Contentment in Contention [electronic resource] : Acceptance versus Aspiration /
Southgate, B.author.
Southgate draws on ideas within history, philosophy, literature, psychology, and theology to explore two traditions: contentment with our situation as it is, and the aspiration to transcend it. He discusses the possibility of escape from intellectual constraints, and advocates a positive 'duty of discontent', and its implications.
Description based upon print version of record.
Cover; Contents; Preface; Acknowledgements; 1 Introduction; Introduction; 'Two classes of men'; Bentham and Coleridge; Synthesis and subversion; Conclusion; 2 Contentment with 'Reality' and 'Common-Sense'; Introduction; Reality and its representations; History, myth, and 'reality'; Creating realities: History, identity, and 'human nature'; Conclusion; 3 Contentment within Cages (i): Science, Ethics, Politics; Introduction; Cages in science; Cages in ethics; Conclusion: Cages and politics; 4 Contentment within Cages (ii): Language and History; Introduction; The cage of language
The cage of historyConclusion; 5 Cages: Dogmatism and Escape; Introduction; Cages and the dangers of dogmatism; Escape (i): Cage-consciousness; Escape (ii): Art, poetry, and history; Conclusion; 6 Antidote to Contentment: The Sublime; Introduction; The 'sublime': A brief contextualisation; God/Christianity/Transcendence; Aspiration in the arts: Poetry and play; The need for a sublime; Conclusion; 7 Education for Contentment? Utility, Conformity, Dissent; Introduction; Education for contentment; Education and aspiration; Individualism, conformity, and discontent
A role for the Humanities: Against contentmentKnowledge and wisdom; Disturbance and perturbation, sanity and slavery; Gardens and volcanoes; Conclusion; 8 Conclusion; Introduction; Contentment advocated; Discontent advocated; Now, after the death of God; Conclusion: Truth, modesty, and radical hope; Postscript; Notes; Bibliography; Index
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Southgate draws on ideas within history, philosophy, literature, psychology, and theology to explore two traditions: contentment with our situation as it is, and the aspiration to transcend it. He discusses the possibility of escape from intellectual constraints, and advocates a positive 'duty of discontent', and its implications.
Civilization—History.
Philosophy.
World history.
Social sciences—Philosophy.
Historiography.
Cultural History.
History of Philosophy.
Philosophy, general.
World History, Global and Transnational History.
Social Philosophy.
Historiography and Method.