Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture) Book PDF, ePub eBook

Join our eBook service for unlimited books & audiobooks. Get a free 7 day subscription! ↓↓↓↓↓


Book Descriptions:

In Encountering the Secular, J. Heath Atchley proposes an alternative to the understanding of the secular as that which opposes the religious, and he turns to American and Continental philosophy to support his critique. Drawing from thinkers as disparate as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Gilles Deleuze, and engaging with contemporary literature and film, Atchley shows how the division of experience (individual, cultural, political) into the distinct realms of the religious and the secular overlooks the subtle ways in which value can emerge. Far from arguing that the religious and the secular are the same, he means instead to suggest that the dogmatic separation between these two realms gets in the way of experiencing an immanent value, a kind of value tied neither to a transcendent reality (e.g., a god or an ideal) nor to a self-centered reality (e.g., pleasure or knowledge).

Each chapter cultivates a particular concept that challenges the breach between the secular and the religious, rendering that breach ambiguous. Such ambiguity, the author affirms, is relevant to a time when rigid and simplistic notions of religion and secularity are used to justify thoughtlessness and even violence. All too often the secular is thought of either as a triumph in "overcoming" the presumed irrationality and oppression of religion, or as lament in "losing" the meaning religion is thought once to have offered. Atchley suggests a view of the secular as an opportunity to experience an immanent value that is neither controlled by the human self nor conferred by a divine entity.

Written in a prose that is lucid, lively, and provocative, Encountering the Secular shows how a philosophical endeavor might be understood as a spiritual practice.

Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture) by J. Heath Atchley

From reader reviews:

Albert Guerra:

Why don't make it to be your habit? Right now, try to prepare your time to do the important act, like looking for your favorite reserve and reading a guide. Beside you can solve your trouble; you can add your knowledge by the guide entitled Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture). Try to the actual book Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture) as your pal. It means that it can being your friend when you sense alone and beside that of course make you smarter than ever. Yeah, it is very fortuned to suit your needs. The book makes you a lot more confidence because you can know almost everything by the book. So , let me make new experience and also knowledge with this book.

Philip Edwards:

Have you spare time for just a day? What do you do when you have far more or little spare time? Yes, you can choose the suitable activity to get spend your time. Any person spent all their spare time to take a walk, shopping, or went to the actual Mall. How about open or maybe read a book eligible Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture)? Maybe it is to be best activity for you. You recognize beside you can spend your time with the favorite's book, you can wiser than before. Do you agree with its opinion or you have other opinion?

Wendy Hartnett:

What do you consider book? It is just for students because they're still students or this for all people in the world, exactly what the best subject for that? Merely you can be answered for that question above. Every person has distinct personality and hobby for every single other. Don't to be compelled someone or something that they don't desire do that. You must know how great and also important the book Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture). All type of book could you see on many resources. You can look for the internet solutions or other social media.

Stella Neal:

The book untitled Encountering the Secular: Philosophical Endeavors in Religion and Culture (Studies in Religion and Culture) contain a lot of information on the item. The writer explains her idea with easy approach. The language is very straightforward all the people, so do certainly not worry, you can easy to read the idea. The book was compiled by famous author. The author provides you in the new period of time of literary works. You can easily read this book because you can keep reading your smart phone, or device, so you can read the book with anywhere and anytime. If you want to buy the e-book, you can open their official web-site in addition to order it. Have a nice go through.