Absence of mind : the dispelling of inwardness from the modern myth of the self / Marilynne Robinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robinson, Marilynne.

Contributor:

Dwight Harrington Terry Foundation.

Series:

Terry lectures.

The Terry lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion and science.

Philosophy, Modern.

Thought and thinking.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (160 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this ambitious book, acclaimed writer Marilynne Robinson applies her astute intellect to some of the most vexing topics in the history of human thought-science, religion, and consciousness. Crafted with the same care and insight as her award-winning novels, Absence of Mind challenges postmodern atheists who crusade against religion under the banner of science. In Robinson's view, scientific reasoning does not denote a sense of logical infallibility, as thinkers like Richard Dawkins might suggest. Instead, in its purest form, science represents a search for answers. It engages the problem of knowledge, an aspect of the mystery of consciousness, rather than providing a simple and final model of reality.By defending the importance of individual reflection, Robinson celebrates the power and variety of human consciousness in the tradition of William James. She explores the nature of subjectivity and considers the culture in which Sigmund Freud was situated and its influence on his model of self and civilization. Through keen interpretations of language, emotion, science, and poetry, Absence of Mind restores human consciousness to its central place in the religion-science debate.

Contents:

Introduction

On human nature

The strange history of altruism

The Freudian self

Thinking again.

Notes:

Essays from the lectures delivered at Yale University, the Dwight Harrington Terry Foundation.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300166477

0300166478

OCLC:

808346523