The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves by Alexandra Hudson releases this October, and she was kind enough to tell us a bit about her book!
1. The word 'civility' today can often be looked on as an old-fashioned word! How would you respond to someone who did say that the idea of civility really is just a bunch of old-fashioned customs?
"In my book, I argue that there is an essential distinction between civility and politeness. Politeness is manners, technique, behavior. Civility is a disposition of the heart that sees others as our moral equals made in the image of God, and worthy of respect in light of that. Crucially, sometimes respecting others means telling others that they're wrong and having hard truths. Politeness--including the old fashioned customs of etiquette --alone isn't enough to help us flourish across deep differences. But, as I argue in my book, civility might be."
2. Will readers find practical examples of how to encourage civility both in their own homes and in society or should readers expect mainly a more philosophical discussion of what civility is and why it's important?
"Yes, it's both philosophical and practical. My chapter on education argues that parents are their children's first, best, and most important teacher. Every parent, whether they realize it or not, is a homeschool parent in that way! I discuss how we must cultivate ecosystems of civility in our home life in our example to our children and in our formal instruction to them."
3. We love your deep focus on the true, good, and beautiful! We know our families also are drawn to those things and want to ensure that their children have a love for those things. In terms of education, it can sometimes happen that the day-to-day school tasks obscure the deeper meaning of why we are doing what we are doing. Do you have any suggestions for families who might want to more intentionally keep the ideas of truth, beauty, and goodness constantly present before them each day?
"My final chapter is on misplaced meaning and forgiveness. I argue that we've misplaced our meaning in politics as a society, and that we need more of the sublime in our every day, moments in nature, encountering beauty, to get our "daily dose of wonder" to keep our minds elevated on the true, good and beautiful. I can't wait for you to read the book!"
An excerpt from the author:
Gracious reader,
My name is Alexandra Hudson, and I'm a lifelong lover of learning, ideas, beauty, goodness and truth, with a zealous passion for the human condition--and the author of The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves, coming out October 10th.
My love of learning led me to a job at the United States Department of Education -- an experience that was so dispiriting, that it drove me to write my book The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves, forthcoming from St Martin's Press on October 10, 2023.
When I first arrived at the Department, I could not have been more enthusiastic.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime.
This was my chance to put the ideas I loved into practice, improve the state of education for America’s students, and in so doing, maybe even change the direction of our nation for the better.
I could not wait to dig in and start making a difference.
I could not have been more disillusioned.
It didn’t take more than a few days at the Department for me to discover one of the best-kept secrets in America.
I learned that the U.S Department of Education—the single largest institution in the history of humanity dedicated to student learning—doesn’t care about education.
At least, not in the way that I was educated or had come to understand education: as an experience that nourishes curiosity, crafts character, cultivates our humanity to the fullest, and promotes a love for the life of the mind and continued learning.
Looking back, I now realize that I went into government thinking it would be like Aaron Sorkin's pop civics TV Show, The West Wing.
I had what seem now like completely naïve visions of us sitting around talking about Plato, Plutarch and Petrarch all day. I went into government with visions of the nobility of statesmanship. I thought the people in leadership would be philosopher kings, led by wisdom and a love of learning, and maybe even occasionally quoting Cicero in the original Latin like The West Wing’s President Bartlett.
I expected that everyone I worked with would be curious and thoughtful. I thought we’d reflect and discuss deeply—on how the True, the Good and the Beautiful informed our work and could better our country and our education system. I thought we’d scour the world and history for what was working in modern education, and debate how such best practices could improve our own American context. I thought everyone there was there for the same reasons I was: to make things better for America’s students, if only incrementally.
I was sorely disappointed.
I quickly realized that instead of The West Wing, the U.S. Department of Education was, in reality, more of a mix of House of Cards and Veep— a combination of sinister Machiavels and bumbling incompetents just trying to stay afloat.
There were, of course, some well-meaning and capable people—both on my political team that worked with the Secretary and also within the ranks of the career civil servants that I worked with.
But for the most part, people were more interested in pulling bureaucratic levers than cultivating hearts and minds of students.
At worst, the culture of fear, survivalism and naked ambition made it difficult to even want to think creatively about how to improve the status quo.
I remember one time being at a meeting at the Department.
As we were chatting before our meeting formally began, I mentioned that I was re-reading Plato’s Republic and I briefly described how his tripartite theory of the soul—the rational head, ruling the appetitive belly through the courageous chest— had been important to educational practitioners across history. How might this inform our mission at the Department of Education? I wondered aloud, inviting responses from those around the table.
It was my attempt—desperate, grasping—to make conversation with my peers—and to try to make some connection to what I knew and loved to the day-to-day workings of the Department.
I received silence. Blank stares.
Then, someone suggested we start the meeting.
I had been taught to love and pursue beauty, goodness and truth my entire life, and yet when I found myself at the U.S. Department of Education, and I was told at every turn—implicitly and explicitly, that these things did not matter, and that I had nothing to contribute.
To help foment the civic, moral, and intellectual renaissance in our country and culture, I wrote my book, The Soul of Civility: Timeless Principles to Heal Society and Ourselves, forthcoming from St Martin's Press, which I invite you to consider ordering now.
As a special thank you for ordering the book, I am giving away $700 in FREE gifts to help nourish your mind and cultivate your curiosity, which you can claim here.
Thank you for all your work reviving beauty, goodness and truth in our world.
I'm honored to be on this journey alongside you.
You can pre-order the book here!
A note from MODG Founder, Laura Berquist: