Studies in the philosophy of John Dewey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Santayana and Native American philosophy that argue for an ecological, aesthetic form of philosophy.

This book explores themes in classical American philosophy, primarily the thought of John Dewey, but also that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Santayana, and Native American traditions. It argues that human beings have an inherent need to experience meaning and value, a 'Human Eros'. Our various cultures are symbolic environments or 'spiritual ecologies' within which the Human Eros seeks to thrive. This is how we inhabit the earth. Encircling and sustaining our cultural existence is nature, yet Western philosophy has not provided adequate conceptual models for thinking ecologically.

The epic wisdom contained in a lost library helps the author turn his life around John Kaag is a dispirited young philosopher at sea in his marriage and his career when he stumbles upon West Wind, a ruin of an estate in the hinterlands of New Hampshire that belonged to the eminent Harvard philosopher William Ernest Hocking. Hocking was one of the last true giants of American philosophy and a direct intellectual descendent of William James, the father of American philosophy and psychology, with whom Kaag feels a deep kinship. It is James’s question “Is life worth living?” that guides this remarkable book. The books Kaag discovers in the Hocking library are crawling with insects and full of mold. But he resolves to restore them, as he immediately recognizes their importance. Not only does the library at West Wind contain handwritten notes from Whitman and inscriptions from Frost, but there are startlingly rare first editions of Hobbes, Descartes, and Kant. As Kaag begins to catalog and read through these priceless volumes, he embarks on a thrilling journey that leads him to the life-affirming tenets of American philosophy—self-reliance, pragmatism, and transcendence—and to a brilliant young Kantian who joins him in the restoration of the Hocking books. Part intellectual history, part memoir, American Philosophy is ultimately about love, freedom, and the role that wisdom can play in turning one’s life around.

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time A book about romantic love, Eros the Bittersweet is Anne Carson's exploration of the concept of "eros" in both classical philosophy and literature. Beginning with, "It was Sappho who first called eros 'bittersweet.' No one who has been in love disputes her," Carson examines her subject from numerous points of view, creating a lyrical meditation in the tradition of William Carlos Williams's Spring and All and William H. Gass's On Being Blue. Epigrammatic, witty, ironic, and endlessly entertaining, Eros is an utterly original book.

With more than 35,000 copies in print, Yellow Silk: Erotic Arts and Letters made the bestseller lists of both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post. This sequel presents more pieces from the award-winning magazine dedicated to the finest in erotic literature and art.

Bringing contemporary philosophers, theologians, and psychoanalysts into dialogue with works of art and literature, this work provides a fresh perspective on how humans can make sense of suffering and finitude and how our existence as sexual beings shapes our relations to one another and the divine. It attempts to establish a connection between carnal, bodily love and humanity’s relation to the divine. Relying on the works of philosophers such as Manoussakis, Kearney, and Marion and psychoanalysts such as Freud and Lacan, this book provides a possible answer to these fundamental questions and fosters further dialogue between thinkers and scholars of these different fields. The author analyzes why human sexuality implies both perversion and perfection and why it brings together humanity’s baseness and beatitude. Through it, the author taps once more into the dark mystery of Eros and Thanatos who, to paraphrase Dostoevsky, forever struggle with God on the battlefield of the human heart. This book is written primarily for scholars interested in the fields of philosophical psychology, existential philosophy, and philosophy of religion

"In Eros, the subtle and profound nuances of the erotic nature of relationships between men and women are explored through a collection of black-and-white photographs that are coupled with inspired, passionate words. Among the photographers whose visions comprise this volume are some of the great masters - Brassai, Imogen Cunningham, Horst, Man Ray, Minor White, Edward Weston - as well as many celebrated contemporary artists - Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Hiro, Annie Leibovitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Duane Michals, Helmut Newton, and Albert Watson, among others. Deeply involved as they are with the relationship between seeing and feeling, their images take us on a rich visual journey ranging from the eloquent beauty of the human form to the complexity of body language motivated by desire." "This compendium of expressive photographs is accented with a variety of literary selections drawn from the work of writers such as Margaret Atwood, Siv Cedering, John Cleland, E. E. Cummings, Michael Fried, Robert Graves, Erica Jong, D. H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Carson Reed, Dylan Thomas, and Walt Whitman. Embracing the spectrum of the erotic experience - from quiet intimacy and meditation to frank lust and reckless abandon - their words highlight the power of Eros not only to thrill and delight but also to uplift and transform."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved