Welcome to CSS Breakdown: Book by Book — Season 4. In this episode, we continue exploring Will Durant’s timeless reflections from Fallen Leaves. Today, we turn to Durant’s generational lens on morality — where he weighs youthful rebellion, evolving social norms, and the timeless values that continue to shape a healthy society."

In Episode 11 of CSS Breakdown: Book by Book, we explore Will Durant’s reflections on generational morality from his posthumous work Fallen Leaves. With his signature wisdom, Durant bridges the moral contrasts between the puritanical past and our technological present, offering a candid but optimistic vision for society’s moral evolution.

💡 What you'll learn:

• Why youthful rebellion is a necessary part of social transformation
• The enduring importance of continence, marital fidelity, and family structure
• Durant’s nuanced take on issues like divorce, child-rearing, and crime
• The idea that education, not dogma, will guide future generations toward harmony
• A call for balanced morality — one that honors tradition while embracing change

This episode invites CSS aspirants and philosophy lovers alike to rethink what it means to be "moral" in a world that never stops changing.

Welcome back to CSS Breakdown: Book by Book — Season 4. We’re diving into the reflections of Will Durant in his posthumously published masterpiece, Fallen Leaves. In Episode 10, we examine Durant’s powerful insights into the evolving relationship between morality, religion, and modern society — a journey through belief, upheaval, and renewal."

In this episode of CSS Breakdown: Book by Book, we unpack Chapter 10 of Fallen Leaves by Will Durant, focusing on the dynamic and often contentious relationship between morality, religion, and the forces of industrialization and modern warfare.

🧠 Key themes include:

The definition of morality as public-interest conduct shaped by customs

The Church’s historical role as a moral compass — both its contributions and contradictions

How industrialization and modern warfare disrupted traditional moral frameworks

Durant’s argument that morality hasn’t decayed, but evolved with new societal needs

A call for secular ethics, grounded in education, reason, and human progress

This chapter challenges the nostalgic view that society is in moral decline and instead offers a hopeful, reasoned case for an adaptive and intelligent morality, fit for modern times.

Welcome back to CSS Breakdown: Book by Book — Season 4. In today’s episode, we explore a bold and hopeful chapter of Will Durant’s Fallen Leaves — a vision for a reawakened Christianity, built not on doctrine, but on compassion and shared human values.

In Episode 9, Will Durant examines the spiritual and moral vacuum left in the wake of modern skepticism and philosophical upheaval — from Nietzsche’s “God is dead” to the decline of traditional religious authority.

But rather than mourning this decline, Durant calls for a Second Advent — not a literal return of Christ, but a revival of Christ’s moral vision: love, humility, and universal compassion.

✝️ Key themes include:

• The cultural impact of philosophical secularism, particularly Nietzsche’s influence on Western thought
• A critique of dogmatic and divided Christianity, which Durant sees as weakening faith’s relevance
• A proposal for a new spiritual movement centered on Christ’s ethics, not creeds — inviting people of all backgrounds
• How shared moral values, rather than theological agreement, can unite diverse societies
• A call for religious institutions to reclaim their moral voice and help rebuild hope, compassion, and harmony in the modern world

This episode is both philosophical and deeply practical — a reflection on how faith can evolve to meet the needs of a fractured, post-religious age.