A Populism of the Spirit – Further Essays on Politics and Universal Ethics by 

Shimon Cowen

Paperback, 378 pages, $39.95

ISBN: 9781922815293

January 2023 release.

A Populism of the Spirit – Further Essays on Politics and Universal Ethics is a sequel to Shimon Cowen’s Politics and Universal Ethics, which found strong resonance with politicians from both sides of politics who hosted its launches in all six State Legislatures of Australia. Both books explore general questions for the idea of universal ethics, their application to contemporary political issues and the features of contemporary culture which challenge them.

The ideal espoused in these books is that diverse political temperaments within individual societies, and diverse national cultures within world society, can together constitute a civilization, harmonious and luminous because it reflects objective, universal norms. Yet this can be gained only through a “populism” – a resurgence and reassertion – of the human spirit, which recognizes those universal ethics.

Many of the essays in A Populism of the Spirit, as in its predecessor volume, take their cue as responses to specific legislative and policy challenges to universal ethics in Australia. This does not limit their relevance to other societies around the world, for the Australian scene is simply a microcosm of global issues not only of Western, but also of non-Western, societies. The author’s The Theory and Practice of Universal Ethics – the Noahide Laws has been translated into Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Indonesian.

Rabbi Dr Shimon Cowen, out of a dual background of secular academia and traditional religious studies, founded and directs the Institute for Judaism and Civilization in Melbourne, Australia. He is a son of a former Governor General of Australia, Sir Zelman Cowen.