The religion of reality : inquiry into the self, art, and transcendence
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The religion of reality : inquiry into the self, art, and transcendence
Catholic University of America Press, c2006
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
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  France
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  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 307-313) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Once gods walked among humans, but, friends, we have come too late! The Gods are...up there in another world. Thus the poet Holderlin evoked the godlessness in modern life, which, ruled by reason and science, has chased transcendence out of our understanding. Yet is it true that we moderns walk without gods? ""The Religion of Reality"" takes to task this common assumption according to which the modern intellect is devoid of appeal to the transcendental. The book first argues that religious feeling persists in the secular western mind; that it has taken refuge in the unlikeliest of camps, indeed with the supposed debunker of religious creed: the rationalist existential ego. The autonomous, individual self is more than just an idea: it is the pillar of modern times - a deity that anchors our morals, politics, and society, and defines what is crucial about human existence. On this score, ""The Religion of Reality"" makes two points: first that the philosophic primacy of the self rests on a leap of faith; and second that its religious centrality cannot ultimately satisfy the transcendental thirst that it kindles. The book constructively inquires into the artistic paths that lead away from this anthropocentrism. Art, it is often said, is the religion of the modern secular mind. This study argues that there are good reasons for this status. Taking seriously the age-old connection between art and religion, the book presents just how the spiritual is active in the artistic experience, whether of religious or secular stamp. Artworks are attempts to overcome the limits of expression and knowledge, hence of the human standpoint. ""The Religion of Reality"" is not an attempt to resuscitate the religion of art; rather it is a demonstration of the religious in art.
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