Le quattro lezioni del Novecento / Awakening from Nihilism. In Preparation for the 21st Century: Four Lessons from the 20th

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

This is the text of Michael Novak' address on receiving the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. The author argues that the 20th century, the bloodiest in human history, has nevertheless taught us four painful but important lessons. First, truth matters, irrespective of one's faith or lack of it; from fidelity to truth arises inner liberty. Secondly, democracy is better for the protection of individuals and minorities than dictatorship. Thirdly, capitalism is better for the poor than either of its two great rivals, socialism and the traditional Third World state. Fourthly, vulgar relativism so undermines the culture of liberty that free institutions may not survive the 21st century. Until recently, modernity, notwithstanding its great practical discoveries in the fields of political liberty and economic liberty, was mistaken in its relation to truth, and thus to God and humankind. From now on, the deepest and most vital struggle of the 21st century will be the cultural one, over the sorts of habits necessary to the preservation of liberty. It is largely on the outcome of this struggle that the fate of free societies will depend.