Appeal And Attitude2005

"In Appeal and Attitude, Steven G. Smith offers a historical and multicultural view into issues at the heart of existentialism, hermeneutics, and the phenomenology of religion. By looking closely at the concepts of appeal, or what commands our attention, and attitude, or the quality of the attention we pay, Smith probes into the core of religious ideals to answer questions such as why faith and rationality are compelling and how on certain terms and in certain forms religious experience becomes supremely meaningful. Smith draws on philosophical and religious texts from Eastern and Western religious and philosophical traditions including Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, Levinas, Derrida, Confucius, and the Bhagavad-Gita.

He also engages everyday objects such as stones, birds, boats, and minnows to...