Jay Newman first puts the contemporary problem of inauthentic culture into philosophical and historical context. He then goes on to show how traditional philosophical criticism of inauthentic culture can help us understand many disturbing aspects of such contemporary cultural phenomena as television and public relations, as well as contemporary forms of craftsmanship, democracy, and the academy. Inauthentic Culture and Its Philosophical Critics will be of great interest to all those concerned with philosophy, cultural theory, and the enduring problem of cultural decline.

Jay Newman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph. Among his publications are Foundations of Religious Tolerance and numerous studies of the philosophical and theological writings of John Henry Newman.

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"This is an impressive book with a unique capacity to enlighten the reader in unexpected ways. Newman shows how our own age of general cultural decline and deception can be illuminated by the ideas of Plato and other critics of culture influenced by him. In a time of reversal and depression, Newman conveys hope and the possibility for radical change." David MacGregor, Department of Sociology, King's College