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This book represents nothing more than an attempt to read the Symposium in its entirety: to read it deeply, carefully and thoughtfully. It is the story of the rise and fall of Hellenic culture and it is also an account of living impulsion that constitutes human life itself: the complex interplay of two opposing sides seeking wholeness and finding it, ultimately, an intensely problematic fulfillment. An essential element in hearing this story turns out to be the apprehension of the way in which it resists "doctrine"óand so provides the most effective possible introduction to "philosophy."
From this re-reading, Ranasinghe proposes new answers to such perennial problems as the invalidity of the four proofs of the soul's immortality in the Phaedo, the draconian nature of the perfect regime described in the Republic, and the nature of Socrates' dalliance with Alcibiades in the Symposium."--BOOK JACKET.
Presents the basic elements of the philosophy of religion tradition in a new and provocative way as original philosophical narrative interspersed with rich selections from Plato, Boethius, Thomas Aquinas, Anselm, Pascal, Descartes, Paley, Leibniz, Hume, H
Randy Ramal argues that philosophy’s main responsibility lies in providing intelligibility to the ordinary language of everyday life while dispelling unwarranted skepticism. Philosophers need to go the hard way to fulfill this responsibility because of the constant and dangerous temptation to turn philosophy into a normative discipline rather than keep it as a descriptively hermeneutical enterprise. In On Philosophy, Intelligibility, and the Ordinary: Going the Bloody Hard Way, the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead is central to Ramal’s endeavor to demonstrate the need to separate the hermeneutical responsibility of philosophy from the normative aspects of responsibility. While showing the futility of labeling Whitehead as a purely disinterested philosopher who abandons the idea that ordinariness is relevant to good philosophical thinking, Ramal frames this discussion within a larger, in-depth engagement with a vast number of thinkers, philosophers, and literary figures whose works touch on the question of the ordinary.
Traces variations of theism in Whitehead's principle works, identifying a major problem in conventional understanding of process theism and constructing an original and provocative solution.
This book explains why moral systems necessarily develop and why they take the various forms that they do. Johnson argues that moral systems are best understood as attempts both to seek out ways of living a fulfilling human life and also to find ways of relating to others who also seek a fulfilling life. Philosophers generally agree that the moral pathway is also the fulfilling pathway. However, the moral pathways advocated and the kind of fulfillments envisioned depend upon beliefs about human nature as well as beliefs about the ultimate nature of things--a worldview. Aristotle, Epicurus, Saint Augustine, and Friedrich Nietzsche, for instance, had radically varying views about what constitutes a fulfilling life. Johnson argues that the moral quest involves properly arbitrating among the often competing wants, needs, and desires pursued by human beings. Not all such wants, needs, and desires can be fulfilled; some must necessarily go unfulfilled. This implies that a vast number of human choices are moral choices. For instance, who eats and who does not? Johnson gives no moral advice. His aim is to show the reader the nature of the moral choices they necessarily make.
Defends a new type of epistemology, the Critical Trust Approach, and then applies it to the experience of God in the contemporary multicultural context.
Some scientific studies suggest that human beings are innately selfish and that Christian virtues like self-sacrifice are a delusion. In this intriguing volume, esteemed theologian Thomas Jay Oord interprets the scientific research and responds from a theological and philosophical standpoint, providing a state-of-the-art overview of love and altruism studies. He offers a definition of love that is scientifically, theologically, and philosophically adequate. As Oord helps readers arrive at a clearer understanding of the definition, recipients, and forms of love, he mounts a case for Christian agape and ultimately for a loving God.
Shows how and why philosophy is the most important and most practical of all human endeavors, because its mission is to sit in judgment of everything, including itself.