Santayana the Philosopher

Philosophy as a Form of Life

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Philosophy, Logic, Aesthetics
Cover of the book Santayana the Philosopher by Daniel Moreno, Bucknell University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Daniel Moreno ISBN: 9781611486568
Publisher: Bucknell University Press Publication: March 6, 2015
Imprint: Bucknell University Press Language: English
Author: Daniel Moreno
ISBN: 9781611486568
Publisher: Bucknell University Press
Publication: March 6, 2015
Imprint: Bucknell University Press
Language: English

Regarding Santayana it has been claimed that he lacks a system while contradicting himself in outrageous ways. An attentive analysis of his complete œuvre, however, reveals something else entirely. It is not easy to classify a thinker as a Platonic materialist, an ironic nihilist, a spiritual atheist, and a conservative without political commitment, but, if one respects his own language, one discerns an astonishing, little-known Santayana, whose philosophical leitmotif consists in: 1) detecting the numerous “false steps,” logical and moral, supplied by the imagination when it confuses things with the names that designate them, or the world with the feelings that it provokes in the human animal—these errors assume diverse faces: pantheism, moralism, egotism, subjectivism, transcendentalism, Platonism, Puritanism, and utopianism; 2) avoiding these illusions in such a way as to keep the spiritual door open as a form of life to be lived out in an honest fashion; 3) recognizing the natural origin of these temptations and asking oneself what moves humans to succumb imperceptibly to these mistakes, at times tragic, at others comical, and what precautions one can take to remain cognizant of the deceitful leaps that can hijack one’s life; and 4) proposing as an alternative the radical distinction between essence and existence, which leads him to distinguish four realms of being: the realm of essence, the realm of matter, the realm of truth, and the realm of spirit. Essence as logical identity, matter as contingent existence, truth as frozen history, and spirit as the flames that part from contingency and approximate the eternal. An attempt has been made in this book to expand on and clarify these questions.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Regarding Santayana it has been claimed that he lacks a system while contradicting himself in outrageous ways. An attentive analysis of his complete œuvre, however, reveals something else entirely. It is not easy to classify a thinker as a Platonic materialist, an ironic nihilist, a spiritual atheist, and a conservative without political commitment, but, if one respects his own language, one discerns an astonishing, little-known Santayana, whose philosophical leitmotif consists in: 1) detecting the numerous “false steps,” logical and moral, supplied by the imagination when it confuses things with the names that designate them, or the world with the feelings that it provokes in the human animal—these errors assume diverse faces: pantheism, moralism, egotism, subjectivism, transcendentalism, Platonism, Puritanism, and utopianism; 2) avoiding these illusions in such a way as to keep the spiritual door open as a form of life to be lived out in an honest fashion; 3) recognizing the natural origin of these temptations and asking oneself what moves humans to succumb imperceptibly to these mistakes, at times tragic, at others comical, and what precautions one can take to remain cognizant of the deceitful leaps that can hijack one’s life; and 4) proposing as an alternative the radical distinction between essence and existence, which leads him to distinguish four realms of being: the realm of essence, the realm of matter, the realm of truth, and the realm of spirit. Essence as logical identity, matter as contingent existence, truth as frozen history, and spirit as the flames that part from contingency and approximate the eternal. An attempt has been made in this book to expand on and clarify these questions.

More books from Bucknell University Press

Cover of the book New World Literacy by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Modernity's Metonyms by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book The Discourse of Flanerie in Antonio Muñoz Molina’s Texts by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Minds in Motion by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Lesbian Realities/Lesbian Fictions in Contemporary Spain by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book "Getting History Right" by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book The Changing Face of Motherhood in Spain by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Machado de Assis and Female Characterization by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Romanticism, Gender, and Violence by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Horace Walpole's Letters by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Ridiculous Critics by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Modern Spanish Women as Agents of Change by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Theatrical Topographies by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book Commonplace Commitments by Daniel Moreno
Cover of the book The Idea of Disability in the Eighteenth Century by Daniel Moreno
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy