Overview

Aristotle, Oedipus, and Greek Religion explores an important religious side of ancient Aristotelianism, one which has an impact on contemporary philosophical debates. Louis F. Groarke shows how an exegetical perspective open to and respectful of Greek Pagan religion allows readers to discover a remarkably different Aristotle than the one to which we have grown accustomed. To begin with, one must discover what Aristotle (and his school) taught, not by examining isolated passages, but by getting a sense of his philosophy as a whole. One has to make sense of the circumstantial evidence and carefully piece together a coherent technical case for the overall argument. In each chapter, Groarke considers another aspect of Aristotelian thought; this is in opposition to mainstream opinion which often describes Aristotle as a secret atheist, an agnostic, or as something akin to a modern-day positivist or a reductionist. The author goes on to show that Aristotle valued religious practice on a personal and social level, that his metaphysics are marked by intimations of the divine, that he provides an epistemological space for both science and religion, that his account of Greek tragedy has an inalienable moral and religious side, and that his account of the origins of cognition is not so far removed from religious scripture. Aristotle, Oedipus, and Greek Religion is an analysis of universal themes from the viewpoint of an enormously influential ancient thinker, and an adventure into the history of ideas.

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9780776642420

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Louis Groarke (Philosophy) has a BA (in art history) from Colorado State University and a MA and PhD (in philosophy) from the University of Waterloo. He has published on ethics, politics, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, argumentation theory, and philosophy of science. He has a particular interest in Aristotle and the ancient Greeks. Books include: The Good Rebel (2001), An Aristotelian Account of Induction (2010), and Moral Reasoning (2011) and Living Wisely (forthcoming). Professor Groarke sees Catholic Studies as an integral component of a broader approach to liberal arts education. The Judeo-Christian tradition formulates answers to philosophical, theological, moral, political and even artistic questions in a unique way that deserves close scrutiny. Focusing on Catholicism and on challenges to Catholicism provides for a useful and challenging course of study.

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