Growth and guilt : psychology and the limits of development / Luigi Zoja ; translated from the Italian by Henry Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zoja, Luigi.

Standardized Title:

Crescita e colpa. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology, Greek--Psychological aspects.

Mythology, Greek.

Moderation--Psychological aspects--History.

Moderation.

Economic development--Psychological aspects--History.

Economic development.

Civilization, Western--Greek influences.

Civilization, Western.

Guilt--History.

Guilt.

Greece--Civilization--Psychological aspects.

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 235 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 1995.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Argues that our concern with the limits of growth reflects something more than an awareness of new technological problems - it also brings to light a psychic wound and a feeling of guilt which are infinitely more ancient.

The relentless exploitation of the earth's resources and technologys boundless growth are a matter of urgent concern. When did this race towards the limitless begin? The Greeks, who shaped the basis of Western thinking, lived in mortal fear of humanity's hidden hunger for the infinite and referred to it as hubris, the one true sin in their moral code. Whoever desired or possessed too much was implacably punished by nemesis, yet the Greeks themselves were to pioneer an unprecedented level of ambition that began to reverse that tabu. If it is true that no culture can truly repudiate its origins, and that gods who are no longer potent can vanish but still leave behind a body of myth which coninues to live and assert itself in modernized garb, then our concern with the limits of growth reflects something more than an awareness of new technological problems - it also brings to light a psychic wound a a feeling of guilt which are infinitely more ancient. The relentless exploitation of the earth's resources and technologys boundless growth are a matter of urgent concern. When did this race towards the limitless begin? The Greeks, who shaped the basis of Western thinking, lived in mortal fear of humanity's hidden hunger for the infinite and referred to it as hubris, the one true sin in their moral code. Whoever desired or possessed too much was implacably punished by nemesis, yet the Greeks themselves were to pioneer an unprecedented level of ambition that began to reverse that tabu. If it is true that no culture can truly repudiate its origins, and that gods who are no longer potent can vanish but still leave behind a body of myth which coninues to live and assert itself in modernized garb, then our concern with the limits of growth reflects something more than an awareness of new technological problems - it also brings to light a psychic wound a a feeling of guilt which are infinitely more ancient.

Contents:

Intro

BOOK COVER

HALF TITLE

TITLE

COPYRIGHT

DEDICATION

CONTENTS

PART I THE PROBLEM

1 THE MYTH OF GROWTH, THE MYTH OF

2 TOWARDS A PSYCHOLOGICAL

3 THE LIMITS OF ENDEAVOR IN NONWESTERN

PART II THE HELLENIC PAST

4 THE EGOISM OF THE ARCHAIC GODS

5 THE GREEK SENSE OF LIMITS

6 HISTORY BEGINS TO MOVE

7 NEW HORIZONS

PART III FROM THE GREEKS TO THE

8 CONTINUITY AND TRANSFORMATION: FROM THE SENSE OF LIMITS TO THE HUNGER FOR INFINITY

9 THE CONTINUITY OF THE MYTH OF

10 THE CONTINUITY OF THE MYTH OF

PART IV NEMESIS RETURNS

11 THE SITE OF THE CRISIS

12 ROUTES TOWARDS RECONSTRUCTION

13 DEATH, DEPRESSION AND GUILT

NOTES

PRIMARY SOURCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL

REFERENCES

INDEX.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 218-225) and index.

ISBN:

1-134-81861-0

1-280-02378-3

9786610023783

0-203-36008-7

0-415-11660-0

9780203360088

OCLC:

252870516