Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The meaning of selfhood has become an urgent question, largely in reaction to the radical individualism in which many modern Western notions of selfhood have been cast. The 11 contributors to "Selves, People, and Persons" aim to reshape fundamental ideas of the self in such varied fields as theology, biology, psychoanalysis and political philosophy. Nearly all of them agree that selves are always to be understood in relation to the communities of which they are a part. The first section of the book focuses on basic issues in the philosophy of selfhood. Erazim Kohak's title essay explores American personalism while Harold H. Oliver argues that a self is always in the act of relation to some other. Lawrence E. Cahoone counters with reflections on the limits of this social and rational notion of selfhood and Edward W. James sketches a holistic view of the self in which the "either/or" of dualism can be transformed by a "both/and". The second group deals with selfhood in various cultures, beginning with Eliot Deutsch's exploration of how each tradition can enlarge its understanding of selfhood by incorporating elements from other traditions. John B. Carman examines the role of the self in Hindu "Bhakti", and Livia Kohn explores the role of spontaneity in Chinese views of selfhood. The problem of selfhood in theology, biology, psychoanlaysis and political theory comprises the final section: Krister Stendahl discusses the idea that our selfhood is understood primarily in terms of God's selfhood; Alfred I. Tauber examines biological ideas of organism in the work of Elie Metchnikoff; John E. Mack proposes that a spiritual point of view is now required in order to fully understand the psyche; and Bhikhu Parekh examines how the issue of violence is formulated and debated in liberal democracies.
Synopsis
This volume of the Boston University Studies in Philosophy and Religion addresses the meaning of selfhood. The eleven contributors explore this urgent question by reshaping fundamental ideas of the self in such varied fields as theology, biology, psychoanalysis, and political philosophy.
The meaning of selfhood has become an urgent question, largely in reaction to the radical individualism in which many modern Western notions of selfhood have been cast. The eleven contributors to Selves, People, and Persons reshape fundamental ideas of the self in such varied fields as theology, biology, psychoanalysis, and political philosophy. Nearly all of them agree that selves are always to be understood in relation to the communities of which they are a part.
Table of Contents
Selves, people, persons : an essay in American personalism / Erazim Kohâak -- The relational self / Harold H. Oliver -- Limits of the social and rational self / Lawrence E. Cahoone -- Going astray : weakness, perversity, or evil? / Edward W. James -- The comparative study of the self / Eliot Deutsch -- The dignity and indignity of service : the role of the self in Hindu Bhakti / John B. Carman -- Selfhood and spontaneity in ancient Chinese thought / Livia Kohn -- Selfhood in the image of God / Krister Stendahl -- The organismal self in its philosophical context / Alfred I. Tauber -- Psychoanalysis and the self : toward a spiritual point of view / John E. Mack -- The liberal discourse on violence / Bhikhu Parekh.