Wretched Aristotle

Using the Past to Rescue the Future

By (author) Jude P. Dougherty

Publication date:

29 September 2009

Length of book:

260 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

240x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739140062

About eighty-five years ago, philosophers and literary intellectuals as diverse as Edmund Husserl, George Santayana, and Paul Valéry, aware of the declining influence of Christianity, spoke of "the crisis of Western civilization." In Wretched Aristotle: Using the Past to Rescue the Future, Jude P. Dougherty offers an intriguing reexamination of this crisis in contemporary times. Situating his argument in the context of ongoing debate concerning the nature of the public philosophy that underpins ideas of freedom, Dougherty identifies the essential features of Western culture through a series of interrelated essays. Each essay reinforces the idea that modernity cannot be understood apart from its break with classical antiquity. Wretched Aristotle offers a refreshing historical approach to this issue that will make it appealing to those interested in the mutual influence of science and culture and the role of religion in culture.

Part 1 I. The Relevance of Antiquity
Chapter 2 Chapter 1.Wretched Aristotle
Chapter 3 Chapter 2.Tom Wolfe's Epictetus
Chapter 4 Chapter 3.Aristotle in North America
Chapter 5 Chapter 4. Ora et Labora: Benedict's Legacy
Chapter 6 Chapter 5.Ancients and Moderns on the Subject of Property
Chapter 7 Chapter 6.The Ontology of the Artifact
Part 8 II. The Role of Religion in Society
Chapter 9 Chapter 7.The Failure of Positivism and the Enduring Legacy of Comte
Chapter 10 Chapter 8.Judicial Decision within the Rule of Law
Chapter 11 Chapter 9.Modern Interpretations of Religion: The Legacy of Hume and Kant
Chapter 12 Chapter 10.Santayana on the Role of Religion in Society
Chapter 13 Chapter 11.Indestructible Islam
Chapter 14 Chapter 12.Science and the Shaping of Modernity: The Reciprocal Influence of Science and Culture
Chapter 15 Chapter 13.The Use and Abuse of Analogy and Metaphor in Scientific Explanation
Part 16 III. Contemporary Moral Issues
Chapter 17 Chapter 14.Morality with and without God
Chapter 18 Chapter 15.Responsibility: Recognition and Limits
Chapter 19 Chapter 16.National Identity
Chapter 20 Chapter 17.The Fragility of Democracy
Chapter 21 Chapter 18.The Socialist Mind
Chapter 22 Chapter 19.The Natural Basis of the Theological Virtue of Hope

The work is grand in scope and vision while rich in details and particulars. It is popular without being simple, wide-ranging without being superficial, topical without being ephemeral.