What happens when the meaning of life based on a divine revelation no longer makes sense? Does the quest for transcendence end in the pursuit of material success and self-absorption? Luc Ferry argues that modernity and the emergence of secular humanism in Europe since the eighteenth century have not killed the search for meaning and the sacred, or even the idea of God, but rather have transformed both through a dual process: the humanization of the divine and the divinization of the human. Ferry sees evidence for the first of these in the Catholic Church's attempts to counter the growing rejection of dogmatism and to translate the religious tradition into contemporary language. The second he traces to the birth of modern love and humanitarianism, both of which demand a concern for others and even self-sacrifice in defense of values that transcend life itself. Ferry concludes with a powerful statement in favor of what he calls "transcendental humanism" - a concept that for the first time in human history gives us access to a genuine spirituality rooted in human beings instead of the divine.
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What happens when the meaning of life based on a divine revelation no longer makes sense? Luc Ferry argues that modernity has not killed the search for meaning but has transformed the search into a more humanitarian language.
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"Luc Ferry has taken a great risk in posing the only question that counts today, the question of the meaning of life. He stands out therefore as one of the most gifted philosophers of his generation, one of the rare, the very rare philosophers, who has outgrown the commentary on texts and reverence towards master thinkers to open up a new field of thought." - Pascal Bruckner, Le Nouvel Observateur
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780226244853
Publisert
2002-05-15
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Vekt
227 gr
Høyde
22 mm
Bredde
14 mm
Dybde
1 mm
Aldersnivå
UU, UP, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
172

Forfatter
Oversetter

Biographical note

Luc Ferry teaches at the Sorbonne and at the University of Caen in France. He is the author or coauthor of seven previous books published by the University of Chicago Press, including most recently The New Ecological Order.