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This book takes a different approach to the history of philosophy, exploring a neglected theme, the relationship between catastrophe and philosophy. The book analyzes this theme within texts from ancient times to the present, from a global perspective. The book's focus is timely and relevant today, as the planet is certainly facing a number of impending catastrophes right now, e.g., environmental degradation, overpopulation, the threat of nuclear war, etc.
List of contents
Introductory Essay: Catastrophe and the Limits of Understanding, by David J. Rosner
Part I: The Ancient World
Catastrophe and Enlightenment: The Genesis of Buddhism's First Noble Truth, by JeiDong Ryu
The Missing God: Voices of Despair and Empathy in the Book of Lamentations, by Sarah K. Corrigan
Patterns of Post-Catastrophic Thought in Ancient China: The Growth of Philosophy after the Warring States Period, by Kwon Jong Yoo
Athens in Ruins: Plato and the Aftermath of the Peloponnesian War, by John Ross
Part II: The Middle Ages/Renaissance
Augustine's Anti-Catastrophe, by Steven Cresap
Values in the Time of Plague: Civilizational Trauma and Moral Nihilism in Boccaccio's Decameron, by David J. Rosner
The Search for Stability in Chaotic Times: Machiavelli, by Diana Prokofyeva
Part III: Modernity I: Early Modern Period
Three Catastrophes and One Philosopher: Atrocious Wars, and the Political Ideas of Thomas Hobbes, by David Wilkinson
"A New Philosophy Calls All into Doubt": The Epistemological Crises of Early Modernity (and why they matter now), by David J. Rosner & Steven Cresap
The Metaphysics of Catastrophe: Voltaire's Candide, by Carsten Meiner
Part IV: Modernity II: High Modernity
Nietzsche and the Catastrophe of Nineteenth Century Democracy, by Phil Washburn
Wittgenstein and Pre-War Hapsburg Vienna, by John Ross
Atonality in Music and the Upheavals of High Modernity, by Robert Quist
Toynbee: From the Great War Catastrophe through the Philosophy of History to the Theory of Civilizations, by David Wilkinson
Catastrophe and Decadence in The Great Gatsby, by Peter Wakefield
Deep Silence in the Holocaust Stories of Tadeusz Borowski, by Nancy Reale
Part V: Post-Modernity
States of Exception and the Problem of Detention in Post 9/11 American Jurisprudence, David Chalfin
Swords of Damocles: An Essay on Catastrophe and Globalization, by Pedro Geiger
Part VI: Conclusion
Concluding Postscript: Coping with Catastrophe: Developing Pathways towards Resilience
Primary Life Orientations and Philosophical Response to Catastrophe, by Marek Celinski
About the author
David J. Rosner is associate professor of values and ethics, School for Business, Metropolitan College of New York.
