A Vindication of Finitude
Maurice Blondel's Ascetic Philosophy
Nomi Pritz-Bennett(Author)
T.& T.Clark Ltd (Publisher)
Will be published approx. on 18. February 2027
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-567-72856-2 (ISBN)
Description
Through a fresh reading of the French Catholic philosopher Maurice Blondel, this book confronts a fundamental theological and philosophical problem: how an infinite God can be united to finite human beings without bringing about their annihilation.
Unusually for his time, Blondel is presented as undertaking a proto-ressourcement of ascetic themes drawn from the mystical tradition. This recovery enables him to articulate a robust yet intricate realism that avoids the dangers posed by two competing, annihilative visions of personhood: absorption into nothingness, exemplified by Arthur Schopenhauer, and absorption into the infinite, exemplified by Baruch Spinoza.
Pritz-Bennett locates Blondel's philosophy of action between two extremes: the nothingness of creatures and their absolute identity with God. She asks how divine-human union can be possible without finite beings ceasing to be themselves and argues that Blondel's answer lies in a reciprocal abnegation of the human and the divine,; this is a proposal that calls for a renewed assessment of the value of ascesis within finite life.
Unusually for his time, Blondel is presented as undertaking a proto-ressourcement of ascetic themes drawn from the mystical tradition. This recovery enables him to articulate a robust yet intricate realism that avoids the dangers posed by two competing, annihilative visions of personhood: absorption into nothingness, exemplified by Arthur Schopenhauer, and absorption into the infinite, exemplified by Baruch Spinoza.
Pritz-Bennett locates Blondel's philosophy of action between two extremes: the nothingness of creatures and their absolute identity with God. She asks how divine-human union can be possible without finite beings ceasing to be themselves and argues that Blondel's answer lies in a reciprocal abnegation of the human and the divine,; this is a proposal that calls for a renewed assessment of the value of ascesis within finite life.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
366 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-567-72856-2 (9780567728562)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Nomi Prtiz-Bennett teaches Systematic and Philosophical Theology at Durham University, UK.
Content
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Annihilation from Below
1. What can Negation Yield?
2. Action and the Abyssal Will
3. Will We Find a Salvation?
Part II: Absorption from Above
4. The Problem of Beatitude for Finite Creatures
5. No One Sees God Without Dying
6. Becoming Real
Conclusion
Index
Bibliography
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Part I: Annihilation from Below
1. What can Negation Yield?
2. Action and the Abyssal Will
3. Will We Find a Salvation?
Part II: Absorption from Above
4. The Problem of Beatitude for Finite Creatures
5. No One Sees God Without Dying
6. Becoming Real
Conclusion
Index
Bibliography