Considered by many to be one of the major influences on modern Humanistic Judaism, Felix Adler (1851-1933) was a professor of political and social ethics and a social reformer who founded the Ethical Culture movement. Adler was also a popular, dynamic speaker and lecturer. "The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal" is a compilation of lectures he gave at Manchester College at Oxford in 1923. Topics include the spiritual ideal, marriage, social reconstruction, the society of mankind and the attitude toward life.