Strangers, Gods and Monsters: Interpreting Otherness

by Kearney,Richard

• ISBN13: 9780415272582
• ISBN10: 0415272580
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2002-11-12
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Strangers, Gods and Monsteris a fascinating look at how human identity is shaped by three powerful but enigmatic forces. Often overlooked in accounts of how we think about ourselves and others, Richard Kearney skillfully shows, with the help of vivid examples and illustrations, how the human outlook on the world is formed by the mysterious triumvirate of strangers, gods and monsters. Throughout, Richard Kearney shows how strangers, gods and monsters do not merely reside in myths or fantasies but constitute a central part of our cultural unconscious. Above all, he argues that until we understand better that the Other resides deep within ourselves, we can have little hope of understanding how our most basic fears and desires manifest themselves in the external world and how we can learn to live with them.

Author Biography

Richard Kearney is Professor of Philosophy at Boston College and University College Dublin

Table of Contents

List of illustrations	vii
Acknowledgements	viii
Introduction: strangers, gods and monsters	1	(22)
PART I
Strangers and scapegoats	23	(24)
Rights of sacrifice	47	(16)
Aliens and others	63	(20)
Evil, monstrosity and the sublime	83	(26)
On terror	109	(32)
PART II
Hamlet's ghosts: from Shakespeare to Joyce	141	(22)
Melancholy: between gods and monsters	163	(16)
The immemorial: a task of narrative	179	(12)
God or Khora?	191	(22)
Last gods and final things: faith and philosophy	213	(16)
Conclusion	229	(4)
Notes	233	(60)
Index	293