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Tapping into selected works of Erasmus of Rotterdam, this book offers a series of philosophical meditations designed to retrieve and deploy a distinctively Erasmian manner of thinking—one that is capacious in its perception, agile in its judgments, and unsettling in its irony. In purpose, it takes a philosophical route, addressing perennial questions of self-knowledge—what we can know and how best to communicate what we take to be true, what we ought to do or how we should live, and what we might hope for or what would offer us fulfilment. In method, however, this work taps into the various strategies of irony at play in the works of Erasmus, looking for guidance in handling these age-old questions. What readers will find in Erasmus is a knack for playfully reversing appearances and realities, a penchant for pushing disturbing questions relentlessly to the limit, and a skill for juxtaposing oddly matched opposites. Again and again, Erasmus presses readers to rethink these fundamental questions with dexterity and nuance, ever ready to appreciate the surprising and unsettling upshot of ironic insight.
The practical result—as the meditations of this book illustrate—is a nimble defense of ironic truth-telling, a staunch but idiosyncratic com- plaint for peace, and a daring defense of pleasure in religious life. On each score, irony of the Erasmian sort is a manner of thinking especially well-suited for creatures like ourselves—richly complex, wonderfully odd, and often full of folly, yet somehow complacent and often dogmatic—precisely because such ironic thinking has the power to prod and prompt fruitful reflection on our lives. Truth and Irony is an invitation to think in an Erasmian manner—in short, to think ironically about the truth of our lives for the sake of enhancing human existence.
Terence J. Martin is professor of religion at St. Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN
"Three meditations by Martin… are, like Erasmus's writing, a delight, imaginative, whimsical, unsettling, and engaging."
~D.A. Brown, CA State Univ, CHOICE
"Martin's lengthy introduction grants a marvelous framework for understanding Erasmian thought before exploring the three meditations. This introductory material provides an exceptional review to the basic tenets of Erasmian thought. There is also a wonderful epilogue which seeks to apply these philosophical principles to real experience. This title is complete with a comprehensive bibliography and helpful index. Truth and Irony: Philosophical Meditations on Erasmus is recommended for all academic libraries."
~John Leonard Berg, Catholic Library World
"This is a remarkable book… a fine and erudite examination wherein the author tries to unravel an aspect of our human existence in an elegant style and with many references to both major and minor thinkers, past and present… beautifully written and original contribution to moral philosophy..."
~Mary Sirridge, Louisiana State University, Journal of the History of Philosophy
"With 'Truth and Irony', Terence J. Martin has written a marvelously rich and intelligent set of essays on the wisdom of Desiderius Erasmus."
~Han van Ruler, Erasmus Univ. Rotterdam, Renaissance Quarterly
"This book neatly explores some of the current interpretations and debates about Erasmus. Yet Martin goes beyond intellectual-historical analysis to put Erasmus into 'conversations in heaven' with thinkers of the past, beginning with patristic and medieval theological traditions, and later thinkers from Derrida to Kierkegaard and from Kant or Montaigne, and gives him a place in fierce current discources undertaken by intellectuals such as Bernard-Henri Levy or Martha Nussbaum. The book therefore amply rewards anyone prepared to undertake the philosophical meditations proposed by the book's title. Carefully copy-edited and beautifully printed on good paper, with chapter ornaments, Catholic University Press's production has served its author well."
~Moore, Michael Edward, Erasmus Studies
""This work - equally rigorous and elegant - will find great appeal to those looking for fresh alternatives in Western thought for thinking about the paradoxes, curiosities, hypocrisies, and sources of communication, communion, and pleasure in the quest for self-knowledge."
- Richard B. Miller, University of Chicago"
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