All Things Shining : Reading the Western Classics to find Meaning in a Secular Age

Citation:

Dreyfus, Hubert L, and Sean Kelly. 2011. All Things Shining : Reading the Western Classics to find Meaning in a Secular Age. New York: Free Press, xi, 254 p.
All Things Shining : Reading the Western Classics to find Meaning in a Secular Age

Abstract:

“What constitutes human excellence?” and “What is the best way to live a life?” These are questions that human beings have been asking since the beginning of time. In their critically acclaimed book, All Things Shining, Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly argue that our search for meaning was once fulfilled by our responsiveness to forces greater than ourselves, whether one God or many. These forces drew us in and imbued the ordinary moments of life with wonder and gratitude. Dreyfus and Kelly argue in this thought-provoking work that as we began to rely on the power of our own independent will we lost our skill for encountering the sacred. Through their original and transformative discussion of some of the greatest works of Western literature, from Homer’s Odyssey to Melville’s Moby Dick, Dreyfus and Kelly reveal how we have lost our passionate engagement with the things that gave our lives purpose, and show how, by reading our culture’s classics anew, we can once again be drawn into intense involvement with the wonder and beauty of the world.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-243) and index.; HOLLIS no. 012680982

HOLLIS

Full Text

Contents:

Our contemporary nihilism -- David Foster Wallace's nihilism -- Homer's polytheism -- From Aeschylus to Augustine : monotheism on the rise -- From Dante to Kant : the attractions and dangers of autonomy -- Fanaticism, polytheism, and Melville's "evil art" -- Conclusion : lives worth living in a secular age.

Last updated on 03/31/2014