In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies by Avent, Ryan
In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies by Avent, Ryan

In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies

How a society's capacity for belief forms the foundation of its successDo you struggle to find reasons...
$48.00 USD
$91.99 USD
$48.00 USD
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Author: Ryan Avent
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $48.00
In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies by Avent, Ryan

In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies

$91.99 $48.00
In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies by Avent, Ryan

In Good Faith: How the Nature of Belief Shapes the Fate of Societies

$91.99 $48.00
Author: Ryan Avent
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description

How a society's capacity for belief forms the foundation of its success

Do you struggle to find reasons to feel optimistic about the future? Are you trying to understand the creeping institutional dysfunction we see the world over? In this book, Ryan Avent explores how an unswerving confidence in systems of liberal democracy and free market capitalism--which he terms the "Modern Faith"--has left many Western countries struggling to deal with democratic backsliding and social dysfunction. Those seeking the certainty of another technocratic solution, however, are searching in the wrong place. The true foundation of our prosperity, Avent argues, is not in an ability to reason our way to better policies and institutions but rather lies in the nature and distribution of our beliefs.

Drawing from economics, history, philosophy, biology, and much else besides, Avent shows that our capacity for belief is what connects us, guides our behavior moment by moment and year by year, and determines how well we cooperate in the production of social and economic complexity. Far from standing in opposition to science and reason, faith is central to the human endeavor. By understanding the nature of faith and how it forms the fabric of our society, we can better find ways to come together to tackle the global crises of rising authoritarianism and climate change that threaten us all, and find hope within one another.



Author: Ryan Avent
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 04/21/2026
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 1.10d
ISBN: 9780300269925

About the Author
Ryan Avent is director of portfolio communications at Select Equity Group and a former journalist at The Economist. He is the author of The Wealth of Humans: Work, Power, and Status in the Twenty-first Century. He lives in Raleigh, NC, and New York City.
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