Description
Book SynopsisWhat would the world be like if we no longer needed meaning? Australian sociologist Michael Casey''s revealing work charts the collapse of the metaphysical world and the innate human need for meaning. With the decline of Christianity and the demise of secular universalism in the west, the meaning and value of metaphysical culture has been replaced by an entirely new post-metaphysical world. In Meaninglessness, Casey revisits the social theory of Nietzsche, Freud, and Rorty, in order to conceive how this post-metaphysical culture may take shape in the third millennium. Framing questions of enduring significance to contemporary social and political theory in a new methodological light, this work will appeal to scholars and general readers interested in sociology, post-modernism, cultural studies, political theory, and philosophy.
Trade ReviewDissecting the modern academic penchant for declaring our world inherently 'meaningless,' Michael Casey points the way toward a truer, nobler humanism. -- George Weigel
Michael Casey searchingly analyses the answers of influential enemies of transcedence. His masterful critique coolly exposes the dangers and horrors of "post-metaphysical" dystopias. He vindicates adherence to truth in the struggle for peace, humanity, and justice. -- Felipe Fernández-Armesto, William P. Reynolds Professor of History,University of Notre Dame
This is a very important book, on a very important question. . . . The author has mastered his writers and a mass of accompanying material with enviable skill and lucidity and made an important and original contribution to metaphysical analysis and exposition. -- Max Teichmann, Rockefeller Fellow in International Studies at the London School of Economics
A profound examination of meaninglessness in human life—and above all, of the unhelpful attempts by modern thinkers such as Nietzche, Freud, and Rorty to devise a therapy that will protect us from it. * First Things *
Fascinating. . . . Casey's critique of Rorty is one of the most pungent and compelling I've run across. . . . It is also an enormous relief to find Freud discussed intelligently rather than reductively. -- Jean Bethke Elshtain, The Laura Spelman Rockeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago; author of Just War Against Terror
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction: Culture and Meaning Chapter 2 Nietzsche: The Aesthetic Solution to Meaninglessness Chapter 3 Freud: The Therapeutic Solution to Meaninglessness Chapter 4 Rorty: The Post-metaphysical Solution to Meaninglessness Chapter 5 Conclusion: Culture and Life
