This text addresses some of the central political, philosophical and religious issues. Divided into four sections, the book: examines large political and social questions, culminating in the question of modern ethics; applies ideas to specific social and educational concerns, including "The Idea of a University: Newman's and Others", and "The Idea of a National Library"; and takes a historical and thematic line to consider imperialism, property, madness and homosexuality. The final section begins with the author's essay on "The Inner Life" and looks at the claims of the imagination and the limits of subjectivity in the arts and the lives of artists and philosophers.