Humanness supposes innate and profound reflexivity. This volume approaches the concept of reflexivity on two different yet related analytical planes. Whether implicitly or explicitly, both planes of thought bear critically on reflexivity in relation to the nature of selfhood and the very idea of the autonomous individual, ethics, and humanness, science as such and social science, ontological dualism and fundamental ambiguity. On the one plane, a ...
In Admirable Evasions, Theodore Dalrymple explains why human self-understanding has not been bettered by the false promises of the different schools of psychological thought. Most psychological explanations of human behavior are not only ludicrously inadequate oversimplifications, argues Dalrymple, they are socially harmful in that they allow those who believe in them to evade personal responsibility for their actions and to put the blame on a m ...
Modern Protestant theology has tended to shun metaphysics. The philosophical underpinnings of our theological traditions have cracked under the weight of modern scrutiny. Robert Jenson is a theologian who has embraced the critique of inherited metaphysics, but who then finds contained within the gospel itself the basis for further and more specific critiques: the story of Jesus of Nazareth. Jenson argues that the appropriate response of theology ...
If we see ourselves as Earth rather than Earth as existing for us our perspective is transformed. A variety of religious, philosophical, cultural, and political self-perceptions that dominate our sense of human identity are deeply challenged by this shift in perspective. John Locke's doctrine of Earth as human «property» has been central to current presuppositions about our selves: justified on the grounds of our possessing unique, divinely ...
Two controversial authors debate the nature and methods of science, its dogmas, and its future. Rupert Sheldrake argues that science needs to free itself from materialist dogma while Michael Shermer contends that science, properly conceived, is a materialistic enterprise; for science to look beyond materialist explanations is to betray science and engage in superstition. Issues discussed include: materialism and its role in science, whether beli ...
Sexuality, Magic & Perversion by Francis King is a controversial, revelatory, highly recommended volume of original research that investigates sexuality in religions and traditions all over the globe, from fertility cults and tantricism to Islamic mysticism and Crowleyan sex magick. A tantalizing study of the mystical aspect of sex, heavily researched. ...
The Real Meaning of Life wasn’t written by an expert. It isn’t the culmination of painstaking self-study or a sudden breakthrough. Instead, this fascinating book collects the insights of everyday people who responded to NYU freshman David Seaman’s simple query, “What is the meaning of life?” To his surprise, he received a flood of responses. Some suggested things like “bikinis and beer,” but Seaman found that most were much more thoughtful – so ...
Everyone has had luminous moments – those instances when we experience the beauty and grace of life, whether we’re looking into the eyes of a newborn or watching the sun set over the ocean. But those moments are usually brief and difficult to consciously create. Many of us have been successful in attaining personal and professional goals, but we’re too exhausted to enjoy what we’ve accomplished. Or we might walk around in a fog, feeling ...
