George Allan is Professor of Philosophy at Dickinson College and Past President of the Metaphysical Society of America. Author of the other books in the trilogy, The Importances of the Past: A Meditation on the Authority of Tradition, The Realizations of the Future: An Inquiry into the Authority of Praxis, both published by SUNY Press, he has also most recently written Rethinking College Education, finalist for the 1999 Ness Prize, Association of American Colleges and Universities.

"One of the most imaginative books in contemporary philosophy I have read." — Robert Cummings Neville, author of Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World"A fine work in systematic philosophy. There is much thought and learning behind these pages, but the learning is worn lightly as the thoughtfulness shines through." — William Desmond, author of Ethics and the Between

• PrefaceTier 7. Structure 7.1 Foundations7.2 Ideals7.3 Systems7.4 Organisms7.5 Selves7.6 Worlds7.7 HistoriesTier 6. Hierarchy6.1 Nested Contexts6.2 Ultimate Contexts6.3 Organismic Individuals6.4 Persons6.5 Original Contexts6.6 Final ContextTier 5. Duration5.1 Stabilizing Variation5.2 Maximizing Fitness5.3 Interpreting Human Nature5.4 Making Civil Society5.5 Reconciling HistoriesTier 4. Virtue4.1 Character4.2 Creativity4.3 Commitment4.4 CollaborationTier 3. Standard3.1 Life3.2 Liberty3.3 AutonomyTier 2. Polarity2.1 One and Many2.2 First and LastTier 1. Apex1.1 The PyramidWorks CitedIndex