Shortly before he died, Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the
Crow Nation, told his story-up to a certain point. "When the
buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground," he
said, "and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing
happened." It is precisely this point-that of a people faced with
the end of their way of life-that prompts the philosophical and
ethical inquiry pursued in Radical Hope. In Jonathan Lear's view,
Plenty Coups's story raises a profound ethical question that
transcends his time and challenges us all: how should one face the
possibility that one's culture might collapse? This is a
vulnerability that affects us all-insofar as we are all inhabitants
of a civilization, and civilizations are themselves vulnerable to
historical forces. How should we live with this vulnerability? Can
we make any sense of facing up to such a challenge courageously?
Using the available anthropology and history of the Indian tribes
during their confinement to reservations, and drawing on philosophy
and psychoanalytic theory, Lear explores the story of the Crow
Nation at an impasse as it bears upon these questions-and these
questions as they bear upon our own place in the world. His book is
a deeply revealing, and deeply moving, philosophical inquiry into a
peculiar vulnerability that goes to the heart of the human
condition.
General
Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
April 2008 |
First published: |
April 2008 |
Authors: |
Jonathan Lear
|
Dimensions: |
209 x 138 x 13mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
187 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-02746-6 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
Philosophy >
General
Books >
Philosophy >
General
|
LSN: |
0-674-02746-9 |
Barcode: |
9780674027466 |
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