Search results for ""Author Fred Dallmayr""

In Spiritual Guides: Pathfinders in the Desert, Fred Dallmayr challenges the "desert character" of modern culture. Political and economic corruption, incessant warmongering, spoliation of natural resources, and, above all, mindless consumerism and greedy self-satisfaction are all symptoms of what he contends is an expanding wasteland or desert where everything creative and nourishing decays and withers. Through an alternative interpretation of Nietzsche's saying "the desert grows," this book calls for spiritual renewal, invoking in particular four prominent guides or pathfinders in the desert: Paul Tillich, Raimon Panikkar, Thomas Merton, and Pope Francis. What links all four guides together is the view of spiritual life as an itinerarium, a pathway along difficult and often uncharted roads. Dallmayr begins by drawing a connection between Nietzsche's characterization of the desert in Thus Spoke Zarathustra and the present culture of consumerism, in which a nearly-exclusive emphasis on productivity, efficiency, profitability, and the transformation of everything valuable into a useful resource prevails over all other goals. He also draws attention to another sense of "desert," namely, as a place of solitude, meditation, and retreat from affliction. Aptly defined, it becomes a place where spirituality arises from a painful "turning-about": a wrenching effort to extricate human life from the decay of late modernity. Spirituality is not a possession or property but rather the contemplation and radical mindfulness that we develop through engaged practices as we search for pathways to recovery. Spirituality becomes critical in the dominant political and cultural wasteland because it provides a bond linking humanity together. In the spirit of global ecumenism, Spiritual Guides also includes a discussion of Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist forms of spirituality. This book will interest students and scholars of philosophy, political theory, and religion.

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In his Complaint of Peace, the great sixteenth-century humanist Erasmus allows "Peace" to talk. Peace speaks as a plaintiff, protesting her shabby treatment at the hands of humankind and our ever-ready inclination to launch wars. Against this lure of warfare, Erasmus pits the higher task of peace-building, which can only succeed through the cultivation of justice and respect for all human life. First articulated in 1517, the complaint of peace has echoed through subsequent centuries and down to our age—an age convulsed by world wars, holocausts, and ethnic cleansings. Distinguished political scientist Fred Dallmayr traces this complaint from the writings of Erasmus through the evolution of the "law of nations" to recent and contemporary co-plaintiffs in the West. He also highlights the role of non-Western thinkers and teachings in giving voice to "Peace." In addition to Erasmus, Dallmayr engages major thinkers such as Francisco de Vitoria, Hugo Grotius, Immanuel Kant, Hannah Arendt, Martin Heidegger, Mahatma Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, John Rawls, and Martha Nussbaum. This timely book urgently pleads for greater attentiveness to peace’s complaint as an antidote to the prevailing culture of violence and the escalating danger of nuclear catastrophe. Dallmayr offers not only a compelling historical narrative, but powerful ethical and religious arguments vindicating the primacy of peace over violence and war.

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The book denounces the irresponsible recklessness of some geopolitical agendas which are pushing the world relentlessly toward a major global war, and possibly toward nuclear destruction or apocalypse. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has recently placed the "Doomsday Clock" at three minutes to midnight. Signs pointing toward a possible grand disaster are multiple: everywhere one looks in our world today one finds ethnic and religious conflicts, bloody mayhem, incipient genocide, proxy wars and "hybrid" wars", renewal of the Cold War. Add to these ills global economic crises, massive streams of refugees, and the threats posed by global warming - and the picture of a world in complete disorder is complete. Thus, it is high time for humankind to wake up. Starting from the portrayal of global "anomie", the book issues a call to people everywhere to oppose the rush to destruction and to return to political sanity and the quest for peace. This is a call to global public responsibility. In ethical terms, it says that people everywhere have an obligation to prevent apocalypse and to "maintain" our world or "hold the world together" in all its dimensions - including the dimensions of human and social life, natural ecology, and human spiritual aspirations (or openness to the divine). Differently out: in lieu of the prevailing disorder and brokenness, the book urges us to search for a new "wholeness" and just peace. The book is intercultural and also inter-disciplinary. Since the aim is holistic - to hold the world together - the book necessarily has to draw on many disciplines: including philosophy, theology, social science, history, and literature. In terms of Western philosophical and intellectual legacies, it draws mainly on the teachings of Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida. It also offers a completely new interpretation of the work of Thomas Hobbes, unearthing in this work an ethical demand to exit from the state of perpetual warfare in the direction of a shared commonwealth. The text also relies on the teachings of Christian theology (both Catholic and Protestant), invoking at crucial junctures the works of Karl Barth, Raimon Panikkar, and others. In terms of non-Western intellectual and spiritual legacies, the book offers new interpretations of leading texts in the Indian and Chinese traditions. Thus, emphasis is placed on the ideas of "world maintenance" (loka-samgraha) in Hinduism and of "All-Under-Heaven" in classical Chinese thought. Although a central thrust of the text is for a new wholeness, the goal is not a uniform synthesis where everything would be swallowed up in a bland unity. Rather the issue is how to preserve diversity of the world in its rightful integrity, by linking all elements in a complex web of interconnections and "relationality".

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At a time when "modernity" has become a deeply contested notion, G.W.F. Hegel: Modernity and Politics presents Hegel as the quintessential philosopher of modernity, highlighting his political writings that culminated in the Philosophy of Right. Fred R. Dallmayr deftly argues that, for Hegel, modernity resided in the growth of human freedom—a freedom anchored in public responsibility and social justice, the "high road" of modernity. This outlook remains politically relevant in our globalizing age as an antidote to a "predatory" mode of globalization that celebrates economic self-interest. With a new introduction, this revised edition interprets Hegel's "postmodern" legacy not as the move from spirit to matter, nor from holism to particularism, but as the dissemination of the liberating spirit in the capillaries of democratic lifeworlds.

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In his latest book, Horizons of Difference: Engaging with Others, Fred Dallmayr argues that the dialogue between religious and secular commitments, between faith and reason, is particularly important in our time because both faith and reason can give rise to dangerous and destructive types of extremism, fanaticism, or idolatry. In this interdisciplinary and cross-cultural synthesis of philosophy, religious thought, and political theory, Dallmayr neither accepts the “clash of cultures” dichotomy nor denies the reality of cultural tensions. Instead, operating from the standpoint of philosophical hermeneutics, he embraces cultural difference as a necessary condition and opportunity for mutual cross-cultural dialogue and learning. In part 1, “Relationality and Difference,” Dallmayr explores the emergence of diverse loyalties and attachments in different social and cultural contexts. The assumption is not that different commitments are necessarily synchronized or “naturally” compatible but rather that they are held together precisely by their difference and potential antagonism. Part 2, “Engagement through Dialogue and Interaction,” dwells on the major means of mediating between the alternatives of radical separation and radical sameness: dialogue and hermeneutical interpretation of understanding. In this respect, the emphasis shifts to leading philosophers of dialogue such as Hans-Georg Gadamer, Bernhard Waldenfels, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In a world where the absolutizing of the ego encourages selfish egotism that can lead to aggressive warmongering, Horizons of Difference shows how the categories of “difference” and “relationality” can be used to build a genuine and peaceful democracy based on dialogue and interaction instead of radical autonomy and elitism.

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To whom should we look for moral guidance during times of global violence, scarcity, and corruption? For two millennia, Aristotle's writings have taught that the ethically "good life" is the highest purpose of human existence. In In Search of the Good Life, renowned philosopher Fred Dallmayr traces the development of this notion, illuminating the connections between Greek philosophy, Judeo-Christian tradition, Eastern religions, and postindustrial social criticism. Dallmayr searches the writings of Bonaventure, Nicolaus of Cusa, Leibniz, Montesquieu, and others, for models of the good life. In Search of the Good Life, however, is not merely an academic exercise. Dallmayr's investigations apply directly to a number of contemporary issues: the relevance of the classics, the global spread of democracy, appropriate responses to evil, and the public role of religion in a democracy. Dallmayr reinvigorates the notion of the good life as a hallmark of personal conduct, civic virtue, and political engagement, seeking to roust a complacent and self-indulgent citizenry out of a fog of modern amusements and distractions.

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In an age marked by global hegemony and festering civilization clashes, Fred Dallmayr's Achieving Our World charts a path toward a cosmopolitan democracy respectful of local differences. Dallmayr draws upon and develops insights from a number of fields: political theory, the study of international politics, recent Continental philosophy, and an array of critical cultural disciplines to illustrate and elucidate his thesis. In Achieving Our World, Dallmayr contends that a genuinely global and plural democracy and 'civic culture' is the only viable and promising path for humankind in the new millennium.

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At a time when 'modernity' has become a deeply contested notion, G.W.F. Hegel: Modernity and Politics presents Hegel as the quintessential philosopher of modernity, highlighting his political writings that culminated in the Philosophy of Right. Fred R. Dallmayr deftly argues that, for Hegel, modernity resided in the growth of human freedom—a freedom anchored in public responsibility and social justice, the 'high road' of modernity. This outlook remains politically relevant in our globalizing age as an antidote to a 'predatory' mode of globalization that celebrates economic self-interest. With a new introduction, this revised edition interprets Hegel's 'postmodern' legacy not as the move from spirit to matter, nor from holism to particularism, but as the dissemination of the liberating spirit in the capillaries of democratic lifeworlds.

Read more less

In his latest book, Horizons of Difference: Engaging with Others, Fred Dallmayr argues that the dialogue between religious and secular commitments, between faith and reason, is particularly important in our time because both faith and reason can give rise to dangerous and destructive types of extremism, fanaticism, or idolatry. In this interdisciplinary and cross-cultural synthesis of philosophy, religious thought, and political theory, Dallmayr neither accepts the “clash of cultures” dichotomy nor denies the reality of cultural tensions. Instead, operating from the standpoint of philosophical hermeneutics, he embraces cultural difference as a necessary condition and opportunity for mutual cross-cultural dialogue and learning. In part 1, “Relationality and Difference,” Dallmayr explores the emergence of diverse loyalties and attachments in different social and cultural contexts. The assumption is not that different commitments are necessarily synchronized or “naturally” compatible but rather that they are held together precisely by their difference and potential antagonism. Part 2, “Engagement through Dialogue and Interaction,” dwells on the major means of mediating between the alternatives of radical separation and radical sameness: dialogue and hermeneutical interpretation of understanding. In this respect, the emphasis shifts to leading philosophers of dialogue such as Hans-Georg Gadamer, Bernhard Waldenfels, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty. In a world where the absolutizing of the ego encourages selfish egotism that can lead to aggressive warmongering, Horizons of Difference shows how the categories of “difference” and “relationality” can be used to build a genuine and peaceful democracy based on dialogue and interaction instead of radical autonomy and elitism.

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In this intriguing new book, Indian social theorist Ananta Kumar Giri issues a stirring call for scholars of contemporary social theory and practice to grapple with late modernity's most pressing social and political issues. Giri counterposes Western thought with Indian social theory in a work that ranges across an array of Indian texts and ideas, hitherto ignored by Western scholarship. Included, along with the mainstays of Indian intellectual thought like Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo, are lesser known Indian social theorists, economists, sociologists, and essayists who argue for transcendence of self-interest, social responsibility, and political renewal. Thoughtfully argued and lucidly written, this work offers the reader a genuine 'transdisciplinary' learning experience, going beyond European ethnocentrism to make social theory a truly global conversation.

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Comparative political theory is at best an embryonic and marginalized endeavor. As practiced in most Western universities, the study of political theory generally involves a rehearsal of the canon of Western political thought from Plato to Marx. Only rarely are practitioners of political thought willing (and professionally encouraged) to transgress the canon and thereby the cultural boundaries of North America and Europe in the direction of genuine comparative investigation. Border Crossings presents an effort to remedy this situation, fully launching a new era in political theory. Thirteen scholars from around the world examine the various political traditions of West, South, and East Asia and engage in a reflective cross-cultural discussion that belies the assumptions of an Asian "essence" and of an unbridgeable gulf between West and non-West. The denial of essential differences does not, however, amount to an endorsement of essential sameness. As viewed and as practiced by contributors to this ground-breaking volume, comparative political theorizing must steer a course between uniformity and radical separation—this is the path of "border crossings."

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In this book, internationally recognized scholars in philosophical hermeneutics discuss various aspects of language and linguisticality. The translations of Hans-Georg Gadamer's two recent essays provoke a preliminary discussion on the philosopher's polemic claim in Truth and Method—"Being that can be understood is language." Topics addressed by the contributors include the relationship of rituals to tradition and the immemorial; the unity of the word; conversation; translation and conceptuality; and the interrelationship between the art of writing and linguisticality. This work is of critical importance to anyone interested in Gadamer's claims regarding the boundaries of language, the transition from the prelinguistic to linguistic realms, and the role of rituals in this transition.

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