Companions in the Between: Augustine, Desmond, and Their Communities of Love

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Wipf and Stock Publishers, Dec 23, 2019 - Religion - 182 pages
Contemporary philosopher William Desmond has many companions in thought, and one of the most important of these is Augustine. In lucid prose that draws on the riches of a vibrant philosophical-theological tradition, Renée Kӧhler-Ryan explores Desmond’s metaxological philosophy. She elaborates on how Desmond’s philosophical work in discovering how humans are constantly “between” remains in conversation with a tradition of thinkers that includes Plato, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Shakespeare.



This book concentrates especially on how Desmond both draws upon and develops some of the central insights in Augustine. At the same time, it brings together philosophy, theology, and literature into a rich engagement of ideas that impact the way humans think and live. Whether considering how our elemental wonder at creation brings us closer to God, or how our most intimate revelations about being human happen in the interior space of prayer, reading Desmond with Augustine illuminates a porous and interdisciplinary space of inquiry.



Companions in the Between
is a unique contribution to the growing body of scholarship on William Desmond’s thought. It opens with a foreword from Desmond. Its pages will entice any reader who wants to know more about how contemporary philosophy can contest a space where philosophers are formulaically expected to shy away from divine transcendence.
 

Contents

Augustine Desmond and Digging Back to the Agapeic Origin
3
No Block Creation Good and Evil
19
Gifted Beggars in the Metaxu A Study of the Platonic
35
Thinking Transcendence Transgressing the Mask
60
On Speaking the Amen
82
Love and Friendship in the Metaxu
101
Intimate Friendship and the Christian Cosmopolis
119
Bibliography
145
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About the author (2019)

Renee Kӧhler-Ryan is a Dean of the School of Philosophy and Theology and Professor of Philosophy on the Sydney campus of the University of Notre Dame Australia. She is editor of Living the Catholic Tradition.

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