Selfhood and Sacrifice: RenA (c) Girard and Charles Taylor on the Crisis of Modernity

Description

Selfhood and Sacrifice is an original exploration of the ideas of two major contemporary thinkers.

Andrew O'Shea is Lecturer in Philosophy of Education and Human Development at St. Patrick's College, Dublin City University, Ireland.

"This original and important study contributes significantly to our understanding of the larger coherence underpinning the debates in contemporary philosophy and religion. The comparison of Taylor and Girard provides a new point of departure for defining a hermeneutics of the sacred" -- Richard Kearney, The Charles Seelig Professor in Philosophy, Boston College, MA, USA "This is an informative and intelligent discussion of two significant contemporary thinkers, both of whom have offered provocative interpretations of modernity and the continued importance of religion in a culture that prides itself on its secular character. In a thoughtful and engaging way Andrew O'Shea moderates a conversation between these two thinkers. His moderation is fair-minded to both thinkers, even when he is critical, and even when finally he finds himself siding more with Taylor's affirmation of modernity. Among the excellences of his book is its focused explication of the interrelated themes of selfhood and sacrifice as they bear on the contested issue of the sacred." -- William Desmond, Professor in the Centre for Metaphysics and Modern Philosophy, The Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium