A01=Ralph Ellis
Author_Ralph Ellis
Category=QD
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
Product details
- ISBN 9780812694574
- Weight: 382g
- Dimensions: 152 x 228mm
- Publication Date: 30 Dec 2004
- Publisher: Open Court Publishing Co ,U.S.
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
This book develops the notion of a "culture of narcissim," a concept originally proposed by Christopher Lasch. The author puts forward a coherent theory of the role played by love in human attempts to grapple with the problems of finitude and the experience of the basic value of being - universal problems that are especially troublesome in a narcissistic culture such as ours. Ellis suggests that love is a way to experience the finitude of existence in a positive rather than negative way, making possible a resolution of the dilemma of finitude in a non-self-deceptive way. Love includes compassion for others in their vulnerability, and this compassion emotionally intensifies admiration, creating an inspirational appreciation of the intrinsic value of being, directly and intensely experienced as instantiated in others. Paradoxically, compassion for others' finitude leads to a powerful positive value experience, whereas compassion for one's own finitude (self-pity) is only negative. When this intensified value experience is then universalized, it is greatly strengthened by its derivation from individualized emotion.
Ralph Ellis, professor of philosophy at Clark Atlanta University, has authored nine books on the interrelations of emotional experience and philosophical meaning. Professor Ellis earned his Ph.D. in philosophy at Duquesne university and a postdoctorasl M.S. in Public Affairs at Georgia State University.
