From archives: the probing insights of late eminent political philosopher Jean Bethke Elshtain combined with host Eric Metaxas's traditionally outlandish introduction make for a classic Socrates in the City . "I am the master of my house, but uneasy rests the crown," begins Dr. Elshtain, "Personal autonomy, rightly understood is a great achievement of the West. But being a mature member of society does not entail complete independence from everyone else as the sovereign self would have it." Drawing from such thinkers as Albert Camus, Primo Levi, and Marilynne Robinson, Dr. Elshtain examines the notion of the sovereign self as it relates to the ways we attempt to explain our world: God, state, and self. This event took place in 2010 in New York City.