Rational Spirituality and Divine Virtue in Plato: A Modern Interpretation and Philosophical Defense of Platonism

Rational Spirituality and Divine Virtue in Plato: A Modern Interpretation and Philosophical Defense of Platonism by Michael LaFargue
English | 2016 | ISBN: 1438460252 | pages | PDF + EPUB | 1,3 + 0,8 MB

Michael LaFargue presents an important and accessible aspect of Plato s legacy largely overlooked today: a variety of personal spirituality based on reason and centered on virtue. Plato s Virtue-Forms are transcendent in their goodness, ideals that Platonists can use to improve character and become like God so far as is humanly possible. LaFargue constructs a model of inductive Socratic reasoning capable of acquiring knowledge of these perfect Virtue-Forms, then scales back claims about these Forms to what can be supported by this kind of reasoning. This is a critical theory, but also a pluralistic one that accommodates modern cultural diversity. A how-to chapter provides detailed descriptions of the rules of Socratic reasoning basic to this spirituality, which any interested individual can practice today. LaFargue supports his interpretation by a close reading of the Greek text of key passages in Plato s dialogues. The work also undertakes a broader philosophical consideration, discussing the philosophical foundations proposed for this Platonism in relation to the thought of G. E. Moore, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Richard Rorty.”

Art Without Borders: A Philosophical Exploration of Art and Humanity

Art Without Borders: A Philosophical Exploration of Art and Humanity by Ben-Ami Scharfstein
English | 2009 | ISBN: 0226736091 | 558 pages | PDF | 2 MB

People all over the world make art and take pleasure in it, and they have done so for millennia. But acknowledging that art is a universal part of human experience leads us to some big questions: Why does it exist? Why do we enjoy it? And how do the world’s different art traditions relate to art and to each other?

Art Without Borders is an extraordinary exploration of those questions, a profound and personal meditation on the human hunger for art and a dazzling synthesis of the whole range of inquiry into its significance. Esteemed thinker Ben-Ami Scharfstein’s encyclopedic erudition is here brought to bear on the full breadth of the world of art. He draws on neuroscience and psychology to understand the way we both perceive and conceive of art, including its resistance to verbal exposition. Through examples of work by Indian, Chinese, European, African, and Australianartists, Art Without Borders probes the distinction between accepting a tradition and defying it through innovation, which leads to a consideration of the notion of artistic genius. Continuing in this comparative vein, Scharfstein examines the mutual influence of European and non-European artists. Then, through a comprehensive evaluation of the world’s major art cultures, he shows how all of these individual traditions are gradually, but haltingly, conjoining into a single current of universal art. Finally, he concludes by looking at the ways empathy and intuition can allow members of one culture to appreciate the art of another.

Lucid, learned, and incomparably rich in thought and detail, Art Without Borders is a monumental accomplishment, on par with the artistic achievements Scharfstein writes about so lovingly in its pages.

Death: A Philosophical Inquiry

Death: A Philosophical Inquiry by Paul Fairfield
English | 2014 | ISBN: 0415837618, 0415837626 | 148 pages | PDF + EPUB | 0,7 + 2,2 MB

From Nietzsche’s pronouncement that “God is dead” to Camus’ argument that suicide is the fundamental question of philosophy, the concept of death plays an important role in existential phenomenology, reaching from Kierkegaard to Heidegger and Marcel.

This book explores the phenomenology of death and offers a unique way into the phenomenological tradition. Paul Fairfield examines the following key topics:

the modern denial of death

Heidegger’s important concept of ‘being-toward-death’ and its centrality in phenomenological ideas, such as authenticity and existence

the philosophical significance of death rituals: what explains the imperative toward ritual around death, and what is its purpose and meaning?

death in an age of secularism

the philosophy and ethics of suicide

death as a mystery rather than a philosophical problem to be solved

the relationship between hope and death.

Death: A Philosophical Inquiry is essential reading for students of phenomenology and existentialism, and will also be of interest to students in related fields such as religion, anthropology and the medical humanities.