia Straus put the issue in a cross-cultural context; Stephen Toulmin describes the corruption of civility by dogmatism; and Carrier Doehring warns that civility may be a barrier to honest communication in family life. Finally, the metaphysical and religious dimensions of civility are explored by Robert Pippin, Adam McClellan, and Daniel Dahlstrom."--Jacket.