Transcendence and History

The Search for Ultimacy from Ancient Societies to Postmodernity, Book 1 (The Eric Voegelin Institute Series in Political Philosophy)

De: Glenn Hughes

Narrado por: Bruce Kramer

Transcendence and History is an analysis of what philosopher Eric Voegelin described as “the decisive problem of philosophy”: the dilemma of the discovery of transcendent meaning and the impact of this discovery on human self-understanding. The explicit recognition and symbolization of transcendent meaning originally occurred in a few advanced civilizations worldwide during the first millennium. The world’s major religious and wisdom traditions are built upon the recognition of transcendent meaning, and our own cultural and linguistic heritage has long since absorbed the postcosmological division of reality into the two dimensions of “transcendence” and “immanence”. But the last three centuries in the West have seen a growing resistance to the idea of transcendent meaning; contemporary and “postmodern” interpretations of the human situation — both popular and intellectual — indicate a widespread eclipse of confidence in the truth of transcendence.

In Transcendence and History, Glenn Hughes contributes to the understanding of transcendent meaning and the problems associated with it and assists in the philosophical recovery of the legitimacy of the notion of transcendence. Depending primarily on the treatments of transcendence found in the writings of 20th-century philosophers Eric Voegelin and Bernard Lonergan, Hughes explores the historical discovery of transcendent meaning and then examines what it indicates about the structure of history. Hughes’s main focus, however, is on clarifying the problem of transcendence in relation to historical existence. Addressing both layreaders and scholars, Hughes applies the insights and analyses of Voegelin and Lonergan to considerable advantage.

©2003 The Curators of the University of Missouri (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks

Intriguing Book

This is a book you can read again and again. There are many insights here. History is another word for the experience of being human. But not just any experience. And transcendence is about the governing mind of all — the consciousness that makes existence possible, and meaningful. There is a great deal here to explore.

Excellent reading...

It may not be the voice of the author I knew, but it is a kindred voice that gives the work of the author life.