Author: Steven G. Smith File Type: pdf In Appeal and Attitude, Steven G. Smith offers a 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 religious experience becomes meaningful. Smith turns to 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 arrive at normative definitions of supreme appeal and sovereign attitude. This book provides readers at all levels with a thoughtful and widely comparative window into idealism, community, responsibility, piety, faith, and love.

Author: Peter Berresford Ellis File Type: epub The Celts were one of the great founding civilizations of Europe and the first North European people to emerge into recorded history, producing a vibrant labyrinth of mythological tales and sagas that have influenced the literary traditions of Europe and the world. The first A-Z reference of its kind, Dictionary of Celtic Mythology is fascinating and accessible guide to the gods and goddesses, the heroes and heroines, the magical weapons, fabulous beasts, and otherworld entities that populate the myths of this rich European culture. Like A Dictionary of Irish Mythology before it, this is a whos who and whats what of the epic Celtic sagas and tales. Predated only by Greek and Latin by virtue of the fact that the Celtic languages were not written until the early Christian era, Celtic mythology is a development from a far earlier oral tradition containing voices from the dawn of European civilization. The peoples of these Celtic cultures survive today on the western seaboard of Europe--the Irish, Manx, and Scots, who make up the Goidelic- (or Gaelic) speaking branch of Celts, and the Welsh, Cornish, and Brentons, who represent the Brythonic-speaking branch. And it is in these languages that their vibrant and fascinating mythology has been recorded and appreciated throughout the world. In his introduction, Ellis discusses the roles of these six cultures, the evolution (or demise) of the languages, and the relationship between the legends, especially the Irish and Welsh, the two major Celtic cultures. From Celtic legends have come not only the stories of Cuchulainn and Fionn MacCumhail, of Deidre of the Sorrows and the capricious Grainne, but the stories of the now world-famous Arthur, and the romantic tragedy of Tristan and Iseult. An easy-to-read handbook, The Dictionary of Celtic Mythology presents a fascinating window to centuries of rich oral and written tradtion from the mists of Europes origins. **From Library Journal Celtic language and mythology, which predates the Greeks and Romans, descends from an ancient oral tradition. Celtic culture was the first to develop a philosophy of immortality. Ellis, author of A Dictionary of Irish Mythology (ABC-Clio, 1991) here dissects the scope of Celtic myth and legend. Comparisons are offered among the six cultures Irish, Welsh, Manx, Scottish, Cornish, and Breton. A very good introduction discusses the roles of the cultures, the evolution (or demise) of the language, and the legends. The entries are thorough and well written. An excellent selected bibliography rounds out this interesting reference. For large mythology collections. - Gail Wood, Montgomery Coll. Lib., Germantown, Md. 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review A very good introduction....Entries are thorough and well written. An excellent selected bibliography rounds out this interesting reference.--Booklist Makes available in convenient form copious information about [this] rich tradition.--Wilson Library Bulletin Accessible....Especially useful to students unfamiliar with the subject....Its easy-to-use format and readable text will make it a welcome resource for students as well as for fans of epics and romances.--School Library Journal Just what I was looking for to accompany required texts--it helps the student organize the unfamiliar....An excellent text for Celtic studies. It helps make sense of the seeming chaos of unfamiliar material.--Jan Anderson, Clackamas Community College