Spirituality for the godless : Buddhism, humanism, and religion / Michael McGhee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGhee, Michael, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in religion, philosophy, and society.

Cambridge studies in religion, philosophy, and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion--Philosophy.

Religion.

Spirituality.

Atheism--Philosophy.

Atheism.

Humanism--Philosophy.

Humanism.

Buddhism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 199 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Summary:

Many people describe themselves as secular rather than religious, but they often qualify this statement by claiming an interest in spirituality. But what kind of spirituality is possible in the absence of religion? In this book, Michael McGhee shows how religious traditions and secular humanism function as 'schools of wisdom' whose aim is to expose and overcome the forces that obstruct justice. He examines the ancient conception of philosophy as a form of ethical self-inquiry and spiritual practice conducted by a community, showing how it helps us to reconceive the philosophy of religion in terms of philosophy as a way of life. McGhee discusses the idea of a dialogue between religion and atheism in terms of Buddhist practice and demonstrates how a non-theistic Buddhism can address itself to theistic traditions as well as to secular humanism. His book also explores how to shift the centre of gravity from religious belief towards states of mind and conduct.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Dedication

Epigraph

Contents

Acknowledgements

A Shakespearean Prologue: The Voice of Cordelian Ethics

Introduction

1 'A Spiritually Enlightened Individual'

2 'The Resources of a Much Earlier Phase of the Tradition'

3 The Distractions of Baruch Spinoza

4 Immanuel Kant: 'To Regard as Petty What We Are Otherwise Anxious About'

5 Wittgenstein's Cool Temple

6 Rilke, Shakespeare … and a Little Freud

7 Concealment and Revelation

8 Mindfulness and the Form of a Philosophical Life

9 Epictetus: 'The Beginning of Philosophy …'

10 Ted Hughes: Evaporation, Translation, Translocation

11 Philosophy as an Inventive Convergence of Methods

12 Richard Norman: 'The Truths It Contains Are Human Truths'

13 Perspectives: Marmalade Stains on the Breakfast Table

14 David Hume: Wanting the Natural Sentiments of Humanity

15 'What is the Difference between Love and God's Love?'

16 'Peace, Wild Wooddove, Shy Wings Shut'

17 'Only a Little Snivelling Half-Wit Can Maintain That'

18 'The World Is Too Much with Us'

19 Of Self and SELF, of Ātman and Anātman

20 'I Am Myself Alone'

21 The Five Heaps or Skandhas

22 'We Claim That There Is a Person, but We Do Not Say That He Is an Entity'

23 Birds, Frogs, and Tintern Abbey

24 Human Resources and Hubris

References

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 18 Jun 2021).

ISBN:

1-316-73001-8

1-316-73194-4

1-316-67823-7

OCLC:

1295278840