Suny Press
Effacing the Self
About this book
Argues that self and selflessness are aspects of the same insoluble problem at the very heart of modernity.
In spirituality and mysticism, many seek a counterbalance to the strong emphasis on the self that modernity demands of us: We desire a fixed self on the one hand and are fascinated by selflessness on the other. But is our fascination with selflessness not a ruse to make that self of ours even stronger? And is that self-critical question not the kernel of even traditional mysticism? Marc De Kesel investigates some dark rooms of the mystical tradition to clarify this. This is a book for all who want to free themselves from the conceptual frameworks and rigid dogmas of late-modern religiosity.
The first part of the volume deals directly with early modern Christian mysticism, and more specifically with the French spiritualité and discussions centered around the problem of what it means to love God in a pure, radically unselfish way. The second part explores the paradoxical dialectics between self and selflessness in relation to the way Christian religion deals with its own identity. If Christian love is selfless, why has Christianity in the end not given up its own self, its own identity? The third and last part of the volume discusses the dialectics between self and selflessness in three other domains: popular spirituality, politics, and modern science. It makes clear that "selflessness" is not limited to mysticism but is both a fascination and a problem/paradox for modernity in many fields.
Author / Editor information
Reviews
"Effacing the Self examines the paradox and implications of mystical self-effacement for a modern context, bridging disciplinary divides by bringing diverse thinkers into conversation. The contemporary relevance is particularly clear in the way De Kesel considers political implications, at times stating these explicitly and other times simply gesturing toward them. His close attention to the texts—from journals and notebooks to letters and a scene from a novel—is particularly illuminating. De Kesel offers detailed interpretations of crucial passages, clearly demonstrating what is at stake at each turn, and drawing the reader in by articulating key questions throughout his investigation, inviting us to continue to wrestle with the paradox of the mystical self." — Reading Religion
Topics
-
Download PDFPublicly Available
Front Matter
i -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Contents
vii -
Download PDFPublicly Available
Illustrations
ix -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Introduction
1 - Fénelonian Promenades
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Love’s Intimate Violence
15 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Selfless
39 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Love Thy Neighbor Purely
69 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Nothing Writes
83 - The Mystical (of the) Self
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Power to say I
109 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Contra‑Religious Religion
123 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
The Path of Mercy Means Simply that You Abandon Self
141 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
As a Drop in the Ocean
155 - Mysticism in a Modern World
-
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Down with Religion, Long Live Mysticism
183 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Selflessly Powerful
199 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Selflessness and Science
217 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Notes
239 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Bibliography
265 -
Download PDFRequires Authentication UnlicensedLicensed
Index
279
