The Limits of Disenchantment PDF Download

Author: Peter Dews
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781859840221
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Explores some of the most urgent problems confronting contemporary European thought: the status of the subject after postmodernism, the ethical dimensions of critical theory, the encounter between psychoanalysis and philosophy, and the possibilities of non-foundational metaphysical thought.

Author: Egil Asprem
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438469926
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 662

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Book Description
Challenges the conventional view of a “disenchanted” and secular modernity, and recovers the complex relation that exists between science, religion, and esotericism in the modern world. Max Weber famously characterized the ongoing process of intellectualization and rationalization that separates the natural world from the divine (by excluding magic and value from the realm of science, and reason and fact from the realm of religion) as the “disenchantment of the world.” Egil Asprem argues for a conceptual shift in how we view this key narrative of modernity. Instead of a sociohistorical process of disenchantment that produces increasingly rational minds, Asprem maintains that the continued presence of “magic” and “enchantment” in people’s everyday experience of the world created an intellectual problem for those few who were socialized to believe that nature should contain no such incalculable mysteries. Drawing on a wide range of early twentieth-century primary sources from theoretical physics, occultism, embryology, radioactivity, psychical research, and other fields, Asprem casts the intellectual life of high modernity as a synchronic struggle across conspicuously different fields that shared surprisingly similar intellectual problems about value, meaning, and the limits of knowledge. “The Problem of Disenchantment is, in its entirety, extraordinarily well researched, argued, and written—representing at once the most complete and nuanced treatment of the notion of disenchantment within this network of scientific, religious, philosophical, and esoteric discourses and currents.” — Nova Religio

Author: Steven D. Smith
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674050877
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
"This book presses us to look harder at closely held beliefs and to question deeply rooted premises and commitments with which we are perhaps too comfortable."---Richard W Garnett Noire Dame Law School --

Author: Michael L. Trujillo
Publisher: UNM Press
ISBN: 0826347371
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
New Mexico's Española Valley is situated in the northern part of the state between the fabled Sangre de Cristo and Jemez Mountains. Many of the Valley’s communities have roots in the Spanish and Mexican periods of colonization, while the Native American Pueblos of Ohkay Owingeh and Santa Clara are far older. The Valley's residents include a large Native American population, an influential "Anglo" or "non-Hispanic white" minority, and a growing Mexican immigrant community. In spite of the varied populace, native New Mexican Latinos, or Nuevomexicanos, remain the majority and retain control of area politics. In this experimental ethnography, Michael Trujillo presents a vision of Española that addresses its denigration by neighbors--and some of its residents--because it represents the antithesis of the positive narrative of New Mexico. Contradicting the popular notion of New Mexico as the "Land of Enchantment," a fusion of race, landscape, architecture, and food into a romanticized commodity, Trujillo probes beneath the surface to reveal the causes of social dysfunction brought about by colonization and te transition from a pastoral to an urban economy.

Author: B. Koshul
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403978875
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
One of Max Weber's contemporaries described him as 'a child of the Enlightenment born too late' whose work is a 'vitriolic attack on religion'. Subsequent Weber scholarship has largely affirmed this valuation of Weber and characterized his scholarship as a manifestation of the very disenchantment that Weber describes. In The Postmodern Significance of Max Weber's Legacy , Basit Koshul challenges this idea by showing Weber to be a postmodern thinker far ahead of his time.

Author: Egil Asprem
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 1438469942
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 662

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Book Description
Challenges the conventional view of a “disenchanted” and secular modernity, and recovers the complex relation that exists between science, religion, and esotericism in the modern world. Max Weber famously characterized the ongoing process of intellectualization and rationalization that separates the natural world from the divine (by excluding magic and value from the realm of science, and reason and fact from the realm of religion) as the “disenchantment of the world.” Egil Asprem argues for a conceptual shift in how we view this key narrative of modernity. Instead of a sociohistorical process of disenchantment that produces increasingly rational minds, Asprem maintains that the continued presence of “magic” and “enchantment” in people’s everyday experience of the world created an intellectual problem for those few who were socialized to believe that nature should contain no such incalculable mysteries. Drawing on a wide range of early twentieth-century primary sources from theoretical physics, occultism, embryology, radioactivity, psychical research, and other fields, Asprem casts the intellectual life of high modernity as a synchronic struggle across conspicuously different fields that shared surprisingly similar intellectual problems about value, meaning, and the limits of knowledge. Egil Asprem is Associate Professor of History of Religions at the Department of Ethnology, History of Religions, and Gender Studies, Stockholm University, and the author of Arguing with Angels: Enochian Magic and Modern Occulture, also published by SUNY Press.

Author: Gilbert G. Germain
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791413203
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
This book is the first full-length study of the ongoing debate over the status of our “disenchanted” world—a world stripped of mysterious and supernatural forces by the demythologizing power of reason and modern science. It draws together for the first time the writings of various theorists on this theme, such as Georg Lukacs, Theodor Adorno, and Jürgen Habermas, providing a coherent overview of an evolving dialogue, as well as Germain’s own evaluation of the disenchantment problematic.

Author: William Davies
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 152641161X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
"Brilliant...explains how the rhetoric of competition has invaded almost every domain of our existence.” —Evgeny Morozov, author of "To Save Everything, Click Here" “In this fascinating book Davies inverts the conventional neoliberal practice of treating politics as if it were mere epiphenomenon of market theory, demonstrating that their version of economics is far better understood as the pursuit of politics by other means." —Professor Philip Mirowski, University of Notre Dame "A sparkling, original, and provocative analysis of neoliberalism. It offers a distinctive account of the diverse, sometimes contradictory, conventions and justifications that lend authority to the extension of the spirit of competitiveness to all spheres of social life…This book breaks new ground, offers new modes of critique, and points to post-neoliberal futures.” —Professor Bob Jessop, University of Lancaster Since its intellectual inception in the 1930s and its political emergence in the 1970s, neo-liberalism has sought to disenchant politics by replacing it with economics. This agenda-setting text examines the efforts and failures of economic experts to make government and public life amenable to measurement, and to re-model society and state in terms of competition. In particular, it explores the practical use of economic techniques and conventions by policy-makers, politicians, regulators and judges and how these practices are being adapted to the perceived failings of the neoliberal model. By picking apart the defining contradiction that arises from the conflation of economics and politics, this book asks: to what extent can economics provide government legitimacy? Now with a new preface from the author and a foreword by Aditya Chakrabortty.

Author: William A. Barbieri
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
ISBN: 1467440280
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
This volume presents an integrated collection of constructive essays by eminent Catholic scholars addressing the new challenges and opportunities facing religious believers under shifting conditions of secularity and "post-secularity." Using an innovative "keywords" approach, At the Limits of the Secular is an interdisciplinary effort to think through the implications of secular consciousness for the role of religion in public affairs. The book responds in some ways to Charles Taylor's magnum opus, A Secular Age, although it also stands on its own. It features an original essay by David Tracy -- the most prominent American Catholic theologian writing today -- and groundbreaking contributions by influential younger theologians such as Peter Casarella, William Cavanaugh, and Vincent Miller. CONTRIBUTORS William A. Barbieri Jr. Peter Casarella William T. Cavanaugh Michele Dillon Mary Doak Anthony J. Godzieba Slavica Jakelic J. Paul Martin Vincent J. Miller Philip J. Rossi Robert J. Schreiter David Tracy

Author: Edgar Saltus
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781835915349
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
"The Philosophy of Disenchantment" is a philosophical work written by Edgar Saltus, an American author known for his diverse literary output in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book was first published in 1885. In "The Philosophy of Disenchantment," Saltus explores themes related to skepticism, disillusionment, and the human condition. The central premise of the book is the idea that the world is fundamentally devoid of meaning, purpose, or inherent value. Saltus argues that traditional beliefs in religion, morality, and metaphysics are illusory constructs that have been created by human beings in an attempt to find meaning and order in an otherwise chaotic and indifferent universe. Drawing on philosophical ideas from thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, and others, Saltus presents a critique of conventional wisdom and challenges readers to confront the harsh realities of existence. He explores topics such as the nature of truth, the limits of knowledge, the problem of evil, and the existential struggle for meaning in a world devoid of inherent purpose. Saltus's writing style is characterized by its boldness, wit, and intellectual rigor. He employs vivid imagery, sharp wit, and provocative language to engage readers and challenge their preconceptions about the nature of reality and the human condition. Although "The Philosophy of Disenchantment" was not widely recognized during Saltus's lifetime, it has since gained attention for its bold and provocative ideas. The book remains relevant today for its exploration of existential themes and its critique of traditional beliefs, making it a valuable contribution to the philosophical discourse on the nature of reality and the human experience.