Philosophy, along with modern humanity as a whole, stands at a critical juncture. As the sense of the person emerges ever more strongly in contemporary consciousness, rationalist ideologies inherit- ed from the last century appear increasingly to be not only insufficient, but destructive. Fascism was defeated militarily; communism has collapsed under the weight of the deadening inertia it imposed from the center. Correspondingly, the movement of freedom has spread on all levels, first internationally as nations were emancipated from colonialism, then nationally as prejudices against minorities were transformed into a new pluralism, and now at the center of the family as equality and participation are ever more valued.