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The Origins of the Gods
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The Origins of the Gods Hardback - 1991

by James S. Hans

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Reader reviews for The Origins of the Gods

From the publisher

Based on Nietzsche's critique of religion and culture, and engaging the contemporary offshoots of that critique, this book assesses the myths of origins that have been used to articulate the fundamental attitude toward the relationship between shame and beauty. In reconsidering some of the myths upon which the West is based, from Hesiod and Greek mythology to Plato and the Bible, Hans pursues the ways in which we have habitually separated shame and beauty in order to create the grounds that would provide us with the authority for our lives we think we need. By juxtaposing Socrates' repression of violence in The Republic and Nietzsche's conception of the overman, the author revises the network of relations that are associated with the religious, the aesthetic, and the political, asserting that the religious derives from the aesthetic rather than the other way around, and establishing a necessary connection between the political and the aesthetic.

Hans aims to raise yet again the questions embodied in Nietzsche's attempt to prompt humans to face the true status of their actions in the world: are we finally able to address our shame without immediately projecting it onto another or repressing it? If so, what changes might we see in the psychological, social, and political worlds we would create out of such an acknowledgment? What value is to be found in accepting the uneasy relationship between shame and beauty upon which our lives rest? While The Origins of the Gods provides no definitive answers to such questions simply because none are possible, it makes use of such queries in order to reassert the great importance of Nietzsche's affirmation of the value of the world as it is. It argues that this affirmation has something crucial to offer if we are willing to forgo an authorized existence and confront the beauty and shame from which our lives are inevitably constituted.

Details

  • Title The Origins of the Gods
  • Author James S. Hans
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 227
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher State University of New York Press, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 1991-09
  • Features Bibliography, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780791406618 / 079140661X
  • Weight 0.7 lbs (0.32 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 in (22.61 x 14.73 x 1.52 cm)
  • Category Philosophy
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 90040941
  • Dewey Decimal Code 128

About the author

James S. Hans is Professor of English at Wake Forest University. His previous books are The Play of the World; Imitation and the Image of Man; The Question of Value: Thinking through Nietzsche; Heidegger and Freud; and The Fate of Desire and The Value(s) of Literature, both published by SUNY Press.

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The Origins of the Gods

The Origins of the Gods

by Hans, James S.

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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780791406618 / 079140661X
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United Kingdom: State University of New York Press, 1991. Book. Very Good. paperback. paperback, faint crease to top corner of rear cover else a very good tightly bound copy with a clean and unmarked text, 227pp.
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Origins of the Gods
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Origins of the Gods

by Hans, James S.

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  • Paperback
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ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780791406618 / 079140661x
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Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.: State Univ of New York Pr, 1991. Trade Paperback. Very Good.
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The Origins of the Gods (Margins of Literature (Dis))
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The Origins of the Gods (Margins of Literature (Dis))

by Hans, James S.

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paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
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The Origins of the Gods (Suny Series, Margins of Literature) (The Margins of Literature Series)
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The Origins of the Gods (Suny Series, Margins of Literature) (The Margins of Literature Series)

by James S. Hans

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State University of New York Press, 1991. Paperback. New. 246 pages. 9.25x6.25x0.75 inches.
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