Mortimer Adler has devoted a lifetime to studying the great ideas and explaining even the most difficult concepts to the average citizen, earning Time magazine's praise as ''a philosopher for everyman.'' In We Hold These Truths, Dr. Adler caps his life's work by illuminating the ideas and ideals that have made the United States of America a truly unique nation in the annals of history.

The ideas Adler examines include those at the core of the Declaration of Independence - human equality, inalienable human rights, civil rights, the pursuit of happiness, and both the consent and dissent of the governed. These are the ideas that form the basis for the ideals found in the Preamble to the constitution that bind us together as a nation - justice, domestic tranquillity, the common defense, the general welfare, and the blessings of liberty.