Benjamin Whichcote once said that "only madmen and fools arepleased with themselves: no wise man is good enough for his ownsatisfaction." While Whichcote's wise man accepts thisdisparity, the madmen and fools suffer from a deluded self-satisfactionwhich, one can assume, might make them dangerous. The twenty-four briefchapters of Imperfection develop this governing idea as itrelates to the present state of the God debate, modern ethnic conflictsin which religion is a marker of identity, and the idea of freedom inrelation to the uncertainties of self-determination.
Human beings are imperfect creatures who nonetheless have ideas aboutperfection. Grant argues that the most interesting and creative thingspeople do are shaped in the gap between these two poles. Aretrospective view of his work over forty years, Imperfectiondisplays the scope of his insights and reveals an important Canadianpublic intellectual.
Table of Contents:
Contents
preface xi
introduction 1
part i Imperfection
1 Plato and the Limits of Idealism 9
2 The Van Gogh Letters: The Art of the Unfinished 17
3 The Trouble with Visions31
4 Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and Regressive Inversion 41
5 Osama, Theo, and the Burnt Fool's Bandaged Finger 49
6 What the Buddha Didn't Say 57
7 Not So Good News: The Gospel According to Mark 67
part ii Self
8 Immortal Souls and State Executions 79
9 The Eyes Have It: Seeing One's Self and Others 89
10 The God of Battles and the Irish Dimension of Shakespeare'sHenry V 99
11 Crucifying Harry: Victims, Scapegoats, and the Northern IrelandTroubles 107
12 Talking to the Cyclops: On Violence and Self-Destruction 115
13 Doing Nothing About It: Taoism, Selflessness, and Non-Action121
14 Cliff Jumpers and Delta Dwellers: On Religious Language andCommitment 133
part iii Freedom
15 Dr. Johnson, Freedom, and the Book of Psalms 145
16 Sex, Society, and Romeo and Juliet 155
17 Cartoons from Denmark and the March of the Zombies 165
18 Vergil and the Almighty Dollar 173
19 Endgame in Sri Lanka: Dharmapala's Legacy andRajapaksa's War 183
20 Jung and The Secret of the Golden Flower 195
21 Kieslowski's Red: Fraternity in the Making 205
bibliographical notes 225
About the Author :
A mature scholar and established literary critic, PatrickGrant is professor emeritus of English at the University ofVictoria. He is the author of several books, including Buddhism andEthnic Conflict in Sri Lanka; Literature, Rhetoric, andViolence in Northern Irelands; and Personalism and thePolitics of Culture.
Review :
"Imperfection" draws on philosophy, art, film, psychology and mysticism among others. I can't think of another book that combines such spread of reference, such succinctness, and such depth of concern without losing weight or coherence, notwithstanding its - shall we call it? - wisdom.
- John Wilson Foster, Queen's University, Belfast
