Philosophical myths of the fall / Stephen Mulhall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mulhall, Stephen, 1962-

Series:

Princeton monographs in philosophy.

Princeton monographs in philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900.

Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889-1951.

Wittgenstein, Ludwig.

Heidegger, Martin, 1889-1976.

Heidegger, Martin.

Fall of man--Philosophy.

Fall of man.

Philosophical anthropology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (136 p.)

Edition:

Course Book

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ ; Woodstock : Princeton University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Did post-Enlightenment philosophers reject the idea of original sin and hence the view that life is a quest for redemption from it? In Philosophical Myths of the Fall, Stephen Mulhall identifies and evaluates a surprising ethical-religious dimension in the work of three highly influential philosophers--Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein. He asks: Is the Christian idea of humanity as structurally flawed something that these three thinkers aim simply to criticize? Or do they, rather, end up by reproducing secular variants of the same mythology? Mulhall argues that each, in different ways, develops a conception of human beings as in need of redemption: in their work, we appear to be not so much capable of or prone to error and fantasy, but instead structurally perverse, living in untruth. In this respect, their work is more closely aligned to the Christian perspective than to the mainstream of the Enlightenment. However, all three thinkers explicitly reject any religious understanding of human perversity; indeed, they regard the very understanding of human beings as originally sinful as central to that from which we must be redeemed. And yet each also reproduces central elements of that understanding in his own thinking; each recounts his own myth of our Fall, and holds out his own image of redemption. The book concludes by asking whether this indebtedness to religion brings these philosophers' thinking closer to, or instead forces it further away from, the truth of the human condition.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Madman and the Masters: Nietzsche

Chapter 2. The Dying Man and the Dazed Animal: Heidegger

Chapter 3. The Child and the Scapegoat: Wittgenstein

Conclusion

Index

Notes:

Originally published: 2005.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612086670

9781282086678

1282086677

9781400826650

1400826659

OCLC:

329858950