âWhat does it mean to be lonely?â Thomas Dumm asks. His inquiry, documented in this book, takes us beyond social circumstances and into the deeper forces that shape our very existence as modern individuals. The modern individual, Dumm suggests, is fundamentally a lonely self. Through reflections on philosophy, political theory, literature, and tragic drama, he proceeds to illuminate a hidden dimension of the human condition. His book shows how loneliness shapes the contemporary division between public and private, our inability to live with each other honestly and in comity, the estranged forms that our intimate relationships assume, and the weakness of our common bonds.
A reading of the relationship between Cordelia and her father in Shakespeareâs King Lear points to the most basic dynamic of modern lonelinessâhow it is a response to the problem of the âmissing mother.â Dumm goes on to explore the most important dimensions of lonely experienceâBeing, Having, Loving, and Grieving. As the book unfolds, he juxtaposes new interpretations of iconic cultural textsâMoby-Dick, Death of a Salesman, the film Paris, Texas, Emersonâs âExperience,â to name a fewâwith his own experiences of loneliness, as a son, as a father, and as a grieving husband and widower.
Written with deceptive simplicity, Loneliness as a Way of Life is something rareâan intellectual study that is passionately personal. It challenges us, not to overcome our loneliness, but to learn how to re-inhabit it in a better way. To fail to do so, this book reveals, will only intensify the power that it holds over us.
Categories:
- Politics & Social Sciences
- Philosophy
- Political
- Philosophy
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Author : Dumm
Language : English
Edition : 1
Published :2010-05-07
Number Of Pages : 208
Binding : paperback
ISBN-10 : 0674047885
ISBN-13 : 9780674047884
Item weight : 0.4 lb
Dimensions : 0.7 in x 5.4 in x 8 in
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