
The Indiscrete Image
Infinitude and Creation of the Human
Thomas A. Carlson(Author)
University of Chicago Press
Published on 1. October 2008
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-226-09315-4 (ISBN)
Description
Humanity's creative capacity has never been more unsettling than it is at our current moment, when it has ushered us into new technological worlds that challenge the very definition of 'the human.' Those anxious to safeguard the human against techno-scientific threats often appeal to religious traditions to protect the place and dignity of the human. But how well do we understand both theological tradition and today's technological culture? In "The Indiscrete Image", Thomas A. Carlson challenges our common ideas about both, arguing instead that it may be humanity's final lack of definition that first enables, and calls for, human creativity and its correlates - including technology, tradition, and their inextricable interplay within religious existence.Framed in response to Martin Heidegger's influential account of the relation between technological modernity and theological tradition, "The Indiscrete Image" builds an understanding of creativity as conditioned by insurmountable unknowing and incalculable possibility through alternative readings of Christian theological tradition and technological culture - and the surprising resonance between these two.
Carlson concludes that the always ongoing work of world creation, tied essentially to human self-creation, implies neither an idol's closure nor an icon's transcendence, but the 'indiscrete image' whose love makes possible - by keeping open - both the human and its world.
Carlson concludes that the always ongoing work of world creation, tied essentially to human self-creation, implies neither an idol's closure nor an icon's transcendence, but the 'indiscrete image' whose love makes possible - by keeping open - both the human and its world.
Reviews / Votes
"Extraordinarily ambitious, The Indiscrete Image puts different thinkers and different kinds of thought into play and exhibits the ability to perfectly mime their voices and play them off against each other to suggest a highly individual take on the human. It is beautifully written and intellectually masterly." - Cyril O'Regan, University of Notre Dame"More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 17 mm
Thickness: 2 mm
Weight
510 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-09315-4 (9780226093154)
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E-Book
05/2024
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
from
€57.69
Available for download
Person
Thomas A. Carlson is professor of religious studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of Indiscretion: Finitude and the Naming of God, also published by the University of Chicago Press.