In his many best-selling books, Yi-Fu Tuan seizes big, metaphysical issues and considers them in uniquely accessible ways. Human Goodness is evidence of this talent and is both as simple, and as epic, as it sounds. Genuinely good people and their actions, Tuan contends, are far from boring, naive, and trite; they are complex, varied, and enormously exciting. In a refreshing antidote to skeptical times, he writes of ordinary human courtesies, as simple as busing your dishes after eating, that make society functional and livable. And he writes of extraordinary courage and inventiveness under the weight of adversity and evil. He considers the impact of communal goodness over time, and his sketches of six very different individuals-Confucius, Socrates, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, John Keats, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, and Simone Weil-confirm that there are human lives that can encourage and lead us to our better selves.
Yi-Fu Tuan (1930-2022) was the J. K. Wright and Vilas Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of twenty-two books, including Morality and Imagination, The Good Life, Romantic Geography, and his autobiography, Who Am I?
"This remarkable book delights in the varieties and contradictions in goodness. . . . In evaluating goodness, Tuan asks a simple question: 'In his or her presence, does one feel oneself a better and more intelligent human being?' One might argue that readers will feel better and more intelligent for having read about these lives well-lived." (Publishers Weekly) "In defining the characteristics of those called 'good,' Yi-Fu Tuan has offered the opposite of the negative focus presented by the media and the social sciences. Human Goodness is an important and encouraging contribution to the literature on what it means to be truly human." (Foreword Reviews) "Tuan's descriptive and critical prowess is obviously honed on the flint of experience, and his words express a life of grounded, well-conceived thought. As the godfather of cultural geography, Tuan is able to appreciate Western and Eastern philosophical traditions equally." (Wisconsin People & Ideas) "Human Goodness cannot help but make readers rethink the importance of their own behavior in society." (Isthmus) "Tuan is one of the most remarkable and creative forces in the intellectual life of our time." - Simon Schama, Columbia University "In all his work, Tuan has led us on journeys that have extended our imagination by expanding our spirit. Here he has done so again, but perhaps never so importantly as in Human Goodness. Unfailingly engaging and profound." - Steven Grosby, Clemson University "Tuan has produced a series of profiles that confirm his core assertion: humanity in the aggregate may be dispiriting, but in certain human lives a goodness prevails that has the power to instruct, inspire, and confound. In time of war, his discussion of physical and moral courage is especially pertinent." - William Howarth, Princeton University
