Under Any Sky: Contemporary Readings of George Santayana
Editor: Matthew Caleb Flamm and Krzysztof Piotr Skowroñski
Date Of Publication: May 2007
Isbn13: 9781847181664
Isbn: 1-84718-166-X
Under Any Sky: Contemporary Readings of George Santayana is a testament to the cross-cultural relevance of the work of one of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century, George Santayana (1863-1952, birth name Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana). A list of geographic origins of the twenty-two contributions contained in this volume indicates the transatlantic cultural diversity of scholarly representation: scholars variously hailing from Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Slovakia, and Switzerland, and from the United States, representing three of its major regions. The authors explore the major plots of Santayana's thinking, including materialistic Platonism in ontology, skepticism in epistemology, rationality in social philosophy, naturalism in aesthetics, piety in materialism, and literary and poetic expression as a means to cosmic understanding. After a preface by Professor John Lachs (also a contributor), and an editorial introduction, the book is divided into three respective thematic parts: I. Ontology and Naturalism; II. Culture, Society, America; and III. Aesthetics, Poetry, and Spirit. Before each thematic section brief introductions of the section papers is provided to accommodate specific scholarly interests. The authors entrust the present volume to readers appreciative of the philosophic catholicity of the subject's work, invoking the book title which is taken from the preface of Santayana's mature system of philosophy, Scepticism and Animal Faith: "In the past or in the future, my language and my borrowed knowledge would have been different, but under whatever sky I had been born, since it is the same sky, I should have had the same philosophy"

Krzysztof Piotr Skowroñski, Ph.D., currently teaches Contemporary Philosophy, Aesthetics, Cultural Anthropology, Polish Philosophy, and American Philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Opole University, Poland.

Matthew Caleb Flamm, Ph.D is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Rockford College, in Rockford, Illinois.

“Santayana's ‘holistic interpretative approach’ is alive in this collection of essays from an international group of scholars. This book makes a convincing case for the cross-cultural relevance of George Santayana as philosopher, poet, and critic. The scholarship is of the highest standard, and the contributors represent a rich variety of cultural perspectives. The thoughtful editing appreciates the breadth and depth of both the thinker and the present contributions. The essays take up Santayana's philosophic vision from their variety of cultural and intellectual perspectives and suggest important possibilities for humane intellectual life in the 21st century.”

-Professor Marianne S. Wokeck, Santayana Edition, Director and Editor; Kristine W. Frost, Santayana Edition, Assistant Director and Associate Editor; Dr. Martin Coleman, Santayana Edition, Associate Editor; Professor Paul Nagy, Santayana Edition, Consulting Editor.

“Among philosophers of our own time, George Santayana enjoyed the rarest of distinctions in being immortalized in Wallace Stevens' long poem ‘To an Old Philosopher in Rome.’ The present volume, justly international in scope and exhibiting the breadth, depth, and pace of progress in the burgeoning field of Santayana Studies, marks the most contemporary tribute to the philosopher whose ‘life in the spirit’ ranged across continents and centuries.”

-Professor David Dilworth, State University of New York at Stony Brook

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Price Us Usd: 52.99

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