What struck me is that this book analyzes natural law within a legal context: many of the contributing authors are attorneys as well as philosopher. This is particularly helpful to our nation today, as I think more citizens will have to reassess the role of the judiciary these days.

For the latter half of the 20th century, worries over "judicial acitivism" and judges' making decisions that should be made by legislatures have been the domain of conservatives, with Roe v. Wade probably being the chief example. But now liberals have said similar things about the Supreme Court's Bush v. Gore decision. It is high time for intelligent discussion, and this book is a solid foundation for a dialogue.

By looking at natural law historically, legally, and philosophically, the authors of this book examine how natural law works and various challenges to it. This book is a very good introduction, and I have come away with a greater respect for natural law and its vital role in our nation, and also new questions to pursue (and more books to buy...).

The contributing authors are an impressive team of formidable thinkers, and while most of the writers clearly come from a religious background, the are pretty good about keeping what they say applicable to a secular society (the last two essays tend to be more theological than philosophical, and I thought that hurt their impact).

I think MacIntyre's essay on the role of the ordinary person in natural law is particularly valuable: if the American citizenry cannot execute sound moral judgment, our nation as a constitutional republic is in grave danger. Fuller's essay on Locke's struggles with natural law is an honest and challenging look at natural law's theoretical chinks. Riley's essay on tort law gave excellent lessons on liability, but with lawsuits being as common as they are nowadays, I would have hoped for more practical insights on today's situation, and possible remedies.

On the whole, this book is a good read and a good challenge. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in ethics or concerned about the present condition of the United States.

Common Truths: New Perspectives On Natural Law is a collection consisting of cogent remarks and prescient essays: Are There Moral Truths That Everyone Knows? (Ralph McInerny); Natural Law: The Legacy of Greece and Rome (J. Rufus Fears); Aquinas, Natural Law, and the Challenges of Diversity (John Jenkins); John Locke's Reflections on Natural Law and the Character of the Modern World (Timothy Fuller); Theories of Natural Law in the Culture of Advanced Modernity (Alasdair MacIntyre); What Dignity Means (Virginia Black); Natural Law and Positive Law (Robert P. George); Natural Rights and the Limited of Constitutional Law (Russell Hittinger); Natural Law and Sexual Ethics (Janet E. Smith); Contract Law and Natural Law (Edward J. Murphy); Tort Law and Natural Law (William N. Riley); Criminal Law and Natural Law (Ian A.T. McLean); and Natural Law in the Twenty-First Century (Charles E. Rice). Common Truths is scholarly, intellectually stimulating reading for anyone wanting to better understand and appreciate the permanent norms of human action and their relationships to a moral and political life.

The author does a wonderful job of bringing early Seattle history to life. By describing the characters that were important in the founding of Seattle one gains a new respect for what it is that makes Seattle unique. The directions given for locating the graves of famous Seattle pioneers are very helpful, because although most of these pioneers are located in the same cemetery, Lake View is not your typical pioneer cemetery.

Only one fifth of the book is written by the authors, and this part of the book is very useful, and contains good advice.

The rest of the book contains profiles of professionals in healthcare administration. Most of these professionals are in very senior positions in the industry, and talk about the path they took to get there.

Before reading this book, my impression of professionals in the healthcare industry was that they are generally noble people who care about the well being of fellow humans. However, after reading the profiles in this book, I get the impression that these people are just as ruthless, career oriented, and money driven as people in any other profession.

The first part (which is only one-fifth of the book), is concise, informative, and very helpful.

The second part (which is the rest of the book), contains profiles of healthcare managers. These profiles are authored by the managers themselves. The book states that the profiles are diverse in every way, and are therefore truly representative of careers in healthcare management. But almost all the profiles are of people in senior level management positions, and the majority are of Vice Presidents and Presidents/CEOs.

A few of the contributors have gone to the trouble of giving good career advice.

However, the vast majority have taken up most of the space to tell us about the impressive job titles they have held, and the associations they belong to. Towards the end of their profiles, they have dedicated hardly a sentence or two to giving advice, which is mostly common sense (such as getting proper education, finding a mentor, volunteering, etc).

Looking at the profiles of these people, it is not surprising to note that most of them ended up either as VPs or Presidents/CEOs, given that most of them graduated from the top ranking universities in the country.

So if you have graduated (or expect to) from an Ivy League school, you stand a good chance of following the career path of one of the people in the profiles. But this book is definitely not a very useful guide for the rest of us.