Redeeming the Enlightenment : Christianity and the liberal virtues

 by Bruce K. Ward. This rich, nuanced book by Ward (Laurentian Univ., Ontario, Canada) draws on his previous work on Russian novelist Dostoyevsky, combining that literary analysis with probing explorations of philosophers such as Kant, Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Taylor. Ward argues that liberal modernity's ethics and philosophy are distorted reflections of richer Christian notions of the self and ethical existence. In contrast to the growing proliferation of specialized studies, this book offers an expansive tour looking for connections and differences among a host of thinkers--not to argue for a wholesale rejection of the Enlightenment but to show that Christian humanism is a richer philosophy upon which to base human fulfillment. In that project, humanity finds fulfillment in the giving of the self in love, not an endless quest for self-authored authenticity. This volume finds a way into a beyond-current debate about religion's role in a liberal society to show how religion and theology can point the way to a deeper meaning of the liberal project. Philosophically and theologically sophisticated, the book delineates the rich ways in which philosophy and theology can powerfully engage literature. --Choice  (Check Catalog)

The hemlock cup : Socrates, Athens, and the search for the good life

  by Bettany Hughes. There are certain historical figures whose lives merit perpetual reexamination because their impact continues to reverberate century after century. According to historian Hughes, author of Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore (2005), Socrates is one of these seminal social and cultural architects. Beginning at the end of Socrates' long life, she reaches back in time, analyzing the historical context responsible, in part, for spawning such an exceedingly influential thinker. If, as she purports, we think the way we do because Socrates thought the way he did, it is important for us to understand why and how he posited the relentless questions about what it means to be human that drew attention to his famous philosophical method of inquiry and debate. This, then, is not only a lively and eminently readable biography of Socrates the man but also a vivid evocation of Athens, the city-state on the cusp of originating many of the greatest precepts of modern Western civilization. --Booklist (Check catalog)

The truth (and untruth) of language : Heidegger, Ricoeur, and Derrida on disclosure and displacement

 by Gerrit Jan Van Der Heiden. This book investigates the relationship between language and truth/untruth through analysis of contemporary hermeneutic theory in the thought of Heidegger, Ricoeur, and Derrida. Van der Heiden (Radboud Univ. Nijmegen, the Netherlands) suggests that much of the history of philosophy attempts to eliminate ambiguity by reducing language to a universal and transparent system. Hermeneutics, on the other hand, stresses the importance of metaphor, poetics, and translation. The author focuses on points of agreement between hermeneutic and deconstructive theories to argue for the roles of disclosure and displacement in the function of language. Disclosure is the relationship between language and being and truth as most clearly seen in Heidegger; displacement involves linguistic phenomena such as metaphor, translation, and mimesis that displace "a word or a group of words from one (con)text to another." Chapter 1 sets the stage through a discussion of Heidegger's notions of truth, untruth, understanding, and language. The following three chapters address the themes of writing, metaphor, and mimesis and their relationship to disclosure and displacement. The final chapter provides a more direct investigation of these two thematic terms. Summing Up: Recommended. --Choice (Check catalog)

The truth about grief : the myth of its five stages and the new science of loss

 by Ruth Davis Konigsberg. Veteran journalist Konigsberg offers a spot-on critique of Elisabeth K bler-Ross's seminal theory-the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This "staged" approach, Konigsberg argues convincingly, is unscientific, tends to assume more prolonged mourning, and "completely omits positive emotions that are also integral to the experience of grief." Konigsberg also looks at various scientific studies on how people cope with grief, noting, "On average, those who got help experienced no less distress nor recovered more quickly than those who didn't." She maintains that people cope with grief thanks largely to the human capacity for resilience, relying heavily on the work of psychologist George Bonanno, though Konigsberg acknowledges that this isn't the case for those who experience the intractable grief that Freud called "melancholia." Konigsberg makes few distinctions among different mourning situations and among various therapeutic approaches (e.g., individual versus group treatment; long- versus short-term counseling; cognitive-behavioral versus psychodynamic treatment). In general, she has researched her subject, writes clearly and engagingly, and uncovers a host of interesting facts. Despite a few conceptual flaws, this book is well worth reading. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)