This volume is the product of a study project jointly sponsored by the Woodstock Theological Center and the Department of Government of Georgetown University. The project was designed to facilitate an interdisciplinary and interfaith dialogue on the relevance of the Catholic tradition to the future development of the philosophy that informs the public life of the United States. Because of the special role that liberalism has come to play in the affairs of the nation, the project focused particular attention on the prospects for a fresh Catholic contribution to the shaping of the American mind in the light of what it is that liberal thinking has become. It was predicated on the assumption that both the teaching of the church and the premises of liberal thinking about our public life have changed significantly since the days when they stood in principled opposition to one another. The task posed to each of the participants was to take stock, prospectively, of the situation that now prevails in the light of the changes that both Catholicism and liberalism have undergone.

The chapters contained in this volume are revised versions of manuscripts originally presented in a series of meetings extending from the spring of 1989 through the fall of 1990. The meetings were held at the Woodstock Center Library on the campus of Georgetown University.

The directors wish to indicate here their grateful appreciation of J. Leon Hooper, SJ, for his ongoing help in administering the affairs of the project.