The quest for God and the good : world philosophy as a living experience / Diana Lobel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lobel, Diana.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Philosophy and religion.

God--Comparative studies.

God.

Good and evil--Religious aspects--Comparative studies.

Good and evil.

Religious life--Comparative studies.

Religious life.

Good and evil--Religious aspects.

Genre:

Comparative studies.

Physical Description:

xiii, 292 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2011]

Summary:

Diana Lobel takes readers on a journey across Eastern and Western philosophical and religious traditions to discover a beauty and purpose at the heart of reality that makes life worth living. Guided by the ideas of ancient thinkers and the insight of the philosophical historian Pierre Hadot, The Quest for God and the Good treats philosophy not as an abstract, theoretical discipline, but as a living experience.

For centuries, human beings have struggled to know why we are here, whether a higher being or dimension exists, and whether our existence is fundamentally good. Above all, we want to know whether the search for God and the good will bring happiness, Following in the path of the ancient philosophers, Lobel directly connects conceptions of God or an Absolute with notions of the good, illuminating diverse classical texts and thinkers. She explores the Bible and the work of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Maimonides, al-Farabi, and al-Ghazali. She reads the Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads, as well as the texts of Theravada, Mahayana, and Zen Buddhism, and traces the repercussions of these works in the modern thought of Alfred North Whitehead, Iris Murdoch, Alasdair MacIntyre, and Charles Taylor.

While each of these texts and thinkers sets forth a distinct and unique vision, all maintain that human beings find fulfillment in their contact with beauty and purpose. Rather than arriving at one universal definition of God or the good, Lobel demonstrates the aesthetic value of multiple visions presented by many thinkers across cultures. The Quest for God and the Good sets forth a path of investigation and discovery culminating in intellectual and spiritual communion. Book jacket.

Contents:

"God saw that it was good": the creation of the world in the Hebrew Bible

A divine craftsman shapes all for the good: Plato's realm of the forms

Change and the good: Chinese perspectives

The harmony of reason and revelation: Augustine and Maimonides on good and evil

You are the absolute: philosophies of India

Compassion, wisdom, awakening: the way of Buddhism

The good is that to which all things aim: Aristotle on God and the good

The philosopher as teacher: Al-Farabi on contemplation and action

The imitation of God: Maimonides on the active and the contemplative life

The dance of human expression: al-Ghazali and Maimonides.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [257]-277) and index.

ISBN:

0231153155

9780231153140

0231153147

9780231153157

9780231527019

0231527012

OCLC:

656850022

Publisher Number:

99945664497