Additional information
by Patrick Downey (Author)
What is the human heart like? Theologians and philosophers have attempted to address this question, not just in the abstract, but concretely in personal, as well as social and political, dimensions. Patrick Downey explores the biblical writings ofGenesis and the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah, the Greek tragedies, Plato, Aristotle, and political philosophers--such as Rousseau, Hobbes, Nietzsche and René Girard--to seek answers to this profound question.Recognizing our resistance to know the truth about our own hearts, Downey calls his readers to join with these thinkers in the search for truth and serious self-reflection. Not for the faint of heart, this book courageously addresses the most foundational question of our existence as individualsin community. What is the nature of the human heart and can we, will we, know it?
Author Biography
Patrick Downey is professor of philosophy at St. Mary's College of California. He is the author of Serious Comedy: The Philosophical and Theological Significance of Tragic and Comic Writing in the Western Tradition.
