Search results for "tag:"Author Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn""
University of Notre Dame Press Ars Vitae
Book SynopsisDespite the flood of self-help guides and our current therapeutic culture, feelings of alienation and spiritual longing continue to grip modern society. In this book, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn offers a fresh solution: a return to classic philosophy and the cultivation of an inner life.The ancient Roman philosopher Cicero wrote that philosophy is ars vitae, the art of living. Today, signs of stress and duress point to a full-fledged crisis for individuals and communities while current modes of making sense of our lives prove inadequate. Yet, in this time of alienation and spiritual longing, we can glimpse signs of a renewed interest in ancient approaches to the art of living. In this ambitious and timely book, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn engages both general readers and scholars on the topic of well-being. She examines the reappearance of ancient philosophical thought in contemporary American culture, probing whether new stirrings of Gnosticism, Stoicism, EpicureaniTrade Review"[Lasch-Quinn] is a gifted scholar whose examination of ancient works, their modern scholarly reception, and the appearance of big ideas in popular culture is consistently brilliant. . . . She manages to cover over two thousand years of philosophical development in under four hundred pages, and while those pages are dense in content, they are charmingly readable. The introduction, ‘Therapeia,’ is worth the price of the book.” —Front Porch Republic”In her profoundly insightful and thought-provoking work, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn . . . notes, ‘the problems with contemporary culture stem in part from its inability, even in the event that basic needs are met, to provide adequate resources for the living of everyday life.’ . . . Lasch-Quinn’s work not only informs but urges the reader to seek a deeper understanding of the current problems we face.” —Journal of Sociology and Christianity"Lasch-Quinn has set out in Ars Vitae to embody the best of what true philosophical writing has to offer. She writes in a way that makes her readers better thinkers, more reflective and self-aware, and she does so by showing the development of her own thinking—who her influences are, the sources from which she draws her wisdom, and how philosophy informs her understanding of herself, the culture, and the world in which she lives." —Los Angeles Review of Books"Lasch-Quinn turns to the ancients to persuade her readers that living, contra postmodernism, can bring us to 'the heights of awe, love, and wholeness,' even in the face of great pain and evil. . . . Many of us go through days, weeks, and even years of being beaten down, but suffering, Lasch-Quinn’s book tells us, can be transfigured into beauty, even holiness. " —City Journal"This is what makes Ars Vitae such vital reading. It provides both a thorough-going critique of the therapeutic, self-obsessed ethos so dominant today, and a way beyond it, through the potential development of those inner, moral resources on which true selfhood and a moral community rest." —spiked"Ars Vitae is a remarkable book. . . . The prose feels intensely personal, and even intimate, engaging the reader in the author’s search for meaning with an approach that feels consequential without being personally needy." —Law and Liberty“Lasch-Quinn’s forward-looking vision, developed through an impressive range of learning, ties wholeness, flourishing, selfhood, and health to goodness, truth, and beauty, which remain attainable through the most basic impulses and features of human life. That she makes her argument through accessible and upbeat engagements with everyday realities like literature, film, architecture, and coffee mugs (for which she has a real fondness) only proves her point.” —The Christian Century“Ars Vitae doesn’t just stir the imagination—it stirs the scholarly imagination. It makes one think not simply about its subject but also how one might approach any subject. It is thus an example of both innovation and intervention.” —Christian Scholar’s Review“The book is not a manual but instead a glimpse into, and an invitation to join, a conversation about what is good and how to live. . . . In the end, those who take up Ars Vitae may find themselves, as I did, most grateful to Lasch-Quinn for giving them grounds for hope.” —VoegelinView"Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn’s engaging and learned Ars Vitae: The Fate of Inwardness and the Return of the Ancient Arts of Living is an intellectual tour de force that expounds various branches of ancient philosophy, assesses the scholarly debate around them, and critiques much of the modern appropriation of the classical heritage." —First ThingsTable of ContentsMajor Abbreviations and Sources Acknowledgements Introduction: Therapeia 1. The New Gnosticism 2. The New Stoicism 3. The New Epicureanism 4. The New Cynicism 5. The New Platonism Conclusion: Philosophia Epilogue: Once Bibliography
£31.50
University of Notre Dame Press Ars Vitae
Book SynopsisTrade Review"[Lasch-Quinn] is a gifted scholar whose examination of ancient works, their modern scholarly reception, and the appearance of big ideas in popular culture is consistently brilliant. . . . She manages to cover over two thousand years of philosophical development in under four hundred pages, and while those pages are dense in content, they are charmingly readable. The introduction, ‘Therapeia,’ is worth the price of the book.” —Front Porch Republic”In her profoundly insightful and thought-provoking work, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn . . . notes, ‘the problems with contemporary culture stem in part from its inability, even in the event that basic needs are met, to provide adequate resources for the living of everyday life.’ . . . Lasch-Quinn’s work not only informs but urges the reader to seek a deeper understanding of the current problems we face.” —Journal of Sociology and Christianity"Lasch-Quinn has set out in Ars Vitae to embody the best of what true philosophical writing has to offer. She writes in a way that makes her readers better thinkers, more reflective and self-aware, and she does so by showing the development of her own thinking—who her influences are, the sources from which she draws her wisdom, and how philosophy informs her understanding of herself, the culture, and the world in which she lives." —Los Angeles Review of Books"Lasch-Quinn turns to the ancients to persuade her readers that living, contra postmodernism, can bring us to 'the heights of awe, love, and wholeness,' even in the face of great pain and evil. . . . Many of us go through days, weeks, and even years of being beaten down, but suffering, Lasch-Quinn’s book tells us, can be transfigured into beauty, even holiness. " —City Journal"This is what makes Ars Vitae such vital reading. It provides both a thorough-going critique of the therapeutic, self-obsessed ethos so dominant today, and a way beyond it, through the potential development of those inner, moral resources on which true selfhood and a moral community rest." —spiked"Ars Vitae is a remarkable book. . . . The prose feels intensely personal, and even intimate, engaging the reader in the author’s search for meaning with an approach that feels consequential without being personally needy." —Law and Liberty“Lasch-Quinn’s forward-looking vision, developed through an impressive range of learning, ties wholeness, flourishing, selfhood, and health to goodness, truth, and beauty, which remain attainable through the most basic impulses and features of human life. That she makes her argument through accessible and upbeat engagements with everyday realities like literature, film, architecture, and coffee mugs (for which she has a real fondness) only proves her point.” —The Christian Century“Ars Vitae doesn’t just stir the imagination—it stirs the scholarly imagination. It makes one think not simply about its subject but also how one might approach any subject. It is thus an example of both innovation and intervention.” —Christian Scholar’s Review“The book is not a manual but instead a glimpse into, and an invitation to join, a conversation about what is good and how to live. . . . In the end, those who take up Ars Vitae may find themselves, as I did, most grateful to Lasch-Quinn for giving them grounds for hope.” —VoegelinView"Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn’s engaging and learned Ars Vitae: The Fate of Inwardness and the Return of the Ancient Arts of Living is an intellectual tour de force that expounds various branches of ancient philosophy, assesses the scholarly debate around them, and critiques much of the modern appropriation of the classical heritage." —First ThingsTable of ContentsMajor Abbreviations and Sources Acknowledgements Introduction: Therapeia 1. The New Gnosticism 2. The New Stoicism 3. The New Epicureanism 4. The New Cynicism 5. The New Platonism Conclusion: Philosophia Epilogue: Once Bibliography
£22.49
Rowman & Littlefield Race Experts How Racial Etiquette Sensitivity
Book SynopsisThis text looks at how we capsized racial progress in the quest for self-esteem. It uncovers the hidden trajectory and terms of our thinking about race relations since the 1960s.Trade ReviewElisabeth Lasch-Quinn has written an important book. It can be read in at least three ways: As a courageous critique of the racial etiquette that has become institutionalized in post-integration America. As a case study of the pervasive psychologization of American culture. And as a Menckenesque account of the way in which both cultural developments can be exploited lucratively by alleged experts. The reader will consecutively nod with recognition, laugh somewhat bitterly, and perhaps even get angry. -- Peter Berger, author of The Social Construction of RealityAmerica's racial crisis is getting worse. While there is plenty of blame to go around, much falls on 'race experts' who disseminate disinformation and promote thinly disguised totalitarian ideology. In clear, hard-hitting English, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn presents a well-reasoned and well-balanced analysis that exposes an insidious racket. Race Experts contributes significantly to the two-front struggle against racism and demagogy. -- Eugene D. Genovese, author of Roll, Jordan, RollThis is a book for those who want more specifics on how the activists in the Civil Rights Movement—aided and abetted by pandering white liberal elites—are in full retreat from the American principle of color-blindness, and are now celebrating race-consciousness and 'racial differences.' As a whole, it is an essential primer, replete with eye-opening horror tales of political correctness, including the antics of racial/ethnic stereotype-reinforcement, which masquerade as 'sensitivity' and diversity training in workplaces and schools. Moreover, this is a handy reference for those already knowledgeable but thoroughly fed up with the histronics of racial therapy, which plays on guilt, and touchy feelings, rather than on evidence and intellect as the basis for evaluating ideas and overcoming parochial prejudices. -- Michael Meyers, executive director, New York Civil Rights CoalitionAfter a talk I once gave suggesting new practical paths that the Civil Rights movement might take, a black student told me disappointedly that she had expected that I would lend her guidance in 'forming an identity.' Race Experts crisply uncovers the source of this student's expectation. Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn deftly shows how the original Civil Rights leaders' quest for concrete community uplift has been hijacked by attempts to police and cleanse the thought processes of individuals. Anyone seeking truly to understanding the theatrics of Jesse Jackson, the black white score gap in education, the new career of 'diversity counselor,' the rise and fall of the Black Panthers, or many other often perplexing aspects of America's racial landscape cannot afford to let this book pass them by. -- John McWhorter, author of Losing the RaceRichly textured and throughly readable, Race Experts boldy explores the dense thicket of contemporary racial confusions about self-identity and color consciousness. How refreshing it is to find a work so crammed with common sense on a topic that too often has prompted scholarly muddle-headedness and theoretical overkill. Joining the trenchant work of Orlando Patterson and Darly Scott, Race Experts should draw wide acclaim. -- Bertram Wyatt-Brown, author of The Shaping of Southern CultureIn this insightful and troubling book, Lasch-Quinn explores the subtle and not so subtle ways in which the reification of race is perpetuated, despite the absence of biological evidence for the existence of race itself and even in the name of fighting racism. -- David Noble, author of America by DesignRace Experts is an important book, which should be read by every corporate leader, every educator, and every parent. Lasch-Quinn explains carefully and quietly how the idealistic goals of the civil rights movement have been displaced by misguided 'therapies' that promote racial divisiveness and narcissism, which harm all of us. -- Diane RavitchRace Experts is the first book to link together America's two favorite conversations, the one about self-help and the one about race. There is enough sloppy thinking and posturing on both subjects to make this book an effective and necessary one. * The New York Times Book Review *Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn argues quite convincingly that multiculturalism and ethnic diversity programs might instead breed contempt for and condescending behavior toward blacks. Race Experts is a scathing indictment of the new politically correct thinking on race. * The Washington Times *An original and impressive presentation that does much to illuminate the current racial situation. * Kirkus *This is sure to be a controversial book among readers interested in race issues. * Booklist *Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn offers an unflinching look at the elaborate codes that govern racial exchanges and relations and at the entrenched 'experts' who purport to know more than ordinary citizens about how men and women are to comport themselves across lines of racial division. Crisply written, forthright, replete with vivid examples, Race Experts helps to break open a long overdue debate. -- Jean Bethke Elshtain, The Laura Spelman Rockeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago; author of Just War Against TerrorElisabeth Lasch-Quinn's thought provoking book brilliantly critiques the industry of the race advocates who tend to exaggerate the importance of racial differences. This is a book that dedicated proponents of social justice have been waiting for. It could even help us refocus our energies on fighting poverty and inequality. -- William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard UniversityIn measured but rigorously critical tones, she excoriates the theory and politics of identity, diversity training, racially based psychotherapy and educational politicies aimed at increasing racial self-esteem. Thoughtful and provocative. * Times Literary Supplement *Convincingly and cogently argued. This is an important book for Britain as well as America. * Black and Asian Studies Association Newsletter *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Acknowledgements Chapter 2 Prologue Chapter 3 The New Racial Etiquette: The Ritual of Racial Reprimand Chapter 4 Radical Chic and the Rise of a Politics of Therapy Chapter 5 The Encounter Group: A New Interracial Mode for Integration Chapter 6 Racial Identity Theory: Groundwork for a Renewal of Suspicion Chapter 7 Revolt against Repression: New Age Therapy from the Fringe to the Mainstream Chapter 8 A World of Endless Slights: Diversity Training and its Illogical Consequences Chapter 9 In Perpetual Recovery: The Problem with Multicultural Education for Self-Esteem Chapter 10 Epilogue Chapter 11 Notes Chapter 12 Credits Chapter 13 Index
£999.99
