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    Imperfection

    Patrick Grant (Author)

    9781926836751

    Paperback / softback, published 1 May 2012

    252 pages
    22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.38 kg

    Benjamin Whichcote once said that "only madmen and fools arepleased with themselves: no wise man is good enough for his ownsatisfaction." While Whichcote's wise man accepts thisdisparity, the madmen and fools suffer from a deluded self-satisfactionwhich, one can assume, might make them dangerous. The twenty-four briefchapters of Imperfection develop this governing idea as itrelates to the present state of the God debate, modern ethnic conflictsin which religion is a marker of identity, and the idea of freedom inrelation to the uncertainties of self-determination.

    Human beings are imperfect creatures who nonetheless have ideas aboutperfection. Grant argues that the most interesting and creative thingspeople do are shaped in the gap between these two poles. Aretrospective view of his work over forty years, Imperfectiondisplays the scope of his insights and reveals an important Canadianpublic intellectual.

    Contents

    preface xi

    introduction 1

    part i Imperfection

    1 Plato and the Limits of Idealism 9

    2 The Van Gogh Letters: The Art of the Unfinished 17

    3 The Trouble with Visions31

    4 Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and Regressive Inversion 41

    5 Osama, Theo, and the Burnt Fool's Bandaged Finger 49

    6 What the Buddha Didn't Say 57

    7 Not So Good News: The Gospel According to Mark 67

    part ii Self

    8 Immortal Souls and State Executions 79

    9 The Eyes Have It: Seeing One's Self and Others 89

    10 The God of Battles and the Irish Dimension of Shakespeare'sHenry V 99

    11 Crucifying Harry: Victims, Scapegoats, and the Northern IrelandTroubles 107

    12 Talking to the Cyclops: On Violence and Self-Destruction 115

    13 Doing Nothing About It: Taoism, Selflessness, and Non-Action121

    14 Cliff Jumpers and Delta Dwellers: On Religious Language andCommitment 133

    part iii Freedom

    15 Dr. Johnson, Freedom, and the Book of Psalms 145

    16 Sex, Society, and Romeo and Juliet 155

    17 Cartoons from Denmark and the March of the Zombies 165

    18 Vergil and the Almighty Dollar 173

    19 Endgame in Sri Lanka: Dharmapala's Legacy andRajapaksa's War 183

    20 Jung and The Secret of the Golden Flower 195

    21 Kieslowski's Red: Fraternity in the Making 205

    bibliographical notes 225
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