Conscience and its enemies : confronting the dogmas of liberal secularism / Robert P. George.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 300-312) and index.

Foreword to the paperback edition / by Mary Ann Glendon -- Part I. Fundamentals -- 1. Common principles, common foes -- 2. The limits of constitutional limits -- 3. Private acts, public interests -- 4. Liberalism, liberation, and the liberal arts -- 5. Judicial despotism: lessons from the "great emancipator" -- 6. Some hard questions about affirmative action -- 7. Immigration and American exceptionalism -- Part II. Morality and the public square -- 8. Natural law, God, and human dignity -- 9. Why moral truths matter -- 10. Two concepts of liberty and conscience -- 11. Religious liberty: a fundamental human right -- 12. What marriage is and what it isn't -- 13. The myth of a "grand bargain" on marriage -- 14.Is polyamory next? -- 15. Transgenderism, "marriage equality," and liberalism's tragic error -- 16. God and Gettysburg -- Part III. Life and death -- 17. Conscience and its enemies -- 18. When life begins -- 19. Embryo ethics: what science tells us, what justice demands of us -- 20. The personal and the political: some liberal fallacies -- 21. A right to life denied or a right to die honored? -- 22. The "relics of barbarism," then and now -- Part IV. Good guys and not-so-good guys -- 23. Harry Blackburn: improbable liberal icon -- 24. Andrew Sullivan: a walking contradiction -- 25. Bernard Nathanson: a life transformed by truth -- 26. He threw it all away: on the greatness of Richard John Neuhaus -- 27. A practical philosopher in every way: G.E.M. Anscombe -- 28. The achievement of John Finnis -- 29. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese: a life well lived -- 30. Eugene Genovese: truth teller -- 31. The irreplaceable Amy Kass -- 32. Antonin Scalia: an American originalist.

"This revised and updated edition of the acclaimed Conscience and Its Enemies showcases the talents that have made Robert P. George one of America’s most influential thinkers. Here George explodes the myth that the secular elite represents the voice of reason. In fact, it is on the elite side of the cultural divide where the prevailing views are little more than articles of faith. Conscience and Its Enemies reveals the bankruptcy of these too often smugly held orthodoxies while presenting powerfully reasoned arguments for classical virtues. In defending what James Madison called the zsacred rights of consciencey--rights for which government shows frightening contempt--George grapples with today's most controversial issues: same-sex marriage, abortion, transgenderism, genetic manipulation, euthanasia and assisted suicide, religion in politics, judicial activism, and more. His brilliantly argued essays rely not on theological claims or religious authority but on established scientific facts and a philosophical tradition that extends back to Plato and Aristotle."--Publisher description.